What a gorgeous day! It’s only very early May and the gauge in Jan’s car is registering an amazing outdoor temperature of 30 ºC, as warm as Cairo! Meanwhile, Justin who is on the edge of the Western Sahara is driving in a far more temperate 20 ºC. However, I note that in New Delhi it is already 43 ºC, or 109 ºF in old money.  Why the interest? Because I shall be there when you are reading this.  Therefore, I have to get this Newsletter, and July’s, written before I go. I’m under pressure!

I had intended that June would be a fairly leisurely month, but then I received an invitation from some French motoring chums to join them thrashing around Provence in old motors. Mindful that the lavender would be well-advanced, and that it would involve only a longish weekend, I accepted. Also, some of these French enthusiasts are quite involved with huiles essentielles. Business and pleasure. What could be better?!

However, I had reckoned without an esteemed invitation from the Fragrance and Flavour Development Centre (FFDC) in Kannauj, India, which is a government organization under the Ministry of Small and Medium Scale Industry. The Centre has the mandate of serving, promoting and developing essential oils, the fragrance and flavour industry in India and abroad.  It covers all aspects of essential oils, fragrances and flavours, including promotion of cultivation of aromatic crops, processing and value addition, quality control, perfumery and flavour creation, training and marketing management. FFDC works as an interface between R&D institutions and industry.

I am invited to deliver a lecture at their Perfumery & Aromatherapy Workshop in Srinagar, Kashmir, in mid-June. How can I refuse?  Kashmir is one of my favourite places on earth. However, on this visit, I intend to take a closer look at Jammu and Ladakh as well.

Inspired perhaps by the exploits of Michael Palin and recent footage of the Snow Leopard in its natural habitat, Ladakh, the largest district of the state of Jammu and Kashmir, has a very special appeal. Ladakh is the highest altitude plateau region in India, lying at altitudes from 9,000 feet (2750m) to 25,170 feet (7672m).  No wonder Jan questions whether my lungs are up to it! It is said that only in Ladakh can a man sitting in the sun with his feet in the shade suffer from sunstroke and frostbite at the same time, because the thin air makes the heat of the sun more intense than at lower altitudes.  

This bit of exploration should set me up well for my forthcoming chat to the Central Region IFPA Group on Friday, July 7th, in Leamington Spa.  I am advised that, as this enthusiastic group is still only very small, the meeting will be at the home of one of the members. Should you wish to come along, give Julia Baker a call on 01564 783464 for venue details. Who knows what I might have in my case of oils!

All of which reminds me that I was asked several months ago to give a talk to a few ladies from the local Women’s Institute. I agreed, and forgot all about it. My last appearance in front of the WI had drawn a splendid audience of precisely 6. True, it was mid-winter and extremely cold but, as a result, I was totally unprepared for the 60 smiling faces that greeted me the other evening! Apart from talking about the early history of unguents, floral waters and essential oils, I was invited to judge the nosegay competition, which brought to mind a small book entitled The Anatomy of Abuses, written in Old Elizabethan times by a puritan called Philip Stubbes.

A section of this moralising book, devoted to the condemnation of women who used ‘costly perfumes and musks’, reads:

Is not this a certain sweete Pride, to have cyvet, muske, swete powders, fragrant pomanders, odorous perfumes, and such like, whereof the smell may be felt and perceived, not only all over the house, or place, where they may be present, but also a stones cast of almost, yea, the bed wherein they have layed their delicate bodies, the places where they have sate, the clothes and thinges, which they have touched shall smell a weeke, a moneth, and more, after they be gon?

But the prophet Esaias telleth them instead of their Pomanders, musks, civets, balmes, sweet odours and perfumes, they have stench and horrour in the nethermost hel. Let them take hede to it and amend their wicked lives in time.

And in the Sommer tyme whilest flowres be greene and fragrant, ye shall not have any Gentlewoman almost, no nor yet any droye or pussle in the Countrey but they will carrie in their handes, Nosegaies and posies of flowres to smell at, and which is more, two or three sticked in their breasts before, for what cause I can not tell, except it be to allure their amorous Paramours to catch them, whereby I doubt not but they get a slabbering kisse, and peradventure more freendshippe beside, they know best what I meane.

