Are Essential Oils Intelligent Enough to Heal?

Plant Cells, Human Cells – Plant Life, Human Life

Many years ago Bruce H. Lipton, Ph.D. wrote a book about human cells called the Biology of Belief. It was a huge success and got many people thinking about the possibility that our cells are completely intelligent and that we have the power as human beings to go within and speak with our cells for greater health.  He has recently published the 10th Anniversary Edition- Biology of Belief, Unleashing the Power of Consciousness, Matter & Miracles.  He stated that cells are similar to regimented marching soldiers in formation. Wherever one turns, they all turn. Our cells are much like this in that they will pick up information from the cell next to it and “talk” to it, spreading the information. This could be either in the form of health or ill-health.

This has become an interesting new practice that is being used by Health Coaches, Energy Facilitators and now Functional Medicine doctors as well.  His thoughts and views have brought together two totally opposite schools of thought.  Scientific vs Metaphysical.  If we can simply “go into” our bodies and speak to our cells lovingly and with our “vibrational light” to bring about better health, it would make a huge difference in our healing process.

As these “new thought” ideas have come to light through alternative measures in the past, recent scientific research now has come forward to call this PNI. Psychoneuroimmunology.  It is a respected branch of research where brain cells can communicate with blood cells.  This is a communication that can be applied through relaxation and imagery.  Going within the body and talking to the cells, incorporating neuroscience, psychology and immunology. It shows the interaction between psychological processes and the nervous and immune systems.

Many people who have chronic illnesses such as cancer, diabetes, autoimmune and heart disease also tend to have several Nervous and Emotional Body System disorders as well.  Applying energy and vibrational frequencies has proven by Energetic/Reiki Facilitators that they are able and prompted to help their clients release from their cellular memory anything they are ready to let go of, from a physical, emotional, mental and spiritual level. What is put back in, is an abundance of light and love energy that fills the cells throughout their body and all the way out to the auric field.  The client then feels much lighter and relaxed and is more open to new healthy thought processes. What is taught in Energetic/Reiki classes is that most of our physical disorders begin in the emotional layer of our auric field.  What needs to be addressed first is that the healing will begin at the cellular level first.  This time is also used to speak to their client’s cells for healing and to teach the client to as well.

Many Alternative Health Practitioners practice many different forms of energetic modalities.  Different things work for different people.  There is a very large group of people nowadays who have turned to Essential Oils for their “go to” resource of natural healing.  It is used by not only Aromatherapists, but by mothers and fathers, health practitioners, people who are just curious, and lately on the internet a series of doctors who are also promoting the benefits of adding essential oils to our everyday use instead of traditional pharmacology.

So what is an Essential Oil?  “Essential oils are a fragrant, vital fluid distilled from flowers, shrubs, leaves, trees, roots and seeds.  Because they are necessary for the life of the plant and play a vital role in the biological processes of the vegetation, these substances are called “essential” because they carry the life-blood, intelligence, and vibrational energy that endow them with the healing power to sustain their own life—and help the people who use them”. (1)

In Aromatherapy classes it is mentioned that plants also have great intelligence and use defense systems of their own to grow and flourish.  Does that then mean that plant life and plant cells have their own intelligence? And what does this mean for the subject of essential oils and their interaction with human cells? Are they actually intelligent enough to heal at the cellular level?

Let’s first take a look at plant life and plant cells…

“Without green plants we would neither breathe nor eat. Plants engage in photosynthesis, producing oxygen and food for both humans and animals. They synthesize it out of air, water and sunlight.  All the food, drink, drugs and medicine that keep man alive and, if properly used radiantly healthy are out through the sweetness of photosynthesis. Instinctively aware of the aesthetic vibrations of plants, which are spiritually satisfying, human beings are happiest and most comfortable when living with flora. At birth, marriage, death, blossoms are prerequisites, as they are at mealtime or festivities.  We give plants and flowers as tokens of love, of friendship, or homage.  Our houses are adorned with gardens, our cities with parks our nations with national preserves.” (2)

From the days of Aristotle, through The Middle Ages and the 19th Century, it was believed that plants may have soul, but no sensation.  It wasn’t until the beginning of the 20th century that that a Viennese biologist whose name was Raoul Francé, put forth the idea that plants move more gracefully and skillfully than humans or animals, but at a much slower pace.  Plants instinctively know how to turn their roots to find moisture, how to protect against invaders, how to move toward the sun for growing and life, how to change with the seasons. “A climbing plant which needs a prop will creep toward the nearest support.  Should this be shifted, the vine, within a few hours, will change its course in the new direction. Can the plant see the pole? Does it sense it in some unfathomed way?” (3)  Can plants then have intent?

