Essential Oils in Ancient Persian Healing Traditions
Essential oils have more than existed and been used for an extremely long time were used in ancient times as a gift given to humanity approx. 4000 BC. Archaeologists have verified that many ancient cultures e.g. the ancient Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, Chinese and Persians adopted aromatherapy oils for their curing, aromatic, and cosmetic properties.
The Egyptians used essential oils most widely for embalming, cosmetics, spiritual relaxation, and also for mummifying their dead. Later around 300 BC, Europe became the center of pragmatic medicine, where new techniques were increasingly growing into a more methodically based system of curing. Ancient Greeks also deemed that good health could be maintained with aromatic baths and oil massages. Many ancient Greek physicians tried with the curative abilities of essential oils.
The Chinese were also utilizing scented oils thousands of years ago. Assumingly, the ancient Chinese were extremely productive in their usage of essential oils for nursing. Many periods later, the utilization of essential oils lasted to extend extensively across the world and was accepted for their aroma.
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History of Essential Oils and Aromatherapy:
Early Chinese and then Egyptians have been involved in aromatherapy in ancient times. However, in the 11th Century, the history of aromatherapy in Persia began when a well-renowned physician, Ibn-e-Sina, also known as Avicenna in the era of 1000 AC, devised a pipe that steam-refined the plants and yielded genuine essential oils and not musky waters as in the past. Ibn-e-Sina’s input led to more emphasis on essential oils and their advantages.
Historically proven that the ancient Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, and Persians were accustomed to aromatherapy oils, aromatic plants were also known in ancient China. The research on the Persian history of Essential Oils and Aromatherapy signifies the fame of aromatherapy in ancient Persia as a technique of sanitization and healing. Additionally, the existing analysis uses spiritual texts, ancient Persian documents in the Pahlavi language, and the history of Persia to verify the status and function of aromatherapy as a method of cure in ancient Persian medicine. In ancient Persia, the disease was noticed as a result of evil. For example, Ahriman and Ganak Mainyu remained the main grounds of diseases, habitually associated with profane odors and filth. Thus, ancient Persians strived to cure diseases by using aromatherapy through herbs and using certain hygienic theories. On the other hand, auric theologies were associated with sweet smells, as such, scents were utilized in keeping with the celestial forces, and aromatic ingredients, herbs and woods were utilized as a means of deterrence to remove the roots of illnesses, and as a therapy for certain cerebral and corporal diseases.
Persian healing with essential oils:
The research exhibited that Ancient Persian shamanic healing and essential oils kept pace with each other to work with energy, spirit guides, and natural components to help the individuals on a mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual level. Shamanic healing has been an effective and prevailing technique to heal the body and soul. In this aspect, a wide range of techniques is exercised to bring back healing energy to the individuals. These methods comprise drumming, chanting, dancing, and usage of plant medicines prepared through essential oils. Lavender essential oils have similar healing properties based on the chemistry of lavender essential oil. Thus, in the shamanic assessment, is a living, sensible being. These oils will interact differently with individuals on a spirit level.
Traditional Persian medicine for wound healing:
In traditional Persian medicine, there have been several herbal instructions for wound healing. The mixture of Aloe Vera, Myrrh, and Frankincense had been prescribed by scholars in the form of “Zaroor” or “Zemad” for wound healing. However, Burseraceae is recognized as “Kondor” in the Persian language and comprises Boswellic acid, being the main well-acknowledged energetic constituent of the resin.
Anti-inflammatory impacts of B. carteri as well as its ethnomedicinal utilization to heal rheumatoid arthritis and other provocative diseases have been developed. Myrrh, known as “Morr” in Persian, is a yellow-brown fragrant oleo-gum resin acquired from the shoots of the genus Commiphora, mostly C. myrrha (Burseraceae). It has been proven that myrrh has an extensive range of biological properties consisting of antibacterial, antinociceptive, anti-inflammatory and anti-ulcer conducts.
