Guest guest Posted September 1, 2001 Report Share Posted September 1, 2001 A little Essential Oil history lesson for all of us *Smile* Chris (list mom) Many New Oils Coming Labor Day Weekend http://www.alittleolfactory.com ~~~~~~~~~~ http://www.cooloola.org.au/toona-oils/index.html#backcit Backhousia citriodora was first described by the German firm Schimmel & Co in 1888 from a specimen found in the rainforests near Imbil in South Eastern Queensland. The renowned German Australian botanist Baron Sir Ferdinand von Mueller (1825-96) named the tree in honour of James Backhouse (1794-1869) an English botanist and Quaker missionary. From the early l900's, the native stands of Backhousia citriodora around Eumundi, Qld, were harvested and the leaves were steam distilled for the oil to be used in a local perfume factory. At this time, a German firm was greatly interested in distilling the oil and exporting it to Germany, but these arrangements were halted due to the outbreak of World War 1. In the 1920's the oil was exported to perfume manufacturers and essential oil firms on the Continent who were interested in the superior quality of citral obtained from Backhousia citriodora. There was a future market for this oil provided a regular supply could be guaranteed by commercial plantation growing. During the Second World War, the oil was used for flavouring in soft drinks, due to a shortage of lemon essence. In the 1950's, local distillation from bush stands was undertaken in the Maryborough area and the Queensland Forestry Service planted small colonies for scientific research. In November 1991, the first commercial plantation of Backhousia citriodora was established on the Toona property at Goomboorian in Queensland. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 1, 2001 Report Share Posted September 1, 2001 Chris - know anything about Blue Cypress? Jackie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 1, 2001 Report Share Posted September 1, 2001 I have read most of these - but thanks Michelle! Jackie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 1, 2001 Report Share Posted September 1, 2001 Jackie Aaah blue cypress! I am saving up to buy some of that viscous blue, delicious, sandalwood-like ambrosia. Check this out(they sell the oil, I have no affiliations with them-but this is some info on Callitris intratropica) http://www.australessence.com/blue.htm there are many more sites but I have only seen(so far)websites selling the oil, which tend to be a bit biased!! Michelle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 1, 2001 Report Share Posted September 1, 2001 Jane thank you for that description of Blue Cypress oil. Sunday already? Jackie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 1, 2001 Report Share Posted September 1, 2001 In a message dated 9/1/01 10:19:36 PM Eastern Daylight Time, jane writes: > Jackie ! Second day of spring & the sun's shining brighter > than it has for a coupla weeks. The back yard is full of bees & the mynor > birds > are teasing the cats! I'm just taking a break from harvesting the first > flush of > jasmine flowers which I'm infusing to make a special oil for a friend for This does sound glorious. Just bought my first Jasmine plant. Confederate Jasmine from the South. So glad it is Spring for you. Of course here on the other side of the world we are headed into Fall on Sept. 20 the equinox. Jackie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 1, 2001 Report Share Posted September 1, 2001 Hi Folks, I'll leave it to the experts to tell you about the 'official' blue cypress story, but will add a bit of my personal experience with the oil, which I love ! It's a bit of a personal ramble - blue cypress does that to me ;-) I tend to use 'ordinary' cypress for people who are experiencing big changes in their lives - seems to help them go through those changes a bit smoother than they otherwise might. So when I found the blue cypress, & not knowing anything much about it (in a non-phyical sense), I decided to see how it affected me, if at all, on that deep emotional level. When I want to get to 'know' a new oil I surround myself with it for a couple of days - well, the effect of the blue cypress was nothing less than startling !! The first morning, I used it during a meditation session - the whole meditation took me back to a time when I was going through a major relationship breakup, and, incidentlally, just starting to do an astrology course. Later that day, I started cleaning out some old boxes, feeling the need to do some sorting & sifting of old junk. One of the things I found was my study folder from the astrology course, which was a real blast! And then the blue cypress really hit me - there are the end of the folder were three letters - one I'd written to my ex-partner's sister, one to my Elder brother (obviously never posted) and one to me from the partner. As I read through them all, all the memories of the emotions I was going through at the time came back at me full force - this was stuff I honestly thought I'd worked through & 'got over' many many years ago. I even thought I'd handled the breakup fairly well, considering this was the father of my only child. Well, for the next two days (still using the blue cypress as my only oil) I relived that period: reread the letters - mentally rewrote the letters! cried an awful lot & finally accepted how much I'd still been hanging on to & how badly I really had come through that period of change in my life. By the third day, I was feeling a distinct shift deep inside, like I'd broken an old ragged tie that was keeping me held back. It's helped my personal life & it's helped my professional life - I'm much better able to deal with the emotions that other people present to me, which is extremely important in my clinic work. I now use blue cypress in preference to cypress when the effect I am going for is emotional, moving on stuff. And I've since seen similar 'shifts' happen in people I've used the oil on for that purpose. Another flashback I experienced recently is related more to the trees themselves, though probably not the same species of callistris ... I was travelling with my Elder brother to Alice Springs a few months ago - a 3 day journey from Sydney. The trip took us through the little hick town where I spent my childhood years - it was the first time I'd been back since I was 13, & I'm 50 now, so this was a real nostalgia trip! As we were nearing the area, the vegetation changed (as it does often on a 3 day journey across the continent!) from mainly eucalypts & wattles to mainly cypress pines. I remembered the trees from all those years ago, but didn't know what they were called & didn't realise they were Australian natives. There seemed to be 3 distinct species, just going by the colour, mainly. I've since checked up a bit on callistris genus & the most common in this state seem to be white & black cypress pines. These trees covered a much larger area than just around the town I lived in, but the ones around that area had a very distinct blueness about them - sort of like a blue spuce colour, only a darker, not such a smokey blue. I haven't been able to find any reference to callistis intratropica around that area ( it is not the tropics!) & would love to know just what these were. It was kinda special to find the connection, tenuous as it may be, from my childhood to the blue cypress EO - it sorta made a link from yesteryear to today & made my little bottle of oil just a tad more special ! ok - i've rambled enough for a Sunday morning !! Maybe another time I'll tell you how I've used blue cypress for it's wonderful anti-inflammatory properties, though you can read about that on Bill's site that Michelle posted & around a few other sites as well, I'm sure ! Blessings, Jane :-)) michelle wrote: > > Jackie > > Aaah blue cypress! I am saving up to buy some of that viscous blue, > delicious, sandalwood-like ambrosia. Check this out(they sell the oil, I > have no affiliations with them-but this is some info on Callitris > intratropica) > http://www.australessence.com/blue.htm > > there are many more sites but I have only seen(so far)websites selling the > oil, which tend to be a bit biased!! > > Michelle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 2, 2001 Report Share Posted September 2, 2001 Well into Sunday now, Jackie ! Second day of spring & the sun's shining brighter than it has for a coupla weeks. The back yard is full of bees & the mynor birds are teasing the cats! I'm just taking a break from harvesting the first flush of jasmine flowers which I'm infusing to make a special oil for a friend for Christmas - can't believe I'm thinking that far ahead already ;-) When my fingers have recovered a bit from the fine work of snipping hundreds of individual flowers off their stems, I'll collect flowers from my lavender, rosemary & basil plants - all of which have been flowering continuously now for months & months. Hopefully, I'll end up with some nicely infused oils from them all. Blessings, Jane :-)) JCrobin838 wrote: > > Jane thank you for that description of Blue Cypress oil. Sunday > already? > > Jackie > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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