Review: The Encyclopedia of Essential Oils

Last updated on: April 18, 2020 at 6:29 pm by Mat Auryn

Review: The Encyclopedia of Essential Oils 2020-04-18T18:29:52+00:00 Mat Auryn

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Julia Lawless’ The Encyclopedia of Essential Oils: The Complete Guide to the Use of Aromatic Oils In Aromatherapy, Herbalism, Health, and Well Being is a comprehensive resource on essential oil has completed an area of my library that I didn’t have information on. I approach this book as a magickal practitioner, and while there are many great books on the folk lore and magickal correspondences of plants and essential oil – this book takes a different approach – the aromatherapy and holistic healing of essential oils. While the book takes more of a medicinal and therapeutic approach she still adds enough to honor the folklore and traditions surrounding the history of these plants and their oils.

Full of old wood-cuts and illustrations that are always sure to win brownie points with me, the book begins with discussing the historical roots of essential oils – from ancient civilizations to alchemy to modern science to the birth of aromatherapy. One of the things I loved about this book was that it had therapeutic guidelines and safety precautions not mentioned in a lot of the books I’ve come across. A lot of people don’t realize how dangerous essential oils can be if you don’t know what you’re doing.

The book then dives into how essential oils work on various systems of the body including the skin, circulation, muscles, joints, the respiratory system, the digestive system, the genito-urinary and endocrine system, the immune system, the nervous system and the mind. The book also covers a whole chapter on various ways essential oils can be used in your life. There’s also a chapter on creating blends and a chapter discussing the chemistry of plants and how essential oils are extracted.

The encyclopedia portion of the book contains 204 common essential oils. The entries include the common name, scientific name, scientific family, synonyms, a general description, distribution, other species of the plant, herbal and folk tradition uses, actions, methods of extraction, characteristics, principal constituents, safety data, aromatherapy uses and other uses.

Ways To Support My Work:

Previous Post

June 8, 2017

The Sorcery of Hekate

Next Post

June 10, 2017 The Witch's Response

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Book Reviews Deck Reviews Interviews Musings Uncategorized

Select a Month December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 August 2021 March 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Place me like a seal over your heart, for love is as strong as death and burns like what?

Select your answer to see how you score.

The sun A torch A blazing flame Lightning