Ancient Persian Skincare:
The medication of Ancient Persian skincare was based on the utilization of natural cures, and skincare was no exception. Persian therapists would use several herbs, flowers, and oils to generate treatments for common skin orders, such as acne, eczema, and psoriasis. Many of the components utilized in contemporary skincare stuff can be found in ancient Persian beauty preparations. Oils like argan oil and rosehip oil are still usually used today. For example, Saffron was a trendy constituent utilized in Persian skincare therapies due to its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant peculiarities. Turmeric was also regularly consumed due to its capability to lessen redness and improve a smooth skin tone. Additionally, rose water was another ordinarily benefitted component in Persian skincare remedies for effectively treating acne and other skin irritations. Essential oils like lavender and tea tree oil are also prevalent in present skincare practices, and in addition, many Persian-inspired skincare products have arisen in recent years, proposing to consumers an environmental and holistic attitude to their beauty routines.
Ancient Persian beauty procedures also stressed the significance of exfoliation and purification. They consumed biological components like sugar, honey, and clay to moderately withdraw dead skin cells and froths from the skin. This practice is still applicable today, as exfoliation is an elemental step in any skincare routine. Furthermore, another beauty routine that was instigated in ancient Persia is the utilization of henna for hair and body skills. Henna is an ecological dye that is still adopted today to generate sophisticated designs on the skin and to color hair. It is an unharmed and natural substitute for chemical hair dyes and transitory tattoos.
Persian herbal oils medicine:
The herbal medicinal oils in traditional Persian medicine in regular production procedures of herbal oils are broadly used by local practitioners. The processing of medicinal oils is engrained in conventional information with a saga of more than 3000 years. The application of herbal medicinal oils in traditional Persian medicine dates to ancient times. Flowers, fruits, and leaves were mainly utilized regularly. These herbal oils have been usually managed via oral, topical, and nasal tracks for gastrointestinal, musculoskeletal, and nervous diseases, correspondingly.
Lime Persian / Tahiti Essential Oil (Citrus latifolia Tanaka):
As the Lime Persian / Tahiti Essential Oil (Citrus latifolia Tanaka) is concerned, we know that the scant management of ‘Tahiti’ acid lime reaping has led to superiority loss and cut productivity for producers and exporters. Fruit was picked with scissors, by twisting, with the help of a metal basket and with a hook.
The common utilization of Tahiti essential oil was narrated as:
- Aids in Digestion
- Cures Fever
- Defends against Cholera
- Eye Care
- Heals Peptic Ulcer
- Manages Diabetes
- Prevents Heart Diseases
- Relieves Constipation
- Skin Care
- Treats Arthritis
- Treats Piles
- Treats Respiratory Disorders
- Treats Scurvy
- Treats Urinary Disorders
- Weight Loss
However, this essential oil has phototoxic characteristics and contact with the sun must be prevented once applied to the skin. Therefore, it should be diluted properly before use and it should be applied externally. It can instigate skin nuisance in some people, so a skin test is advised before use. Moreover, contact with the eyes should be prevented.
Down To Earth Oils:
Nature has a path of soothing our bodies and stimulating our minds. The Down to Earth Oils comprise such prevalent oils that improve biological strength of well-being. They are very helpful in providing comfort and peace in stress, sleep, hair, skin, immunity, hormones, breathing, gastrointestinal, pain, and inflammation. Different oils are known as down-to-earth as vetiver, sandalwood, cedarwood, patchouli, and frankincense are often described as “earthy” oils and are believed to help with grounding and relaxation.
Essential oils for healing:
Essential oils can tender a potent caring tool for those pursuing support inner hope, happiness, and sensitive healing. Their advantages boost when used in unification with other remedies and constructive survival plans such as exercise, contemplation, and journaling. They are also beneficial to aid with particular handling, mental healing, and improvement.
Rose Geranium Essential Oil:
Its perfumed, earthy, citrusy scent can have an abrupt elevating effect that rouses feelings of hope, glee, and self-assurance in the future. It was understood to have the ability to repel nasty spirits if planted around one’s home.