That’s telling them, but for the the life of me I knoweth not what is droye or pussle. A £50 Gift Voucher to the first correct answer, with derivation.
A tale of  goats, argan, and diabetes.
We’ve just heard from Justin in Tamri, on the Atlantic coast of Morocco, as he heads slowly home. He has been keeping an interesting photo-log of his drive, the state of cedar forests in the Atlas and the like, but I was more than a little surprised to get a picture of a goat in a tree! Can goats fly?

Apparently, what really gets a Tamri goat’s taste buds tingling is Argan berries (Argania spinosa (L.) Skeels), but it is too small to reach them when standing on the ground and so climbs into the argan tree to get at them.  Quite a feat, because these bearded domesticated ruminants don’t look that small to me.  Still, shortly after Justin’s picture arrived I received a most interesting Case Study from Marion Fewkes, concerning her experience of treating a 70 year-old gentleman suffering from Insulin Dependent Diabetes.

For a year or so she was working with this gentleman as a case study for an ‘Aromatology’ course that she was completing with the Penny Price Academy of Aromatherapy, using essential oils intensively and internally on occasion. Although the internal use of essential oils falls outside our remit, indeed it is positively discouraged, the results that they achieved were quite remarkable.
A very important part of the oral ingestion of carefully selected essential oils, in Marion’s view, was the carrier oil - and this is something that anyone may take internally without fear
of anxiety.  Having done a great deal of research on the most appropriate essential oil blend, she was on a teaching trip to Kitakyushu in Japan when, one evening, flicking through the satellite TV channels she came across a programme describing a tree native to Morocco that grows in the arid foothills of the Atlas mountains.  You’ve guessed it!  They were showing an extraordinary sight - perched high on the spiky branches were goats feeding on the leaves and nuts.  However, and what I did not know, the programme pointed out that the oil from the nut of the Argan is highly prized for balancing blood sugar levels.  When she returned to the UK, she sourced some A. spinosa from us, and included it in the blend for her client.

For the record, the essential oils selected were Ginger, Scots Pine, Juniper Berry and Lemon.

After three months of taking the selected blend internally her client felt able to stop injecting himself with insulin.  His blood sugar levels remained stable for a period of 6-9 months. She emphasizes that it was entirely the client’s decision to stop the insulin. Although such action would doubtless alarm many, and Marion was not without some concern herself, the result was interesting to say the least.

A year on, however, he has had to return to insulin and they have not been able to get further with reducing his blood sugar levels.  Marion continues to treat him with conventional aromatherapy applications aimed at maintaining his health in the presence of the Type 1 IDDM.

Do others have any thoughts on the matter?

If anyone is interested in a more detailed account of the treatment, Marion would be delighted to supply the information. Just let me know. 

The Land of Punt?
Always on the lookout for something new and better, I had a recent meeting with Dr. Peter Wilde to discuss his exciting new range of essential oils which we shall be launching shortly through these pages. However, I was equally interested to hear an account of his recent trip to Oman. A raconteur par excellence, it was enthralling.  I asked him if he would write an article for me. Here is his mesmerizing tale.....

“.....all the perfumes of Arabia.....”
said Lady Macbeth in Act V, Scene 1 of “Macbeth” by William Shakespeare.

4000 years ago, the Ancient Egyptians used Frankincense in the embalming of their dead Pharaohs.  It is said that when Tutankhamun’s tomb was opened after five thousand years, there emerged “the unmistakable whiff of frankincense” because of the vast quantities burned during the embalming of the young pharaoh.

The very word ‘embalming’ derives from the word “balsam” or “resin”. It has been used (and is to this day) in the sacred rituals of most religions around the world.

The Ancient Greek name for frankincense was “libanos”, which gives us the alternative name for frankincense; “Olibanum” (for the resin).

It has been known for thousands of years that this material is preservative and has cleansing and purifying properties.  Frankincense is still used today to treat a number of conditions including ulcers, bronchitis, snakebites and jaundice.  There is even a special frankincense used as chewing gum.

It has been “burned” for centuries to produce fragrant smoke.  Technically speaking it is not “burned” but ‘destructively distilled’ by laying it onto burning charcoal. Incense resin is in fact very difficult to ignite, on its own.

The belief in the ‘purifying’ properties of frankincense smoke is manifest today in the ritual “purification” of the altar and its furniture (and in particular the Holy Scriptures) during the Roman Catholic rite and litanies, where the smoke from the “burning” of incense is directed
at them.

It is still believed that the smoke of “burning” incense takes our prayers to heaven.  Holy Smoke indeed.  The historian al-Tabari wrote “The smoke of incense reaches heaven as does no other smoke”.  Our modern term “perfume” comes from the Latin “per fumum”, through smoke.