This is the short scientific version and viewpoint of plant history, but if you look at the history of essential oils, which we know come from plants, then the history and the viewpoint vary greatly.

Rebecca Totilo, in her book, Therapeutic Blending with Essential Oil states, “Historical records show that people’s use of scents, aromas, fragrances, and essential oils have been in almost every culture for millenniums and are considered man’s first medicine.  Essential oils and other forms of aromatics have been use in religious ceremonies, for treating various illnesses and for spiritual and emotional needs”.  She goes on to say that, “Ancient manuscripts record the use of medicinal herbs dating back to 2800 BC, documenting the use of plants with aromatic qualities for healing by the Chinese and the Egyptians.”  History documents essential oils being used by the Greeks and Romans as well.

It wasn’t until the beginning of the twentieth century that essential oils were rediscovered to have medicinal properties and this was in 1937 by a French chemist, Rene-Maurice Gattefosse.  He accidently burned his hand and thrust it in a vat of pure Lavender essential oil and found his wounds quickly healed.  Gattefosse went on to study and document the effects of essential oils on various parts of the human body.

There were other pioneers who followed that also made great contributions in the usage of essential oils. This is a very brief version of essential oil history, but gives us a reference of how long we have been using and healing from all parts of plant life.

There is a rather old book called The Secret Life of Plants, from the 1970’s that document the life and discoveries made by a man named Cleve Backster.  Backster, who was America’s foremost CIA lie-detector examiner decided to hook up his polygraph machine to one of his plants.  On a whim.  What happened then, changed history and how we view plants and their cells.  It has provided insight into being able to connect intelligence between all living creatures.

The electrodes of the machine, when hooked up with a human will show changes in that person’s electrical properties.  It will change when a human tells a lie.  The paper in the machine will trace lines in a downward motion.  Backster was wondering how long it would take his plant to soak up water from the root to the leaves, where he had attached an electrode when there was a noticeable upward trend in the tracing. The plant was showing a reaction!  He then decided to threaten the well-being of the plant to see if there would be a reaction.  He dunked a leaf in hot coffee and got no response, so he thought about getting a match from another room and burn the leaf.  As soon as he had that thought, the machine attached to the plant began a vigorous movement.  Backster had not even moved, was only thinking.  When he did get the matches, there was a second surge of movement.  A little less when he actually put the match to the leaf.

“The next morning when he showed his associate Robert Henson what had happened, his associate decided to burn the plant.  At that instant, a similar reaction occurred.  But Backster refused to let him actually harm the plant.  When either of them only pretended to harm the plant, there was not further reaction. Did the plants know their thoughts so sensitively as to differentiate between when they meant it and when they didn’t?

Recalls Backster, “Have you ever been alone in a room but had a feeling of a presence with you? I saw that plant now not as a mass of chemicals, chlorophyll and water, but as something more …a living thing with the capability of some primary type of perception.” (4)

The rest as they say is history. After his article came out, much research and experiments were replicated by others, all using what came to be known as “The Backster Effect”, but he continued his own research, still wondering about the perception abilities of the plants.  Did they have their own innate intelligence?  In one famous experiment, Backster decided to see if a plant had memory.  He devised a scheme to have the plant identify a secret killer of one of two plants.  Six student volunteers were blindfolded and pulled from a hat, folded pieces of paper which had instructions on them.  One volunteer was instructed to destroy one of the plants by stomping on it completely.  Backster, nor the other volunteers knew who got those instructions.  Only the killer.   They all left the room except for the remaining plant who was to be the only witness.  After the deed was done, Backster hooked the remaining plant up to the machine and paraded the student volunteers into the room.  The plant made no reaction when most of the students came into the room, but went crazy when the culprit paraded in front of it.  Did the plant recognize the killer and remember?

