Website design By BotEap.comEuropeans did not enter into essential oil production until the 12th century. Many healers, particularly monks and nuns in abbeys and monasteries, grew their own aromatic plants. They also used many spices, herbs, and aromatic oils from the Far East in their healing ministrations. We must remember that all literary knowledge, as well as knowledge of herbs, resided in the monasteries, since it was the monks and nuns who copied the ancient texts. We also know that it was the men and women of these religious orders who practiced various forms of healing. Lavender in particular was studied for its medicinal properties along with rosemary, sage, basil, chamomile, lemon balm, and thyme. These plants seemed to do well in the cold Germanic countryside. Some of these abbeys had vast underground warehouses where they kept their herbs and oils along with food, wine, and beer. Medicines were dispensed to the sick in the form of herbal teas, herbal-infused oils, medicinal beers, medicinal wines, brandies, and herbal tinctures and ointments.

Website design By BotEap.comWhile in Europe a few years ago, I visited the ruins of many of these abbeys and found that they generally placed their herb gardens right outside the windows of the infirmary. On warm days, they would take the sick out into the garden or open the large closed windows so that the breeze carried the fragrances of the plants to the sick. These heavenly scents were believed to help heal the sick.

Website design By BotEap.comHildegard of Bingen: a healer for our day Hildegard was a Benedictine abbess in the 12th century. He wrote extensively on the use of herbal remedies, tinctures, salves, salves, and oils as part of his medicine. His writings were used as a landmark for abbeys across Europe during that time and for many centuries afterward. Hildegard’s work with herbs, crystals, gemstones, and essential oils is now being studied extensively across Europe and is being used in American classes on aromatherapy. Educational courses in aromatherapy taught from a Christian perspective can help us connect with our legitimate role in healing and anointing. Hildegard is but one of the most famous teachers in history on the use of aromatherapy to heal body / mind / spirit. Find out more about her in the courses offered by the Institute for Spiritual Healing and Aromatherapy.