Helichrysum Essential Oil:
It transfers a revitalizing herbaceous fragrance that is amiably sweet and sound. Its charming, calming fragrance nurtures a feeling of peace and repair, and its healing characteristics have been exhibited to definitely aid in mental retrieval.
Frankincense Essential Oil:
It has been utilized for periods in holy and religious rituals as it was supposed to fortify one’s spirituality while defending against adverse forces. In aromatherapy, it is utilized to soothe feelings of distress and anxiety that can confuse one’s sense of wisdom and positivity.
Neroli Essential Oil:
Its striking aroma and convincing consequences on mental strength are well-known. It can also assist in calming those who undergo increasing anxiety or agitated thoughts just before sleep.
It bears a strong and lasting musky aroma that can be encircled in very gentle fruity, grassy, or sugary pungent tones. Its fragrance has the ability to improve cheerless moods that can be supplemented by moods of solitude and despair.
Basil Sweet Essential Oil:
It has a crisp, diverging, herbaceous fragrance that also displays a hint of bloomy sweetness. It advances sentiment directive and mental flexibility, enabling latent feelings of despair or mental feebleness.
Peppermint Essential Oil: Its revitalizing and soothing fragrance is presumed to increase levels of meditation and spiritual focus. Peppermint essential oil’s intense mint-like cologne is exclusively reviving to the feelings when diffused.
Clove Bud Essential Oil: Its typically peppery aroma is brilliantly healing for mental and substantial lassitude. It is chiefly believed for its stimulating and neuroprotective features that can help combat fatigue or mental haziness.
Vetiver Essential Oil: It has an effective plain fragrance and in aromatherapy, this green oil is used to relieve psychological lethargy while tendering a sense of intense peace and relaxation.
Lemon Essential Oil: It can have a potent exciting effect on the feelings. Its strong, sharp fragrance is also distinguished to create a happy and confident mood.
Grapefruit Essential Oil: It releases a fresh, acute, and jovial citrusy aroma that can perform as an immediate mood brightener while provoking one’s emotional strength, energy, and desires. It helps in promoting vitality levels while controlling undesirable feelings and propensities such as redundancy.
The current status of old traditional medicine:
The history of old traditional medications comprises several civilizations including Egyptians, Greeks, Chinese, and Persians which still have impacts on modern-day medications. In order to extract the findings for the current status of old traditional medicine, it is noted that traditional Chinese medicine contains more than a thousand herbal medicines. The construction of the Silk Road allowed the trade of goods such as teas, silks, carpets, and medicines among the East and West of the Eurasia continent. Through this time, the ‘Compendium of Materia Medica’ (CMM) was united by a traditional medicine physician, Shizhen Li (1,518-1,593). This historic masterpiece saved knowledge of traditional therapeutic materials and healings in China from the 16th century. Out of 1892 medical materials from the CMM, 46 arrived from Persia. It is discovered that 20 herbs and four stones out of the 46 materials are enlisted as medicinal materials in the current China Pharmacopoeia. However, many of these thymes and gravels are distributed in China, or exchanges are offered but ferula, saffron, myrrh, and olibanum are yet very reliant on imports.
Diverse biological effects of the essential oil from Iranian Trachysperumum ammi:
In Iranian traditional medicine, the plant named Trachyspermum ammi has a worthy standing. The hydrodistilled essential oil from the yields of Trachysperumum ammi, widely referred to as ‘ajwain oil’, is utilized still in Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India in the preparation of curry to add savory to various foods, as an additive, and in perfumery.