Backster also noted that each plant has a special affinity or bond between the plant and its keeper.  He noted in future experiments that the plant knew certain activities and showed response according to his own movements sometimes many miles away.  All of this was in the late 1960’s.  So much has happened since then.  Could this then be the start of what we now know as PNI? Cells, human and plant, communicating and sending information to each other?

Yes, it appears that plants can “know” our thoughts. Some plants better than others.  Some thoughts better than others.  But the simplest living cells appear to read our thoughts too.  Our thoughts or emotions can possibly be known by our liver cells, our heart cells, our kidney cells. Take our mouth cells.  Even when removed a distance from our body and monitored with electronic devices, they have been found in more recent research to react measurably to our thoughts or emotions.  There is strong evidence that points to our thoughts being known by cells, organisms, plants, animals and brain cell in other people.  There is evidence, too, that plants and animals know each other’s thoughts.”(5)

In other experiments done, scientists were able to actually hear noise emitting from plants that were in deep drought conditions.  Were they asking for help?

There is so much research on plant intelligence and human-like behavior that is enough as they say to make a vegetarian wonder if we should be eating plants at all!

Now let’s take a look at Human Cells… From the web: Dictionary.com

A storeroom, a chamber

Biology – a usually microscopic structure containing nuclear and cytoplasmic material enclosed by a semipermeable membrane and, in plants, a cell wall; the basic structural unit of all organisms. (6)

Our cells are our oldest living ancestors, shared by all of life since creation.  We all possess the same building blocks, molecules, and biochemical principles.  Written in the biography of the cell are the mysteries of life, growth, and transformation.  At every moment of every day, our cells orchestrate millions of molecular symphonies, guided by cellular intelligence. (7)

With the questions that have been raised, it is necessary to look at the Spiritual side of cells as well.  There are many books by Scientists as well as Aromatherapists, who are willing to bridge the two worlds; one of science and one of spirituality.  Many people who study and do research need to know why and how, but many who ask questions today are also willing to look at the other side.  The spiritual side.  It is stated that all was created with a definite “plan” in mind.  With new research being done, man and/or woman can begin to look at each single cell as being connected to a greater whole. In many circles today, we hear that, “we are all connected”, “we are all as one”.  We are now being taught to understand these concepts as a “whole”.

Sondra Barrett, Ph.D states in her book, Secrets of Your CELLS, “there are two dimensions in our human experience: scientific investigation and spiritual exploration—here we bridge science and the sacred.  When we mine for scientific facts, we are engaging our intellectual brain, the one that wants data, analysis, proofs, and measurements.  The scientist wants to know why and how.  The sacred and spiritual experience is said to have no place in science, yet to fully know and appreciate life and our place in it, I believe both dimensions need to be present. Our inner, intuitive, natural knowing, looks at the whole of experience rather than only its measurable components.” (8)

In her opinion and many current scientists as well as that of Robert Hooke, a scientist from three hundred years ago, “a cell is a place where life is captured and vital ingredients are stored and protected—it is a sanctuary for life.  Within each of us, therefore, are 100 trillion cells—100 trillion sanctuaries.” (9)

The Cellular Container – “The outside surface of each human and animal cellular sanctuary is called the plasma or cell membrane.  It is flexible, malleable.  The plasma membrane, constructed from self-organizing chains of hydrocarbon molecules (fat) and generously “seasoned” with protein, forms the boundary where the cell meets the world in which it lives. A cell’s plasma membrane becomes more flexible as the cell matures.  It also becomes better able to recognize other cells, respond to the environment, move and change shape.” (10)

If watching a cell under a microscope, you can see if there is an “invader” within their space or “sanctuary”, they will go on the attack to remove it.  Which brings us to

The Immune System –“Any invader that breaches the physical barrier of skin or mucosa is greeted by the innate immune system – our second line of defense.  Immunologists call this system “innate” because it is a defense that all animals just naturally seem to have.  Indeed, some of the weapons of the innate immune system have been around for more than 500 million years.” (11)

Lauren Sonpayrac, who wrote, “How The Immune System Works” says that “Our first line of defense against invaders consist of physical barriers, including viruses, bacteria, parasites and fungi that must penetrate our shields. An area as big as two tennis courts.  The main point is that we have a large perimeter which must be defended”.