Tonnes of incense resin must have been used for this purpose over the centuries.

In Europe, the Roman emperor Nero burned an entire year’s production at the funeral of his wife Poppea. At the height of the trade, around the time of the birth of Christ, some 3,000
tons of incense a year were exported from the Dhofar region, all around the known world.

But from where did it all originate?

One view is that it came originally from the “Land of Punt”. What we do not know is the precise location of the Land of Punt.

We know that Queen Hatshepsut (the only known female Pharaoh of Egypt), who reigned between 1473 and 1458 BC, sent a delegation to the Land of Punt, to bring back Incense trees. There is an excellent depiction of this expedition on the walls of her funerary temple in the Valley of the Kings in Egypt.  The baggage train is seen to contain several fully grown incense trees, with their roots wrapped in cloth sacks, being brought to Egypt presumably for transplanting in her Temple gardens.

Was she a Queen of Sheba?  Did she also visit King Solomon, taking this treasure with her as so many believe?

In the Middle Ages, Prester John was popularly believed to have been King of Punt. The Land of Punt then being variously described as the “Land of Gods”, “India”, and “Ethiopia”.
But the presise location of Punt has never been established.

Certainly areas around the Horn of Africa have been candidates, Ethiopia, Somalia and Eritrea, however, trade between these areas and the south and east coast of the Arabian Peninsula (what we now call Yemen and Oman) has been vigorous for many millenia.  In his excellent book “The Sign and The Seal”, Graham Hancock offers evidence that Punt was not in Ethiopia or anywhere on the Horn of Africa, but further east, across the Red Sea, on the south coast of Arabia.

Today, Salalah in Dhofar, on the very southern coast of Oman lays claim to having been a major source of this trade, throughout antiquity.  It is just a few miles from the modern border with Yemen.

After the harvesting of frankincense in Dhofar, the arduous journey of the ancient traders could begin.

Many thousands of tons of frankincense were shipped from the ancient port of Sumhuran to Qana in Yemen and then across the mountainous ranges on camels. The domestication of camels in the first century BC undoubtedly played a vital role in the development of trade routes throughout the Middle East.  Frankincense and myrrh were the cornerstones of the economy of ancient Arabia. Villages, where customs duties for these two prized aromatics were collected, as well as hamlets offering hospitality to traders on the long and hazardous journey north from southern Oman to Syria and Iraq, and west to the Roman and Greek empires, grew into rich influential cities such as Petra in Jordan and Sa’ba in Yemen, as the incense trade flourished.

We have recently visited Salalah, to see for ourselves the ancient and fabled incense trees, which are still growing there today.

The climate in this region is harsh, hot and arid, except for the annual monsoon which uniquely, but briefly, drenches the areas in mists and abundant rain.  The dry wadis fill with torrents and the land miraculously becomes green and verdant. These conditions are ideal for the incense trees.

When we were there, the monsoon had passed.  We saw a parched and rocky desert with deep, steep gorges and canyons, just north of the southern coastal strip of Dhofar and south of the totally “empty quarter”, shared with Saudi Arabia, where beautiful wind sculpted dunes pile sand up to heights of hundreds of meters.

Here there are Incense trees known since antiquity.

In the valley of Dawkah, our guide, Musallam Hassan, and his father and uncle, who own large numbers of trees in nearby M’dut canyon, welcomed us.  As they and their forebears have done for generations, they patrol the trees regularly harvesting the “tear-drops” of the precious resin.

They expertly cut thin slices of bark from the trees, allowing the white incense latex to ooze from the wounds, reminiscent of the way rubber is harvested.  [Peter has some wonderful photographs, which will be posted on our website as soon as Justin returns].

Three weeks later, the water from this white latex has dried, leaving behind a clear, plastic, sticky globule of incense resin.  Eventually, over several months, this plastic material loses much of its volatile oil and becomes the hard and brittle resin, with which we are all familiar, but of course, in so doing, it declines in quality. These brittle “tear-drops” are the articles of commerce. The best quality frankincense became known as “the silver incense”. Pliny the Elder, the 1st century Roman scholar, described it as “brilliant white, gathered at dawn in drops or tears in the shape of pearls”.

The souks of Salalah are still packed with traders selling various grades of incense.

