… six months with oil of myrrh, and six months with sweet odours, and with other things … Esther 2:12

I’ve been reading my new aromatherapy book, and now I think I have a pretty good idea of what Hegai was up to, and what Hadassah went through during her 12-month makeover.

Did you know … ?

Myrrh is an effective antiseptic and one of the best cicatrisants — that is, it stimulates cellular growth ….

The most effective way to use essential oils is not orally, as one might think, but by external application or inhalation. The methods used include body oils, compresses, cosmetic lotions, baths — including sitz, hand, and foot baths — hair rinses, inhalation (by steam, direct from the bottle or from a tissue), perfumes, room sprays, and a whole range of room methods.

Unlike chemical drugs, essential oils do not, as far as we know, remain in the body. They are excreted through urine and feces, perspiration, and exhalation. The method of excretion differs from oil to oil. For example, … geranium … will be detected in the perspiration.

There are about 300 essential oils in general use today by professional practitioners, but the average household could fulfill all its likely needs with about ten. Each oil has its own medicinal and other properties. Modern-day research has confirmed centuries of practical use of the oils, and we now know that the fragrant pharmacy contains, apart from its antiviral, antibacterial, and antifungal qualities, essential oils which are antiseptic, antiinflammatory, antineuralgic, antirheumatic, antispasmodic, antivenomous, antitoxic, antidepressant, sedative, nervine, analgesic, hypotensal, hypertensol, digestive, expectorating, deodorizing, granulation-stimulating, circulatory-stimulating, and diuretic, and much more besides.

(Paragraphs above quoted from The Complete Book of Essential Oils and Aromatherapy.)

Spending a year with all that looks like more than enough to become really healthy and beautiful from the inside out.

Quote below from the same book.

Essential oils are one of the great untapped resources of the world. The concentrated essences of various flowers, fruits, herbs, and plants have been used for centuries all over the world, but in modern times we have forgotten the power of these ancient medicines of the earth, preferring instead to use the products of perfume and chemical companies which imitate the natural fragrances and medicinal and cleansing properties of essential oils. Because the essential oils are so sweet-smelling, many people suppose their value is essentially one of charm and fragrance — but this is a mistake. Modern scientific research has proven that essential oils are potent, with remarkable medicinal properties. These substances are very complex in their molecular structure, and very powerful. The essential oil of oregano, for example, is twenty-six times more powerful as an antiseptic than phenol, which is the active ingredient in many commercial cleansing materials.

Aromatherapy should be required study for doctors, along with herbology and acupuncture.