Like the plant cells, our human cells also know instinctively when and how to move and defend themselves. Our tissues consists of white blood cells that defend against attack. As you can imagine, the process is very complicated scientifically.  We have macrophage which go after bacterium.  When it does it engulfs it in a pouch called a phagosome. There it fuses with another vesicle called a lysomome which have chemicals and enzymes which can destroy the bacterium.  All of this is a very simple version by far.  Within our macrophages and all the other blood cells in our body are made in the bone marrow, where they come from self-renewing cells called stem cells.  These are intelligent enough to regenerate and become mature blood cells. All will go to various parts of the body where they are needed for human life to survive.  Our stem cells must turn out more than two million new red blood cells each second to replace those lost due to normal wear and tear. White blood cells are called “white” because they lack hemoglobin and are not red. The advancements in cell biology have led to a greater understanding and knowledge that we have of the human body and the immune system and how it works. We have an understanding of how the cells grow, replicate, metabolize and how they die.  They are the building blocks of life and hold the keys to sickness, pain and disease.  The fact that these cells run our bodies so efficiently amazes me!

The science is what we see, we see, so therefore it is.  But again, it may just show a much greater plan.  As stated earlier, for many people who have chronic conditions which all seem to begin from an immune system that needs adjustment and which causes major inflammation in our bodies, now science is showing us that we can look at the human cell to begin the healing process.

When we go on to continue the research of Cleve Backster, he did not stop his experimentation with just plants.  He studied animals and then humans.  It was the human experiments in the 1980’s that finally gave him the concept that we are all connected. He upgraded his equipment with videos and charts.  One day he placed white blood cells from a man’s mouth into a test tube in his laboratory.  He then asked his “donor” to watch a war documentary on his home television.  The donor had been stationed at Pearl Harbor during the Japanese Attack. The chart shows tremendous dips and lines being drawn throughout the time the donor was watching the film.  He later commented that he was emotionally involved during certain scenes as he remembered his experiences.  Many experiments then followed, and all were the same.  Human white blood cells reacted to all and any emotional feelings that donors were experiencing from a distance.

Which brings us to: Are Essential Oils stemming from plants intelligent enough to heal?

Man today is very dependent in most cases on traditional and pharmaceutical therapy.  We as humans are sicker than ever.  The insurance and drug companies are making trillion of dollars each year and we get nowhere.  But…there are many who are open to change. Aromatherapy has come forward more strongly in recent years with so many books and major companies who are teaching more and more about essential oils and their ability to heal at a deep level.

We’ve learned that plants have an intelligence all their own and we know that essential oils made from plants have molecular structures with a very deep chemical makeup that possess healing abilities.  Science is now blending with Ancient Wisdom and Mother Nature.

“Essential Oils are natural aromatic compounds and volatile liquids extracted from the seeds, roots, bark, stems, leaves, flowers, resins, and other parts of plants.  These valuable liquids are most commonly obtained from plants through distillation-often by using steam or mechanically or cold pressed as is the case with citrus oils extracted from the peels. The chemical makeup of essential oils is highly complex and may consist of hundreds of distinct chemical compounds.” (12)

Essential oils are made up of compounds of Alcohols, Aldehydes, Alkanes, Alkenes, Carboxylic Acids, Coumarins, Esters, Ethers, Ketones, Lactones, Oxides, Phenols, Terpenes, Monoterpenes, Sesquiterpenes, and Diterpenes.

