Aromatherapy & The Plague

Graverobbers R Us

During the Black Plague in 15th-century Marseilles, a group of men made a small fortune robbing graves.  Miraculously, they themselves never got sick from this high contagious illness.

The men were former spice merchants.  Apparently people are not interested in buying saffron or thyme when they are dying of bubonic plague.  So the spice trade went downhill in a hurry, and these blokes found themselves unemployed. Being the enterprising business men that they were, they created a blend of herbs and essential oils that has come to be known as the “Thieves” blend. They rubbed this blend all over their faces, ears, their clothing and their hands, and went about robbing the victims as they lay dead or dying from this horrible illness.  The thieves never got sick, despite their repeated contact with the infected.

When they were finally caught, the magistrate offered them leniency if they disclosed the ingredients in their protective blend. They admitted it contained cloves, cinnamon, rosemary, lemon and eucalyptus.  

If you Google “Thieves blend”, you are going to find a lot of information from one particular company that markets their own blend.  I do not endorse said company and will not mention them by name.  However, according to them, they had their blend tested and it was found to be over 99% effective at killing airborne germs.  This is not surprising, considering the anti-bacterial and anti-viral properties of those five oils.

Dr. Death

This is what doctors looked like during the plague.  The large beak was stuffed with aromatic herbs as a form of protection against illness. Not that doctors were of much use during that time.  There wasn’t really too much they could do to stop the plague or prevent its spread. They just went around poking people with a long stick because they were afraid to touch anyone.  But really, how creepy is this?  If I saw this guy coming at me with his poking-stick, death would be a welcome relief.  I think this is what the Spy vs Spy comics in Mad magazine are based on.

 

Do it yourself

There are different chemotypes of the essential oils included in the “Thieves” blend, but I chose to use the following:

Eucalyptus globulus
Cinnamomum zeylanicum (Cinnamon Bark)
Citrus limon
Rosmarinus officinalis
Syzgium aromaticum

I simply mixed equal proportions of the oil in a small amber glass bottle.  Forty drops of each will amount to approximately 10mL.

This synergy is best to diffuse into the air or make into a spray.  To prevent bacteria growth, use vodka as the base for your spray rather than water.

DO NOT APPLY THIS TO YOUR SKIN UNDILUTED!!  I know the graverobbers did it, but they were fighting bubonic plague, not H1N1.  If you feel you must have some skin protection, you can mix the synergy with unscented hand lotion at a ratio of 5 drops per HEAPING tablespoon.