In the 21st century frankincense still plays an important part in everyday life in parts of the Middle East, particularly Oman, where its smell can be detected in ordinary homes as well as in the five star hotels and the narrow, bustling lanes of the souk.

Most families use it, as Omanis have for centuries, to perfume newly washed clothes, which are hung out to dry on beehive-shaped baskets over a smouldering frankincense burner.  Sailors often burn it at the beginning of a voyage, to bring good look.

Yemeni Jews incorporate the burning of frankincense as an act of purification when preparing a bride for her wedding night. Frequently, women will stand or squat over an incense burner, allowing the scent to waft up under their skirts, thus, according to popular superstition, helping them regain their purity or enhance their natural body aromas.

Archaeologists are now excavating the beautiful, long-abandoned port of Sumhuran, situated on a (now land-locked) freshwater lagoon, where it is believed that seagoing ships had tied up centuries ago, before the mouth of the lagoon was closed off from the open sea, by a natural sandbar, to load cargoes of incense for transportation to the west.

Could this quiet and unspoilt region of southern Oman have been the (or part of the) fabled Land of Punt?

What a fantastic story!  This exciting expedition to Oman was led by Rhona Wells who, in the name of the British Society of Perfumers, worked tirelessly and enthusiastically, with great tact and skill, to ensure that everyone had an unforgettable and unique experience and plenty to write about!   Thank you very much Rhona and Peter.  I can barely wait for some Omani frankincense!

Less is best.
I was wondering whether you would be able to help me out on some recent research I have been doing on Colloidal Silver - I have become very confused! How many PPM (parts per million) of silver should it contain? One company says that it wouldn’t be any good if it was less than 5,000ppm. Also, what about dosage - some say quantities in regions of x fluid ounces and others a teaspoon a day? asked Maxine Sherrell.

A good question. Specific documentation on the optimum potency or dosage for effective use is sparse. This has led to a wide range of products of varying potencies - all claiming to be the best!

According to N.R. Thompson, in Comprehensive Inorganic Chemistry, Volume 5, Chapter 28, the concentration of silver necessary to sterilize water contaminated with pathogenic bacteria is between 40-200 gamma, or 0.04 to 0.2ppm (1ppm = 1000 gamma).

In 1940 and 1966 respectively, Kehoe [Kehoe, R.A. et al. 1940. J. Nutr. 19, 579] and Tipton [Tipton, I.H. et al. 1966. Health Physics 12, 1683] reported that under normal circumstances the average daily diet will yield approximately 50mcg to 100mcg silver (mcg = microgram = one-millionth of a gram).

Therefore, it seems logical that a concentration of 3 to 5ppm, yielding 15mcg to 25mcg of silver per teaspoon, will be sufficient concentration to be both effective and safe to consume on a regular, daily basis.

A 4 fluid oz. (c. 118ml) container of colloidal silver at a concentration of 3ppm will contain approximately 355mcg of total silver - well below any reported toxicity level of ingested silver.

Higher concentrations above 5ppm, or about 591mcg of total silver in a 4 oz. container, may cause silver build-up in the system and are not necessarily more effective.

For example, a 25ppm solution would yield 2.96mg (2,960mcg), a 500ppm solution would yield 59mg (59,000mcg), a 5,000ppm solution would yield 590mg (590,000mcg)!  Any product containing higher concentrations, for example having higher levels than those found in the average daily diet, should definitely be taken with caution, only during a time of need and certainly not for extended periods.

In fact, only the other day, I was rapidly losing my voice and could feel a belter of a summer cold coming on, but with only a few squirts of colloidal silver to the back of the throat for a couple of days I was as right as rain!

Quality is another issue.  The highest quality colloidal silver is produced by the electro-
colloidal/non-chemical method. The silver particles and water have been completely “colloided” and evenly dispersed and held in suspension by an electrical current sent through the combination. This process is the only known method to create truly evenly distributed solution, containing super-fine particles in the range 0.005 - 0.015 microns in diameter, suspended in water, without the need of any chemical, stabilizer, dye, or other ingredient.

The best products will contain the largest number of particles from the smallest total amount of silver.

Valued advice from others.
Interestingly, several suggested salt water for the relief of sinuses, but Sue Hansard, a nurse and qualified Manual Lymphatic Drainage practitioner, questions the use of irrigation of the sinuses because, if there is an underlying infection, irrigation could push the infection into the deeper structures of the face and head and can be very dangerous unless medically supervised. Also, salt water could act as an irritant and cause the membranes to respond by producing  more mucus.