“Recent studies in medical research now confirm essential oils therapeutic and medicinal qualities to be: Analgesic, Anesthetic, Anti-allergenic, Antibacterial, Anti-coagulant, Anti-convulsant, Antidepressant, Antiodontalgic, Antiemetic, Antifungal, Antihistamine, Anti-infectious, Anti-inflammatory, Antimicrobial, Antineuralgic, Anti-rhuematic, anti-scorbutic, Antiseptic, Antispasmodic, Antisudorific, Anti-venomous, Antiviral, Aperitif, Aphrodisiac, Astringent, Bactercide, Balsamic, Bechic. Carminative, Cholagogue, Cicatrisant, Circulatory Stimulant, Cooling, Cordial, Cytophylactic, Decongestant, Depurative, Detoxification, Digestive Support, Disinfectant, Diuretic, Emmenagogue, Expectorant, Febrifuge, Immune Support, Immunostimulant, Laxative, Lymphatic Support, Mucolytic, Neuralgia, Nervine, Sedative, tonic, Vascular Cleansing, Vermifuge and Warming.” (13)

What a list of ways the oils can help and heal! For all those listed above, a traditional doctor would prescribe many pills and possibly many surgeries to “fix”.  When in most cases, it will only treat the symptom, not the actual disease or “root issue”.  It is very empowering to be able to open almost any Essential Oil reference book and be able to find a list of oils and carriers that will treat almost any condition that we can think of without having to run straight to our doctor’s office.  And to have choices on so many different oils that will exactly pinpoint a certain symptom or ailment.

Rebecca Park Totilo also states in her book, Therapeutic Blending, “that all of the major physical systems of the body including the circulatory, lymphatic, eliminative, reproductive, endocrine, muscular and skeletal have been responsive to aromatherapy in a positive manner”.

How to use? Essential oils are very effective if inhaled. This allows the oil to go right to the cell receptor site and are transmitted to the limbic system for deep healing on many levels. It can used as a diffuser in the room, placed on the hands and inhaled or used on the ailing body part. Essential Oils are used in cosmetics, body care products, salves, lotions, balms, compresses and there are some that may also be ingested. Many also find placing oils on the bottom of the feet to be just as effective.  If you think about it, reflexology shows all the parts of the human body can be reached by treating the feet.

“Because of the medicinal properties of the plant, essential oils have the ability to produce with a little bit from science, a synergistic reaction with each other, cells, genes, carrier oils and even drugs. Merging art and science. One of the most exciting realms of essential oils is the recent understanding of how they impact the body at the cellular level.  When you impact the cell, you impact life. As we further our knowledge of how essential oils affect cellular behavior and function, we increase the likelihood of achieving not only a longer but also a healthier lifespan.” (14)

As mentioned before, essential oils are made up of botanicals that are distilled into concentrated compounds.  These compounds are essential for health, wellness and the maintenance of the cell. “Essential oils are pure facilitative small molecules that impact the health of the cell to impact the health of the body.  These facilitative small molecules are able to influence the cell to more effectively overcome ailments, toxins, and inhibitory inefficiencies to more successfully balance one’s health.” (15)

Scientific studies have been conducted for many years by many companies, to prove that essential oils, stemming from plants, from Mother Nature work at a cellular level for health and healing. So much so that a company in Utah has “patented a process of labeling essential oil constituents through an unbreakable covalent bond with fluorescent fluorophores.  This means the company in visual science can show how essential oils impact the cell.  They can show the process to characterize the true physical relationship between essential oils and cells, a process they have termed “Cell Active & Permeable.” For each essential oil it will show where it is localized into the cell, meaning, while the cell is living, the technology has the ability to track and see the facilitative small molecules of essential oils penetrate the cell membrane, and which organelle they localize to within the cell.” (16)

“There has also been study that essential oils work to increase telomere length.  Telomeres are sequences of DNA that don’t code for gene but rather are protective ends to the chromosomes.  Telomeres are an area of research that show strong correlation to both aging and cancer.  As we age and our cells divide with each cellular division, the telomeres on the end of the chromosomes become more stressed creating an “aged” cell.  This has dramatic implications with respect to stem cells and their ability to continually generate a fresh stream of cells.” (17)

By showing through scientific means, the interaction between essential oils and the living human cells, we are better able to understand the synergistic properties of essential oils with cells. And the synergistic properties of the oils with each other.  How these compounds work will also show us how it effects our genetic makeup, our DNA.