On the other hand, at the curative level, ajwain oil is utilized in the healing of gastrointestinal disorders, lack of hunger, and bronchial troubles. The diverse biological effects of the essential oil from Iranian Trachysperumum ammi can be described as the antimicrobial and antioxidant activity, the cytotoxicity on cancer cells, and the stimulation of lymphocyte proliferation. Furthermore, the hangup on nicotinate mononucleotide adenylyltransferase, being an auspicious new target for growing fresh antibiotics, was appraised. The antimicrobial impacts of ajwain oil were pertinent, with reserve zones greater than those of source antibiotics, specifically on Staphylococcus aureus and Candida albicans. Trachysperumum ammi signifies a curative plant with a strengthened contour in Iranian traditional medicine. Most of its unique utilizations are likely to be traded also to Western medicine. Ajwain oil, which is categorized by thymol as the chief bioactive component, was evidenced to employ significant biological effects such as antimicrobial and antioxidant, authorizing what was formerly reported in the information and sustaining its latent application as a food preservative with worth analogous to that of commercially used elements.
Traditional Medicinal Plants of Azerbaijan Province of Iran:
The fragrant herbs and spices are vast and supportable reserves of biological constituents with several advantageous characteristics as traditional medicinal plants of the Azerbaijan Province of Iran. They have a diversity of therapies, mainly in the cure of disease and in order to generate a pleasant aroma and scent of food have been utilized ever since ancient times.
Presently, some of these plants are grown on a trade basis and utilized in a multiplicity of making of constituents. In Eastern Azerbaijan regions, healing plants are commonly gathered by locals from highlands and fields. Eastern Azerbaijan medical plants are not systematically well renowned but are traditionally consumed in pastoral areas. Regularly utilized medicinal plants in the region pertain to Lamiaceae, Asteraceae, Rosaceae, Urticaceae, Apiaceae and Grossulariacea family.
Some Medicinal Plants Cultivate in Iran:
It is evident that plants have acted as a chief factor in the cure of several ailments, particularly in the East region countries of Iran. Iran is an ancient country in utilization of herbal plants and there is evidence highlighting Persians as the developers in using plants for therapeutic purposes. However, some medicinal plants cultivated in Iran such as basil, chicory, sweet violet, and peppermint are cited in Avesta and the names of thirty holy medicinal plants are cited in Bundahishn.
The genus Ziziphora L. pertains to Labiatae and comprises of four categories that are prevalent all over Iran. The genus Stachys (Lamiaceae) is found in the Mediterranean counties and southwest Asia. Around three hundred Stachys classes are notified. Several Stachys classes are utilized in Iranian common medicine as medicinal plants. Additionally, pharmacological research confirmed that abstracts or constituents of plants pertaining to the genus Stachys apply significant antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, antitoxic and antianoxia impacts. The most consumed parts of the plants were the leaves with 31%, the whole plants with 19%, and the roots with 15%.
Eight Essential Foods in Iranian Traditional Medicine and Their Role in Health Promotion and Well-being:
For describing eight essential foods in Iranian traditional medicine and their role in health promotion and well-being, it is emphatic to note that they had a particular role in stabilizing human temper assuring health and well-being.
Such Eight Essential Foods comprised:
- Visual – This food embraces the whole thing in the reach of human sight which is remarkable in his/her thought. Natural good-looking scenes have almost a friendly temper and assist in balancing individual temperament.
- Touch – Touch food consists of all substances in straight link to the body’s skin, like clothes, which have a causal role in temper restraint in the case of being natural.
- Sexual – Sexual food fulfills the human requirement to utter his/her love and/or is loved, so its realization could check human mal-temperament.
- Oral – Such foods must be halal, matching with exclusive temper, eaten twice a day, and also harmonious to different periods and terrestrial conditions.
- Olfactory – This food has odors that excite the smell.
- Imaginary – This food contains distinct thought substances which is precisely linked to mental and physical strength. It helps to equalize temperament and be free of unconstructive thoughts such as disbelief and distrust of others.
- Familiarity – This food can be supplied by acquaintances with friends and family affiliates and has a momentous role in protecting well-being.
- Auditory – Auditory food consists of all noises encasing us, some of which are calming and aid to balance temper, such as environmental sounds, and religious and lovely words.
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