Take thou also unto thee principal spices, of pure myrrh… and of sweet cinnamon… and of sweet calamus… and of cassia… and of oil olive an hin: and thou shalt make it an oil of holy ointment. — Exodus 30:23–25
Oils of the Ancient World
The Hebrew Scriptures are full of fragrant oils. Moses was given the recipe for the holy anointing oil: myrrh, sweet cinnamon, calamus and cassia in olive oil (Exodus 30:23–25). The incense of the Tabernacle burned frankincense, galbanum and other spices. Kings and priests were anointed with oil; guests had their heads anointed as a welcome (“thou anointest my head with oil,” Psalm 23:5); the wounded were treated with oil and wine, as the Good Samaritan did. The magi brought frankincense and myrrh. Mary of Bethany anointed Jesus with a pound of costly spikenard.
These oils were not essential oils as we know them, distilled to a few drops of pure plant essence. They were plant materials infused in olive oil, like the oils in Chapter 2, and resins burned as incense. But the idea is ancient: the fragrant part of a plant carries medicine for body and spirit. The legend of the Four Thieves, who robbed plague victims in medieval Europe without catching the plague because they washed in vinegar steeped with cloves, cinnamon, rosemary and other aromatic herbs, is one of my favorite stories of that idea, and the reason many families today keep a “thieves” blend of clove, cinnamon, lemon, eucalyptus and rosemary.
What an Essential Oil Is
An essential oil is the volatile, aromatic part of a plant, usually separated by steam distillation (steam carries the oil out of the plant, and the oil separates from the water as it cools) or, for citrus peels, by cold pressing. The water left behind from distillation is a hydrosol (such as rose water or lavender water), gentle enough for babies and eyes.
Essential oils are extremely concentrated. It takes roughly 100–200 pounds of lavender flowers to make a pound of lavender oil, and several thousand pounds of rose petals to make a pound of rose oil. A single drop is far stronger than a cup of tea of the same herb. That concentration is their power, and it is why they must be used with care.
Essential oils are not oily in the usual sense: they evaporate, and they do not mix with water. A drop of oil in a glass of water floats as a concentrated bead that can burn the mouth and throat.
Quality
- Look for the Latin name of the plant on the label (lavender should be Lavandula angustifolia), the part used, the country of origin, and the method of extraction.
- “Therapeutic grade” is a marketing phrase, not a standard. Buy from a supplier who tests each batch (gas chromatography testing, or GC/MS) and will share the results.
- Cheap oils are often diluted or synthetic. Rose, sandalwood, melissa and frankincense are commonly adulterated.
- Store oils in dark glass, tightly capped, away from heat and light. Citrus oils keep about a year, most others two to three years; old, oxidized oils are more likely to irritate the skin.
- Keep them out of children’s reach, in bottles with a dropper insert. Swallowed essential oils are a growing cause of calls to poison control.
How Essential Oils Enter the Body
Merina Ty-Kisera teaches what every aromatherapist knows: essential oils work through two doors.
- Breathing them in. The scent goes straight from the nose to the brain’s limbic system, the seat of emotion and memory, which is why a smell can calm you, wake you up or bring back a memory in an instant. Inhaled oils also reach the lungs.
- Through the skin. Diluted oils applied to the skin are absorbed into the blood and spread through the body.
Ways to use them:
- Inhalation: smell from the bottle, put a drop on a tissue, or use a diffuser for 30–60 minutes at a time, then turn it off and air the room.
- Topical: always diluted in a carrier oil (olive, sweet almond, jojoba, fractionated coconut), a salve or a lotion.
- Bath: mix the oil into a tablespoon of carrier oil, whole milk or unscented liquid soap first, then add to the bath; oil dropped straight into bath water floats and can burn the skin.
- Steam: 1–3 drops in a bowl of hot water (Chapter 2).
- Compress: a few drops in a bowl of water, stirred, with a cloth soaked in it.
Using Essential Oils Safely
Dilution
| Who and where | Dilution | Drops per 1 ounce (30 ml) of carrier |
|---|---|---|
| Babies 3–24 months | 0.25–0.5% | 1–2 drops, and only the gentlest oils (lavender, Roman chamomile, mandarin) |
| Children 2–6 years | 1% | about 6 drops |
| Children 6–15 years, pregnancy, the elderly, the face | 1–2% | 6–12 drops |
| Healthy adults, daily or whole-body use | 2–3% | 12–18 drops |
| Adults, short-term on a small area (a sore muscle, an acupressure point) | up to 5% | about 30 drops |
Do not use essential oils on babies under three months; use hydrosols, herbal baths and the mother’s own tea instead. Undiluted (“neat”) oils on the skin can cause burns and, over time, lasting allergic sensitization; even for acupressure, Arukah mixes a drop of oil with a few drops of carrier on the fingertip, or uses a premade roller bottle at 3–5%. Test any new oil on a small patch of the inner arm first.