In doing recent case studies, it has been found that many clients had disorders in their Emotional and Nervous Systems.  It has shown that in many cases a good way to start a client on a regimen of using essential oils is to begin to calm these body systems first so that healing will begin by calming the mind first. Or in scientific terms, “The Central Nervous System”.   There is a quote that is used in Reiki by Usui Sensei, the founder of Usui Reiki that says, “Heal the Mind, Heal the Body”.

Once the Emotional and Nervous System Bodies have been addressed, it might prove beneficial by blending Immunostimulant oils that help to build and strengthen the immune system and to also use blends for the Cytophylactic System, which according to Rebecca Park Totilo, in her book, Therpeutic Blending, “stimulate cellular regeneration and are also good in skin care and for the aging.  She goes on to say that this method is also believed by people who practice alternative medicine, that these oils can fight infection by increasing the production leucocytes in the body.”

With a thought and an idea and much research we know now that our cells are responsive to our environment.  This means that they will with react to whatever is placed in and around them, whether it be our loving thoughts, healthy lifestyle, energetic and vibrational energy or essential oils.

We know that plant cells with their innate intelligence are responsive to not only their own kind, but to human cells as well and with the extra gift of their chemical makeup, are a beautiful gift from Mother Nature – Essential Oils are believed by many to be intelligent enough to heal on all levels; Physical, Emotional, Mental and Spiritual.  We have at our disposal all that we need to maintain our health and possible longevity of life.

Research shows that brain neurons can contact the brain neurons of another human being. Our cells can communicate with plant cells very effectively and we can talk to our own cells and they will reply. This brings us back to the original theory from Bruce Lipton.  People have the ability to heal themselves and to care for their cells at the cellular level.  But with the addition of Essential Oils from the plant kingdom, we have the opportunity to do so much more.

References:

1. Totilo. R. (2013) Therapeutic Blending with Essential Oil.  St. Petersburg: Rebecca at the Well Foundation.

2. Thompkins and Bird (1973) The Secret Life of Plants. New York: Harper and Row

3. Thompkins and Bird (1973) The Secret Life of Plants. New York: Harper and Row

4. Stone, R. Ph.D (1989) The Secret of Your Cells. Atglen: Schiffer

5. Thompkins and Bird (1973) The Secret Life of Plants. New York: Harper and Row

6. www.Dictionary.com

7. Barrett, S. Ph.D (2013) Secrets of Your Cells. Boulder: Sounds True

8. Barrett, S. Ph.D (2013) Secrets of Your Cells. Boulder: Sounds True

9. Barrett, S. Ph.D (2013) Secrets of Your Cells. Boulder: Sounds True

10. Barrett, S. Ph.D (2013) Secrets of Your Cells. Boulder: Sounds True

11. Sompayrac, L. (2016) How The Immune System Works. West Sussex, UK: John Wiley & Sons LTD

12. Johnson, S. (2015) Surviving When Modern Medicine Fails. Scott A, Johnson Professional Writing Services, LLC:

13. Totilo. R. (2013) Therapeutic Blending with Essential Oil.  St. Petersburg: Rebecca at the Well Foundation.

14. Johnson, A. and Plant, J. (2015) It’s an Essential Oil Thing – Revealing the Science of Essential Oil Synergy with Cells, Genes and Human Health. Scott A. Johnson Professional Writing Services, LLC:

15. Johnson, A. and Plant, J. (2015) It’s an Essential Oil Thing – Revealing the Science of Essential Oil Synergy with Cells, Genes and Human Health. Scott A. Johnson Professional Writing Services, LLC:

16. Johnson, A. and Plant, J. (2015) It’s an Essential Oil Thing – Revealing the Science of Essential Oil Synergy with Cells, Genes and Human Health. Scott A. Johnson Professional Writing Services, LLC:
17. Johnson, A. and Plant, J. (2015) It’s an Essential Oil Thing – Revealing the Science of Essential Oil Synergy with Cells, Genes and Human Health. Scott A. Johnson Professional Writing Services, LLC: