aromatherapy (aromatic medicine, conventional aromatherapy, holistic aromatherapy)

"Branch" of herbal medicine that centers on using fragrant substances, particularly oily plant extracts, to alter mood or to improve individuals' health or appearance. The alleged benefits of aromatherapy range from stress relief to enhancement of immunity and the unlocking of "emotions from past experiences." Although aromatherapy has ancient roots, proponents did not call it "aromatherapy" before the 1930s. The expression "aromatherapy" is an umbrella used by the cosmetics, fragrance, and alternative-medicine industries. It derives from the French word aromatherapie, coined by Rene Maurice Gattefosse, a French chemist whose book of the same name was published in 1928. After a lab explosion Gattefosse conveniently plunged his badly burned hand into a vat of lavender oil. He noticed how well it healed, and thus began the development of modern aromatherapy, which French homeopaths Dr. and Mme. Maury revived in the 1960s.

  In the aromatherapy industry the odorous substances of choice are essential oils (oils that are volatile, aromatic, and flammable) from flowers, fruits, grasses, leaves, roots, and wood resins. Manners of use of such oils include sniffing, ingestion, addition to bathwater, and application to the skin (typically with massage). One of aromatherapy's postulates is that essential oils have a "spiritual dimension" and can restore "balance" and "harmony" both to one's body and to one's life. One of its principles, the "doctrine of signatures," holds that a plant's visible and olfactory characteristics reveal its "secret" qualities. For example, because the configuration of the violet suggests shyness, aromatherapists hold that its scent engenders calmness and modesty. Some proponents have characterized essential oils as the soul or spirit of plants.