RE: [ATFE2] Re: intro and quest
Hi All,
I've done a bit of research on this . . . we are learning more and more as
archaeologists continue to unearth history and it is all fascinating to
unravel. A recent excavation in northwest Pakistan shows evidence that
alcohol was distilled (rudimentary) as early as 500 BC, however the practice
only became common somewhere between 150 BC and 350 AD (quite a spread of
time and not accurately pinpointed yet). Most probably, alcohol
distillation using an alembic was attributed to Jabir ibn Hayyan around the
8th century. The Latin verb, stillare, is translated as both "to distill"
and "to drip", so the search is still on to pinpoint exactly when the latter
became the former. Joseph Lambert, in Traces of the Past, writes about a
wooden Etruscan ship that sunk off the coast of Giglio ca. 800 BC made with
tar extracted from pine wood. A sophisticated GC/MS has been used to
identify ancient resins used to preserve a mummy, and a reconstruction of a
mediviel apparatus for producing the tar depicts a vessel sunk in the ground
to collect the tar with an upper vessel filled with the bark or wood being
extracted with holes in the bottom to allow the tar to flow down into the
collection vessel. The two are sealed so that a fire can be built in the
pit surrounding the upper container to heat the wood to a point of
extracting the tar. The analysis found crudely refined bitumen in the tar,
which only could be produced by high heat. We've been enthralled by this
article http://www.theregis
archaeologists discovered the world's oldest perfume . . . 4,000 years old.
This of course, is long before the purported time of Jesus. However, the
technique of burying a long-necked jug filled with herbs, oil and water over
embers for 12 hours would be closer to what we call 'infusion'.
None of this, of course, is true distillation, which requires vaporization
and condensation. These reports, however, perhaps are the beginnings of the
long journey to "pure" distillation with steam or water that we attribute to
having invented somewhere in the 11th Century.
Be Well,
Marcia Elston, Samara Botane/Nature Intelligence
http://www.wingedse
http://www.aromacon
"The most commom way people give up their power is by thinking they don't
have any": Alice Walker
_____
From: ATFE2@yahoogroups.
Martin Watt
Sent: Tuesday, May 19, 2009 4:51 AM
To: ATFE2@yahoogroups.
Subject: [ATFE2] Re: intro and quest
Ditto on what Marge said. All this stuff about sacred essential oils is
hogwash promoted by Young Living. It is highly unlikely that any essential
oils were around during the several hundred years over which the Christian
stories were written. Certainly infused oils and resins were used. Of course
I am assuming when using the word "sacred" that you mean the Christian uses
as there are numerous other religious practices that use "sacred" plants or
their extracts.
The only books that I would half trust are those written by botanists on the
Ancient uses of plants, or perhaps Lisa Maniche book on Ancient Egyptian
medicinal plants. At least she can read the glyphs on the monuments but
cannot always put a plant to what the glyph says. This is always the problem
when dealing with Ancient uses of plants. Often the dialect used to write
about them is not fully understood by modern users of that language.
Martin Watt
http://www.aromamed <http://www.aromamed
http://www.aromamed <http://www.aromamed
--- In ATFE2@yahoogroups. <mailto:ATFE2%
<lkschuster@
>
> Hello,
>
> My name is Lori and I want to say thank you to the moderators for their
warm welcome. It has been a while since I signed up so apologize for the
late intro. I am trying to find a resource on sacred use of essential oils
and am only finding aromatherapy novels and MLM garbage on the net. I would
like an authoritative publication to use as a reference guide that addresses
the oils used historically in world religions. Maybe Martin or someone else
here could make a recommendation for me. Thank you.
>
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