Lists In General ** Aromatherapy and Other Terms (Sorta Long)

[Guest guest]

, Butch Owen <butchbsi@s...> wrote:

> Hi y'all,

>

> Let me take you for a stroll down the path of Aromatherapy and the

> personalities of various types of Newsgroups. My opinion, obviously.

<snip>

 

 

Hey Butch!

 

Loved it! It certainly was a long read, but I enjoyed every bit of

it. Love that viewpoint of yours!

 

Bucking the system and all the hype, but sooooo much more depth and

understanding than someone just saying " don't neccessarily trust them

over there " . It is a message of " truly find out for yourself and do

so with some common sense. Your own common sense --not someone else's

version of it " .

 

Your viewpoints have certainly opened up mine and I am willing to look

at things differently.

 

God, gotta love this list!

 

Chris, I am so happy to see your numbers grow like this --you

certainly do deserve it and all of the praise Butch has heaped on you!

Oh and that goes for these list-members too.

 

Andrea

[Guest guest]

Hi y'all,

 

Let me take you for a stroll down the path of Aromatherapy and the

personalities of various types of Newsgroups. My opinion, obviously.

 

Watched a short on Turkish TV the other night regarding a (not recent)

fad most human critters continue to perpetuate .. that of prejudging

people based on their facial features and weight. Interesting it was

that those most guilty of feeding this mentality were finding it was

backfiring on them and breeding some rebellion .. the fashion industry

and major retail sellers of clothing and such created the monster and

that monster is now trying to bite them in the butt.

 

Average/above average American females are turning against the slim/trim

and beautiful mentality and the medical profession is declaring this fad

to be harmful .. physiologically, psychologically and emotionally.

 

We have our own bogey bear in Aromatherapy .. one we continue to feed.

Its not turned on us yet because we are not a legitimate industry and we

(except for some Young Living practices) have caused no harm .. we are

but a cottage industry. True it is that sometimes we in this cottage

industry think the world revolves around us .. we become passionate as a

young kid on the first date when we speak of EO .. its almost like we

want to turn the practice of AT into a New Age Religion.

 

But the truth is we are hardly noticed by the outside world and .. so

we're not likely to climb high enough to become seriously hurt by a

fall. We are likely to continue to be a cottage industry because much

of what we preach is similar to the wrong headed thinking of the fashion

and sales industry .. hawg warsh and bovine excrement .. created for

internal consumption.

 

We've built our own Icons too .. folks who are considered by some to be

the Grandfathers and Grandmothers of Aromatherapy .. we view some of

them in awe because they're more proficient at perpetuating the myths of

Aromatherapy than others. And we continue to perpetuate their myths.

 

Such mentality will never allow AT to become legitimized or to be

noticed by many outside our own little world. This is not something to

cause normal folks to become depressed unless their reason for existence

is to someday become a validated Icon, and some Icons see legitimization

of the industry as being undesirable as it would bring about Iconoclasm.

 

One of the many myths that continues to confuse lots of folks in AT is

the therapeutic value of this and that essential oil. The Icons help us

to misunderstand this. True it is that essential oils are powerful

medicine when the correct oil is used in the proper amount for the right

problem .. but its the assignment of therapeutic properties of herbs to

essential oils that is keeping the industry alive .. keeping the Icons,

the sellers of EO, the writers of AT novels and the teachers who use

these novels as their references for teaching .. in business.

 

Why do we do this? I think a few of the reasons are ignorance, greed, a

desire to overcome boredom and be with the In Crowd, and a desire to

validate and legitimize the myths we have created so we can feel more

comfortable with what we're doing and who we are.

 

Ignorance in that there is little scientific evidence upon which to fall

back on when we discuss Aromatherapy .. so we use that solid evidence

that has piled up over the years regarding herbs and such .. we assign

those properties to the practice of Aromatherapy.

 

Greed in that some sellers of essential oils need a marketing tool to

increase sales .. so their research accepts only information that will

support their positions .. accentuate the positive and disregard the

negative .. truth is not an issue when one prepares marketing hype.

 

Boredom in that some folks who turn to alternative and complementary

therapies are seeking themselves .. want to change their lives for the

better .. hope to become someone different if they learn something new

that could even be considered as being New Age. Some folks are a lot

like those who think they can change their inner self by changing their

outer self with a face lift or a tummy tuck. And some folks need to

follow Gurus and Icons. Having said this .. I accept that most of the

folks who want to learn about the responsible and safe use of Essential

Oils do not (thank the Great Spirit) fit this mold.