Taking Oils by Mouth
Arukah’s view is that essential oils are taken by mouth rarely, briefly, and only by adults: a single drop of a food-safe oil (such as peppermint or lemon) in a spoonful of honey or olive oil, or in a capsule filled with carrier oil, for a specific short-term need. Enteric-coated peppermint oil capsules for an irritable bowel are a well-studied example. Never take oils by mouth:
- in water (they float and burn);
- undiluted;
- for children;
- in pregnancy or while breastfeeding;
- for long periods.
Some oils must never be swallowed at all: wintergreen and birch (methyl salicylate; a teaspoon can kill a child), eucalyptus (a few milliliters has poisoned children), camphor, pennyroyal, tea tree, wormwood, hyssop, thuja and sassafras.
Pregnancy and Breastfeeding
Use oils lightly in pregnancy: inhalation and 1% dilutions, and none in the first trimester unless for nausea (a sniff of peppermint, lemon or ginger). Avoid clary sage (except in labor with a midwife), sage, rosemary in large amounts, wintergreen, birch, camphor, cinnamon bark, cassia, basil, fennel, aniseed, hyssop, mugwort, parsley seed, pennyroyal, tansy and wormwood. While breastfeeding, keep oils off the breast and away from the baby’s face, and remember that peppermint and sage reduce milk.
Children
Children’s skin is thinner and their airways are smaller. Use the gentle oils (lavender, Roman chamomile, mandarin, sweet orange, frankincense, tea tree on a small spot) at the dilutions above. Keep peppermint and eucalyptus off and away from the face of children under six (eucalyptus under ten): their menthol and cineole can slow a young child’s breathing. As Merina says of peppermint: “dilute, dilute, dilute.” With acupressure, children need very little pressure.
Pets
Cats cannot break down many compounds in essential oils, and oils that are harmless to people (tea tree, citrus, peppermint, eucalyptus, cinnamon, wintergreen, pine, ylang ylang) can poison them, even from a diffuser in a closed room. Birds and small animals are similarly sensitive. Never put oils on a cat. Dogs are hardier, but never use undiluted oils on a dog, and tea tree in particular has poisoned many. When you diffuse, leave a door open so pets can leave the room.
Other Cautions
- Sun sensitivity: bergamot, cold-pressed lemon, lime, grapefruit and bitter orange can cause burns and dark patches on skin exposed to the sun within 12 hours. Use bergamot labeled “FCF” or “bergapten-free” on the skin, or keep that skin covered.
- Epilepsy: rosemary, eucalyptus, sage, hyssop, camphor and fennel can trigger seizures.
- Asthma: strong diffusing can trigger an attack in some people; start gently.
- Blood thinners: wintergreen and birch add to warfarin’s effect.
- Eyes: if oil gets in an eye, flush with a carrier oil or whole milk, then water.
Acupressure: The Ancient Map of the Body
Acupuncture and acupressure come from the traditional medicine of China and East Asia, practiced for thousands of years. Both rest on the same idea:
- Qi (pronounced “chee”; prana in India) is the life force that moves the body: breathing, circulation, digestion, thought.
- Qi flows through channels called meridians, each linked to an organ system: lung, large intestine, stomach, spleen, heart, kidney, liver, gallbladder and others, plus two central channels running down the front (the Conception Vessel, CV) and the back (the Governing Vessel, GV).
- Along the meridians lie acupoints, which Merina describes as portals into the river of qi. Each point has a number (Stomach 36, Pericardium 6) and a traditional name, often beautiful: “Leg Three Miles,” “Heaven’s Gate,” “Sea of Tranquility.”
- When qi is blocked or weak, symptoms follow. Stimulating the right points opens the flow and starts the healing.
Acupuncture stimulates points with very fine, solid needles, about the thickness of a hair, which slip into the skin. Acupressure uses the same points and the same theory with the fingers, which you always have with you.
