Aromatherapy for Healing the Spirit
Restoring Emotional and Mental Balance with Essential Oils
By Gabriel Mojay
Copyright 1997 Gaia Books Limited
In 2016 I attended the National Association of Holistic Aromatherapy (NAHA) conference and had the pleasure of meeting Gabriel Mojay. I was able to have my copy of this book signed by him.
During my 7 hours of flying time home I was able to read through most of the book. I have gone back and referenced it several times since then.
This book is broken down into three parts; the therapeutic foundations, the materia aromatica, and restoring balance.
The therapeutic foundations, introduces the reader to essential oils. He takes us on an aromatic journey of 4,000 year describing some of the ancient traditions. Leading us to our current use of essential oils and the various extraction methods. Since essential oils should never be used “neat” (undiluted) there is some information on carriers.
On pages 18-23 there are beautiful illustrations showing how to effectively utilize a massage blend on the full body.
Gabriel is trained in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and shares these concepts as they relate to aromatherapy in the remainder of this section. The book includes colorful charts and diagrams for Yin and Yang, and the Five Elements that help to describe these concepts.
The materia aromatica includes 40 essential oils. True to the title each of these focuses on the emotional healing. One thing that I enjoyed in this section was all the historical information he shares about the plant. As an example, from the fennel profile; “The Greeks were among the first to recognize its value as a gently diuretic slimming aid, naming the herb Marathron, from maraino, to ‘grow thin’.” (pg. 72)
Each essential oil also includes an illustration of the plant. Also, in the margin there are historical facts and an illustration to match.
In the final section, restoring balance, the focus is on balancing the mind, body and spirit. Although, I have been studying TCM for a few years this may be a challenging section for anyone that doesn’t have a basic understanding. As he states the mental concerns addressed may need attention from a trained physician, but the suggested blends and massage techniques can help. Personally, I feel these concepts are something we should be learning and paying attention too.
Overall, I would recommend this book for anyone interested in learning more about aromatherapy. Although the TCM concepts may be something new they are valuable and worth exploring.
Please share your recommendations in the comments.
