by Venus | Mar 15, 2012 | Essential Oils
Myrrh has rock star status around the world thanks to gold and frankincense. Egyptian, Hebrew, Aramaic, Indian, and Chinese texts have written about the magical qualities as well as the value of myrrh for centuries. The Egyptians used it for embalming; the Hebrews...
by Venus | Feb 7, 2012 | Essential Oils
The Greeks called it “joy of the mountain,” and the Italians called it “flavor enhancer”, and it eventually became a signature ingredient in Italian recipes. Oregano has been used by tribal healers for over 5,000 years. Ancient medicine men believed oregano...
by Venus | Jan 20, 2012 | Essential Oils
The Greeks were using juniper berry oil as medicine long before the Romans, and the Indians and Egyptians were using the berries for food as well as for offerings to people who were making the transition to the afterlife before the Greeks realized what junipers could...
by Venus | Dec 10, 2011 | Essential Oils
Admirers of the patchouli bush say it is the most distinct herb in the botanical kingdom in terms of fragrance and aroma. One whiff of patchouli oil is forever embedded in the olfactory memory. The bush has an impressive list of long distance relatives that include...
by Venus | Nov 20, 2011 | Essential Oils
The Egyptians were big fans of cardamom oil. They used cardamom to whiten their teeth, and the oil was used in perfumes and for incense in religious ceremonies. When the Romans ate too much they drank cardamom to aid digestion, and the Arabs mixed it in their coffee...
by Venus | Oct 5, 2011 | Essential Oils
Hops is a household word in beer drinking communities around the world. Beer commercials tout the benefits of aged hops, and the flavor that results from harvesting only the best female plants for brewing. Most of those commercials don’t dive into the male-female...
by Venus | Sep 17, 2011 | Essential Oils
The 15th century alchemist and physician Paracelsus called Melissa “The Elixir of Life”, and it was commonly used by both the Greeks and the Romans. The Arabs used it as a special remedy because it had the ability to revive the spirit as well as the body. The...
by Venus | Aug 3, 2011 | Essential Oils
Grapefruit is a youngster in the fruit world. There’s no mention of grapefruit in Roman or Greek texts, and the Chinese make no reference to the fruit either. It’s still a mystery how, when, and why a sweet orange tree and a pomelo tree were married to produce the...
by Venus | Jul 20, 2011 | Essential Oils
The anise seed has been an important part of the Mediterranean diet for centuries. The Egyptians and the Greeks used anise as a spice and as a medicine long before the Spanish, and the Chinese were aware of the antiseptic, antispasmodic, digestive, diuretic, and...
by Venus | Jun 13, 2011 | Essential Oils
Ayurvedic medicine is a very ancient form of Indian healing which is truly impressive in its complexity and scope. Western medicine has taken a large portion of the knowledge found in this Indian wisdom, and applied it to the development of medicines and techniques...