Merina Ty-Kisera’s Aroma Acupressure
Merina Ty-Kisera is a classical Five Element acupuncturist, a tradition that looks especially at the emotions and spirit of the person, and a certified aromatherapist. When she began using essential oils she wondered what to do with them, and learned that blends of oils could act much like the classic Chinese herbal formulas, which made sense: Chinese herbs are plants, and essential oils come from plants. She began testing oils on acupoints with her patients and found that the right oil on the right point gave better results than acupressure alone. Her book Acupressure with Essential Oils sets out her method, which she calls Aroma Acupressure.
How It Works
Needles stimulate a point’s own action. An essential oil, Merina teaches, does that and adds its own: each oil carries its own “information,” its chemical constituents and their effects, which resonates with the point. The key is to choose an oil whose action matches the point’s, like a lock and key. She found that oils with similar uses do not all work equally well on the same point, so her pairings are specific.
How to Do It
- Choose the point and the oil from the table below.
- Put a drop of oil on your fingertip (diluted in a little carrier, as above), and breathe it in: the scent is part of the treatment.
- Find the point and press with a fingertip or thumb.
- Use the right pressure. Merina’s rule is “comfortably uncomfortable”: firm enough that you know you are working on the point, never so hard that the body tenses in pain. Muscle pain takes the most pressure; points on the belly take much less; children need very little, about the pressure of pressing a computer key.
- Hold for 1 to 3 minutes, never less than one. Three minutes is best, especially for muscles and joints.
- Do both sides. Every point has a twin on the other side of the body, except points on the center line (the CV and GV points).
The Oils to Have on Hand
Merina’s starter kit: bergamot, peppermint and lemon (“the foundation”), plus frankincense, eucalyptus, rosemary and ginger. Add lavender and clary sage and you can do every pairing in this chapter.
Ten Points and Their Oils
| Need | Point | Where to find it | Oil |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quick calm (stress, anxiety, cravings) | Shen Men, “Heaven’s Gate,” an ear point | In the upper ear, in the hollow inside the top curve of the ear, just above the ridge | Bergamot on the little finger, pressed into the hollow of both ears |
| Digestion, cramps, heartburn, nausea | CV 12 and CV 10 | CV 12: on the center line, halfway between the bottom of the breastbone and the navel. CV 10: on the center line, a little above the navel | Ginger and lemon, light pressure, two fingers together |
| Stomach 21 | On each side of CV 12, about three finger widths out | Ginger and lemon | |
| Nausea, motion sickness | Pericardium 6 (PC 6), “Inner Gate” | On the inside of the forearm, two thumb widths above the wrist crease, between the two tendons | Peppermint |
| Energy, digestion, immunity | Stomach 36 (ST 36), “Leg Three Miles” | About four finger widths below the kneecap, one finger width outside the shin bone. Merina’s way: run your fingers up the outside edge of the shin bone until the bone begins to flare out below the knee; the point is in the muscle beside it | Ginger (digestion), frankincense or an immune blend (immunity), rosemary (fatigue). This point can take deep pressure. |
| Immunity, sore throat | CV 22 | In the soft notch at the top of the breastbone, between the collarbones (over the thymus) | Frankincense, gentle pressure |
| Immunity, calm, the lungs | CV 17, “Sea of Tranquility” | On the center of the breastbone, level with the nipples | Frankincense |
| Pain in the upper body, head, teeth and sinuses; colds | Large Intestine 4 (LI 4), “Union Valley” or “Tiger’s Mouth” | In the web between the thumb and index finger, at the highest point of the muscle when the thumb and finger are pressed together | Eucalyptus; firm pressure. Not in pregnancy. |
| Colds and flu, the lungs | Lung 7 (LU 7) | On the thumb side of the forearm, about two finger widths above the wrist crease, in a small groove on the bone | Eucalyptus, also breathed in |
| Focus and memory, lifting energy | GV 20, “Hundred Meetings” | On top of the head: trace a line from the top of each ear straight up; where the lines meet at the crown | Lemon for clear thinking, lavender to calm a busy mind |
| Clarity, calm, decisions | Yintang, “Hall of Impression” (between the eyebrows), and GV 24, “Spirit Court” | Yintang: between the eyebrows. GV 24: on the center line, just inside the front hairline | Clary sage (not in pregnancy), or lavender |
| Neck tension, focus, motivation | Gallbladder 20 (GB 20), “Wind Pool” | At the base of the skull, in the hollows on each side of the big neck muscles | Peppermint and/or rosemary (diluted; not near a small child’s face) |
What Each Pairing Does
Shen Men with bergamot. Shen Men is a master point of the ear, and the whole body is mapped on the ear, so even massaging the ears is calming. Merina once stopped a patient’s anxiety attack mid-attack with bergamot in his ear. Ear points are also used to ease cravings in addiction.
