"TRUST that the plan is good, even when WE do not know what it is"
You must have trust to move ahead in this world. You must know that nothing will be put in your path that you cannot handle. Often I go with the flow. At this time in my life I trust my natural instincts and intuition. This is something I never did years ago.
We have a crisis on our hands. It is in the field of antibiotic treatment for a wide variety of infections-bacterial, viral, parasitic and fungal. At the American Herbal Guild Symposium Annual Conference in St. Petersburg, FL (October 20-23, 2011), I was intrigued by a lecture on the Clinical Use of Essential Oils in the treatment of infections. An essential oil is a specific type of extract not unlike an herbal preparation as a tincture. The treatment of infections with essential oils was pioneered in the 1950's by French doctors. In the past when I thought of essential oils, my mind would conjure thoughts of aromatherapy. The phenomena of aromatherapy with essential oils has confused practitioners and the general public. There is a fair amount of ignorance and confusion regarding the use of essential oils.
We all have seen the vials of essential oils in an herbal/vitamin store. You also might see them at your Co-op or even at your local Green Market. The essential oils used in aromatherapy stimulate the limbic system of the brain thus stimulating the olfactory senses. I know many who use essential oils for the treatment of stress related disorders. We all have plenty of stress. The inhalation of these essential oils modulates hormones and neurotransmitters.
We need to make a distinction between aromatherapy and essential oils, and integrate essential oils and herbal medicine. In Europe, specifically in France and England, essential oils and herbal medicine are not separate entities.
However, it was only in the 1930s that Aromatherapy received a wider acceptance. Rene-Maurice Gatte Fosse, a French chemist, dipped his burnt hand in lavender oil. To his surprise, the wound healed very quickly, and without any infection or scarring. This inspired him to do considerable research on various oils and their therapeutic and psycho-therapeutic properties.
The French army doctor, Jean Velnet used essential oils in World War II. Madame Morquerite Murry brought a holistic approach to the use of aroma oils by experimenting with them for individual problems.
So why haven't you heard of it? Perhaps your health care practitioner is allopathic. Perhaps he is so conventional that if he discounts supplements/vitamins he will definitely never consider using an herb or an essential oil for any treatment of an allopathic disease like arthritis or asthma.
The clinical presentation of an infection is different from individual to individual. It can be a pain-free (viral) infection, or an infection with massive inflammation, or even an infection with a discharge. I treat the whole person as a single entity, NOT just the symptoms of a disease or not just an infection.
Use of Essential Oils is another modality of medicine. The quote above sealed it for me. I know I have another plan yet ahead of me. After listening to Peter Holmes, LAc MH I know there is no reason not to integrate herbs with essential oils. I know I will be incorporating essential oils with herbs and beeswax to create lip balms.
There is no reason why an infection cannot be controlled with essential oils to prevent that infection from becoming sub acute or chronic. Choosing the right essential oil for the infection at hand involves chemistry as well as knowledge and intuition.
Photograph: Top right: Dr Jean
Other two: From Trade Winds Resort, St Pete Beach 10/21/11
Until tomorrow...
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