Sue suggests that MLD massage of the face is excellent for alleviating the symptoms of chronic, non-infected sinusitis. It is gentle and works with the body’s lymphatic system to reduce congestion, oedema and inflammation which occur with sinusitis, hayfever, and seasonal rhinitis. However, the number of treatments required varies and MLD is never performed when infection is present, but it is gentle, effective and amazingly relaxing....ideal for a pregnant woman, she says.
No rain or hail in this part of Florida - it is currently 92 degrees ºF., e-mailed old friend Peter O’Rourke.  In response to your request for information on oils indicated as helpful with diabetes:

Rosemary Caddy lists Benzoin, Clary Sage, Eucalyptus Globulus, Geranium, Lemon, Neroli, Scots Pine and Ylang Ylang, in her excellent Essential Oils in Colour.

Sylla Sheppard-Hanger adds Carrot, Fennel, Blue Tansy, Mastic and Vetiver (amongst others) to the list in The Aromatherapy Practitioner Reference Manual [Clinical Index].

Peter himself has found Sweet Marjoram with its ability to lower the blood pressure, and help balance the blood sugar levels, most helpful in assisting people with this disease.

He suggests that, as high blood pressure and kidney problems are frequently associated with diabetic conditions, it may well be possible that any oils which lower blood pressure, assist the digestion, and cleanse the body (by stimulating the lymphatic system), but do not aggravate the kidneys, would be of possible assistance in alleviating the condition.

Geranium and Cancer?
Geranium Bourbon - I have a client who is 1-year in remission from breast cancer and she loves using this oil in her room burner. She apparently used it for 3 to 4 years continuously prior to getting cancer and only ceased when a friend told her of its dangers to those who are prone to/or suffered cancer.

She would dearly like to resume using it in her burner, but I feel a little cautious and decided to do some further research. I have looked through all my books and checked the Internet and they all have conflicting information, i.e., only 2 sites out of some 35 mention a concern, as does Patricia Davis in her book ‘Aromatherapy A-Z’.  I know that amongst other virtues Geranium is very useful in bringing balance to the hormones and often used for PMS and the menopause and hence I can understand the link.  What are your thoughts on the matter?
asked Karen Burgess-Allen.

Honestly, I tend towards the view expressed by Dr. Jane Buckle in her book Clinical Aromatherapy: Essential Oils in Practice [2nd Edition]: “Recent studies have indicated that phytooestrogens, once thought to be contraindicated in cancer, may actually reduce the risk of cancer and could therefore be beneficial. However, as the jury is still out and until more definite information emerges, it might be prudent to avoid essential oils with oestrogen like properties in tumours that are oestrogen dependent.  However, it is extremely unlikely that the tiny amounts of oestrogen-like compounds used in aromatherapy would impact cancerous growth, and....the link to Geranium and Rose is really too tenuous, and both essential oils should be fine to use in oestrogen-dependent cancers, i.e., breast, uterine, and ovarian.”

Nevertheless, I presume that these comments refer to the direct action of essential oils applied through massaging of the skin, although we have no idea as yet whether their activity in such minute amounts can benefit, or harm, the patient through direct action on target organs and tissues, rather than through the odour pathway leading into the mid-brain’s limbic system and thence through the normal sympathetic and parasympathetic pathways.

Therefore, I wonder if these same concerns apply to Geranium through inhalation because, although the numerous aromatherapeutic uses for Geranium are yet to be scientifically proved, there is every reason to accept the scientific evidence that inhalation of a pleasant aroma and its action through the limbic system can have a beneficial effect.

Some vapours of essential oils have been shown to depress contingent negative variation (CNV) brain waves and these are considered to be sedative. Others increase CNV and are considered stimulant. Although there is often a considerable difference in the application of the oils and the measurement of their effect, there is surprisingly, frequent agreement. 

However, in CNV studies, Geranium has shown both a sedative and stimulant effect, unlike that for Lavender and Sandalwood which show sedative effects throughout.  Still, even Valerian, a well-known sedative, showed some stimulant effects in CNV studies.  This suggests that either there is a different effect through concentration or it depends on the individual’s liking/disliking of a given smell.    
 
This lady obviously likes the smell of Geranium Bourbon very much and I seriously doubt that it would do her any harm and, perhaps, it could do her a lot of good.

Comments, please.

charles@essentiallyoils.com

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