CV 12, CV 10 and Stomach 21 with ginger and lemon. In Chinese medicine, digestion depends on qi flowing down; nausea, heartburn, reflux and stomach cramps are qi going the wrong way, up. These points bring it back down. Ginger, the most used herb in Asia, warms the stomach, moves its energy, eases nausea and travel sickness and fights microbes. Chinese medicine keeps the stomach warm: no ice water, and hot water with lemon and ginger in the morning to start the digestive juices. (That is why ginger is served with cold, raw fish in Japan: it warms the stomach and kills microbes.)
PC 6 with peppermint. The famous anti-nausea point, the one the elastic “sea bands” for motion sickness press on. Peppermint cools the heat that rises with nausea, and opens and uplifts. Merina also uses it for fevers.
Stomach 36 with ginger, frankincense or rosemary. “Leg Three Miles” got its name because travelers who stimulated it could walk three more miles. It is the most famous point on the body and the most studied by Western science: it strengthens digestion (constipation and diarrhea), the immune system and the whole body’s vitality. If you remember one point from this chapter, Merina says, remember this one.
CV 22 and CV 17 with frankincense. CV 22 sits over the thymus, where immune cells mature; CV 17 strengthens the qi of the lungs, which are the organ most open to cold and heat. CV 17 is where we bring our hands when we pray, and it is called the Sea of Tranquility: frankincense there brings the quiet, meditative state in which the body stops fighting and starts healing.
LI 4 and Lung 7 with eucalyptus. LI 4 is one of the strongest pain points in the body. Its channel runs up the arm, over the shoulder and neck, through the jaw and teeth to the side of the nose, so it helps pain and congestion all along that path, and it strengthens the immune system. Lung 7 strengthens the lungs and eases colds and flu. Eucalyptus is antiviral, antibacterial and a natural insect repellent. LI 4 is traditionally avoided in pregnancy because it is used to help bring on labor.
GV 20, Yintang and GV 24 with lemon, lavender and clary sage. GV 20, at the crown where a baby’s soft spot was, stimulates the brain and lifts energy upward (it is also used for incontinence and prolapse). Lemon promotes clear, logical thinking; lavender calms an overactive mind. Yintang and GV 24, the “Spirit Court,” bring calm clarity; with clary sage they help you think clearly before a hard conversation or decision.
GB 20 with peppermint and rosemary. These points at the base of the skull release neck tension so blood flows to the brain again. They are called the “Wind Pool” because the back of the neck is where cold wind enters (wear a scarf). Peppermint relaxes the nerves and uplifts; rosemary restores mental and physical fatigue and sharpens memory and concentration.
Her Lifestyle Advice
Merina reminds us that points and oils work best on a healthy foundation. Focus and attention, she says, depend on stress, digestion and immunity being in good order first. Her prescriptions for a scattered modern mind are old ones: read real books, get away from screens and blue light, sit quietly with your oils, and spend time outdoors.
The conventional view. Science has not found meridians or qi as physical structures. Yet some acupressure has good evidence: pressing PC 6 reduces nausea after surgery and in pregnancy in many trials, and acupuncture is widely used for pain. For essential oils, the best evidence is for peppermint oil capsules in irritable bowel syndrome, tea tree oil on acne and fungal infections, and the calming effect of lavender’s scent; much else is traditional. Mainstream medicine’s main concern is safety: skin burns and allergies from undiluted oils, and poisonings, especially of children, when oils are swallowed. Arukah teaches the traditional uses and the safety rules together.
Sources and further reading
- Ty-Kisera, M. Acupressure with Essential Oils: A Self-Care Guide to Enhance Your Health and Lift Your Spirit. 2018; and “Acupressure with Essential Oils by Merina Ty Kisera” (Oil Life webinar, video).
- Tisserand, R., and Young, R. Essential Oil Safety. 2nd ed. Churchill Livingstone, 2014 (dilution, children, pregnancy, oral use, photosensitivity).
- Keville, K., and Green, M. Aromatherapy: A Complete Guide to the Healing Art. Crossing Press, 2009.
- Lee, A., and Fan, L. T. Y. “Stimulation of the wrist acupuncture point P6 for preventing postoperative nausea and vomiting.” Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2009 (updated 2015).
- ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center, essential oils and pets.
- Exodus 30:22–38; Psalm 23:5; Luke 10:34; Matthew 2:11; John 12:3.