 

Validation of incorrect information is an area where I must walk sort of

carefully because to explain it properly would require me to name some

names .. to discuss some of the Icons we have created in this cottage

industry .. something that is easy to do but about as smart as going

into Harlem at midnight dressed in a White Sheet with a torch in hand.

 

Many support elements of this desire to validate information have been

created .. few are legitimate. We find those who spend all their time

working to improve their marketing hype .. and those who spend all of

their time working to disprove the marketing hype. Both elements have

found a way to make a living and validate their own lives by becoming

devoted to the sacred mission they have created for themselves.

 

Why did I say they are not legitimate? We might think of it in terms of

birth .. was the child born of parents lawfully married to each other?

Or we might want to think of it in terms of conforming to a standard.

There is no legitimacy to AT so those who make a living defending or

criticizing AT are not legitimate. We have some who try to legitimize

themselves by decree .. those who have achieved the status of becoming

Icons and want to defend that status .. they must maintain that status

because they couldn't make it to first base in the real world .. the

corporate world, the military world, the world where most of their

followers and groupies have achieved far more than they can ever hope to

achieve. In many cases these Icons are unqualified to be anything but

Icons in Aromatherapy. I like to think of them in the manner I think of

Hollywood Stars. Lots of show but little substance.

 

I am allegedly qualified in what we call the practice of Aromatherapy ..

having taken two of the best AT courses around .. I do not .. have not

and will not .. allow myself to be known as an Aromatherapy Practitioner

because I believe that overall, the practice of Aromatherapy today, in

the USA and in most of the European countries .. stinks! It has become

a commercial scam and just another slick way to make a buck!

 

The above has nothing to do with the responsible and safe use of EO .. I

believe that the practice of Aromatherapy stinks .. but Essential Oils

smell nice and they WORK when we approach them with the proper respect

and some degree of knowledge .. and caution .. and experience.

 

I prefer to be known as one who contract produces, quality controls,

exports, imports and uses Essential Oils for personal gain .. and sells

them to other folks who I hope will use them in a responsible and safe

manner .. though I can never be sure that will be the case. But this is

no different than selling automobiles, carving knives or baseball bats.

 

As I wrote in a post to this list a week or so ago .. since I got into

this field .. in 1995 .. I've seen few new questions .. and very little

new discussion when old questions were brought up. I watched on the now

all but defunct Idma List, folks passionately discuss (I'm being nice,

they actually fight like friggin animals) their interpretations of the

terminology used in this cottage industry. Some of the Icons came out

to play .. and they were as full of bovine excrement as anyone else. In

most cases, the legitimate questions were posed by the new folks .. like

the little boy who asked where the Emperor's clothing was. The newbys

came away as confused as they were before they asked their legitimate

questions .. as did the boy who asked about the Emperor's new clothes.

 

The term " Aromatherapy " has no inherent meaning .. it does have a large

number of definitions .. some are (to me) more legitimate than others

but there is no authoritative Dictionary or Bible we can turn to for the

answers .. though there is no shortage of un-referenced " Novels " we can

quote. I have watched folks on Idma fight over the differences in the

terms " Aromatherapy " and " Aromacology " and when the dust settled there

was no new information .. and no solution .. just hurt feelings.

 

Personally, until I go under snakes I will define Aromatherapy as the

inhalation of volatile molecules of plant oils from aromatic plants.

Someone might ask .. what about the inhalation of the volatile molecules

of synthetics and the commercial nature identical stuff we find in many

elevators and shopping centers? If I am asked that .. I'll not hang my

hat on the " Aroma " portion of the word .. I'll turn to the " Therapy "

portion of the word to support an argument that its not Aromatherapy.

 

Was Gattefosse practicing Aromatherapy when he allegedly stuck his hand

in a vat of Lavender Essential Oil? Nope! And odds are great that if

he stuck his hand into a vat of Lavender it was not a true, whole EO

because folks worked with different products then. Whatever he did I

would classify it as the use of some form of plant extract for First

Aid. But 99% of the medicine used in the world for more generations

than man can track involved the use of extracts of plants. I left a 1%

margin remaining because there are at least that many (or more) ancient

medicinal potions that used minerals and animal products.

 

Having said all the above .. and having pissed off maybe 1/3 of the

folks on the list and maybe confusing another 1/3 .. with the remaining

1/3 being glad I wrote it .. lemme ramble a bit more. ;-)

 

Lists/Newsgroups or whatever we wanna call'em have personalities .. some

of them (like Idma) are battlefields where the high ground is held by

those who believe they have earned the right through combat to dictate

to and correct newcomers. Try to come onto Idma with an idea other than

that of the gud o' boy and gud ol' gals who have have firmly entrenched

themselves in the battlements and you are gonna catch more flack than

the Terrorists manning Falluja caught.

 

Idma is a near defunct list but occasionally an unknowing newcomer makes

the mistake of trying to discuss an issue as we discuss them on this

list .. and they quickly learn that they are going to be attacked for

violation of the unwritten rules of behavior created by the few who see

that list as being their sole domain.

 

Idma has no List Mama or List Papa .. so there are no rules. Was a

time .. many will recall .. I enjoyed doing battle on Idma .. and as a

fairly experienced soldier I never needed to don my armor prior to going

into battle because I usually found myself facing unarmed opponents.

They strutted like peacocks and bragged like drunks on a bar stool ..

but few of them had any real substance and even fewer of the ones who

wanted to defend the terrain could deal with logic .. or could answer

questions or comment on suggestions .. even spacing your paragraphs

properly, ending your questions with prominent question marks (?) and

leaving sufficient space between paragraphs for them to answer achieves

nothing .. they just criticize the messenger and ignore the message.

 

In truth, I enjoyed doing battle there .. and when I go into battle I

don't like to take prisoners .. I go for the kill when I encounter an

enemy .. and many of those folks were enemies .. are still enemies ..

but with the exception of a couple of idiots who will never learn more

than they know now .. they are enemies who learned that it is wiser to

walk around me than to try to walk over me.

 

Not to fear folks .. like Vintage Wine and fine Kentucky Bourbon, I have

mellowed a lot in my old age. ;-)

 

Bottom line .. there were many Icons and Idiots on Idma who were, and

still are .. in my eyes .. weak piss ants who lacked legitimacy .. and

nothing ever came from attempts to communicate with those people.

 

Then we have lists that are so far out of the realm of reality that I

can't monitor them without losing sleep due to the extremely inaccurate

and potentially harmful information they put out. On these lists we

find the strongest of the weak personalities leading the pack, but in

truth its a matter of the blind leading the blind .. and I often laugh

to myself when I think of them because they remind me of the typical

Turkish shepherd scene .. where the sheep follow the donkey and the

donkey is the only one who knows where he is going. ;-)

 

Then we have at least one list that restricts membership to only those

who think as the owner thinks .. and to those who will help to feed the

ego of the owner, and to those who are weak enough to never, ever, under

any circumstances, challenge the wisdom of the owner. This list exists

solely for the purpose of boosting the self image of the owner. All in

all, maybe there is some value to this list because even those who have

a low self image and a weak ego need a bit of therapy now and then and

allowing sheep to roar like lions and to proclaim their righteousness

based on their narrow field of education is probably good therapy.

 

But as I am not as altruistic as some folks .. I would just as soon

avoid such piss ants least I feel a need to stomp on them. ;-)

 

Then we have the special interest lists .. lists that exist solely for

the purpose of marketing a particular brand .. or the wares of the one

who created the list. Young Living has many such lists .. and some

amateurs who operate out of their kitchens run such lists. On those

lists all posts are censored .. no information makes it to the list if

it is the slightest bit controversial or competitive. These lists are

for idiots but they all have a large following. We might be able to

discern something from that about the field of Aromatherapy. ;-)

 

Then we have special interest lists that are not created for the purpose

of marketing .. but for discussion of a more narrow field of interest

than other lists, and though we find an Icon or two hanging out on some

of these lists the majority of the members are wise enough to recognize

the Icons for what they really are. These lists are worth monitoring if

one has an interest in the field of discussion .. one that comes to mind

is NaturalPerfumery/

 

Finally, we have this list .. Oils & Herbs (O & H) .. and one more I will

mention .. Stacey's List .. Aromatherapy For Everyone (ATFE) .. not

quite as active as O & H but it is a nice list run by a nice lady and I

say this with full knowledge that she is from Southern California, but

still a nice lady. ;-) ATFE/

 

Oils and Herbs is a list that discusses a very wide range of subjects:

Essential Oils, Aromatherapy, Soaping, Health, Candle Making, Cosmetics,

Perfumery, Herbs, Motherhood, Conservation, Tree Hugging, and Shooting

Coyotes .. among other subjects. You name it and you can get the

subject going by asking a question and starting the thread.

 

O & H is also a very friendly and safe list .. I've been a member of 40+

lists so I say this with a bit of experience. O & H is a list where folks

can feel secure and comfortable in knowing they'll NOT be attacked for

their ideas, questions or their suggestions. They might be challenged

but the challenges will not be combative challenges unless they persist

in putting out unsafe or idiotic information or trying to act as if they

were writing to the Idma List .. such behavior has never been and will

never be tolerated on the O & H List.

 

The O & H List is the fastest growing list on the Net .. I know this as I

like to play with numbers and I have tracked the list membership of all

lists I monitor for the last 18 months. At the beginning of 1 Jan 04,

O & H had 554 members .. it was a nice list but not a big list because the

List Mama was involved in things like having a new baby and moving and

other trivial pursuits. ;-) As of today .. on 19 November .. O & H has

863 members .. an increase of 56% in 11.5 months.

 

The reasons for this large increase in membership is because this list

does not have a personality similar to the Idma List, the Out of Touch

With Reality Lists where the Sheep follow the Donkey, the Ego Boosting

List, and the Special Interest Marketing Lists .. mentioned above .. and

due to the personality of the List Mama .. who .. even considering her

youth and the fact that she is a reformed New Yawk Liberal now living a

Conservative lifestyle in Southern Texas, is ahead of her age/experience

level when shepherding (without directing) the members of her list ..

and who can soothe the savage heart of the occasional wayward list

member without harming their image or creating an enemy. ;-)

 

All this stuff I have laid out .. from the beginning of this post .. can

be viewed as an Introduction to Aromatherapy 101: Personality Cults of

Aromatherapy Lists .. or it can be disregarded .. your call.

 

But what can not be disregarded is the fact that the O & H List will not

be abused as those negative lists I mentioned above are abused. Chris

will not allow it and many of the older members will not allow it. We

can cuss and discuss but odds are we are not going to revolutionize the

illegitimate industry of Aromatherapy .. nor are we going to battle each

other over our personal opinions of what and what isn't the correct

terminology to be used in an industry that has no standard terminology

in the second place.

 

What should be regarded is that even though the industry of Aromatherapy

is illegitimate .. the responsible and safe use of Essential Oils as an

alternate or complementary self treatment modality is not illegitimate.

 

And many of the folks who are involved in this practice (even those who

(unfortunately) call themselves Aromatherapy Practitioners, are also not

necessarily illegitimate. And we can learn a heckuva lot by asking them

questions and by disagreeing with each other and by giving personal

testimonials (negative or positive) and discussing our ideas .. but we

will learn little if we try to validate ourselves or our ideas in the

face of information to the contrary .. or set ourselves up as being the

Up and Coming Icons of the industry who have all the answers and who,

based on our knowledge and personal experience should be placed on a

pedestal. Well .. I take that back .. such folks will learn a lot on

this list .. they'll learn what it feels like to be ostracized.

 

When discussing the practice of Aromatherapy one can be right and wrong

in the same discussion because what works for one might not work for

another .. so its difficult and often useless to " strongly " disagree

unless the message put out is blatantly unsafe. Aromatherapy is a

subjective field of endeavor but when we talk about the Essential Oil

properties we're into a whole new ball game .. a game with little room

for subjectivity and a game were the rules are clearly defined and

available to those who want to make the effort to learn them.

 

Same applies to the so-called Reference Publications .. they are sort of

like the Holy Books. Its not always the messages we want to change, its

often the inconsistencies we want to clarify .. inconsistencies that are

not always true inconsistencies but are just confusing enough to get our

knickers in a knot.

 

Sometimes the truth of information gets lost as it passes from one

person to the next in an unregulated environment .. a good example is

Rosemary, Cineole .. many teachers too lazy to research the facts or too

unsure of themselves to deviate from the common mistaken beliefs in the

AT industry still teach that it is harmful to those who suffer from

Epilepsy .. they should avoid it. Problem is .. they got the message

all wrong. For centuries .. Rosemary was the TREATMENT for Epilepsy.

It is NOT harmful!!!!!! Same applies to the bad press on Pennyroyal and

a few other EO that are commonly used in Aromatherapy.

 

Reminds me of the tale of the Head Monk who was missing for a few days

and later they found him in the cellar looking over the hand written

archives that had been copied from originals many centuries before and

copied exactly over and over ever since. He was looking at an original

when they found him, bawling his eyes out. The young Monks asked him

why he was crying .. and the poor feller said, " Its Celebrate .. they

left a letter out when they first copied it. " ;-)

 

We shouldn't take this business too seriously. Choosing the right Wine

or the best Bourbon or the best Restaurant is probably something we can

eventually become experts at doing, but becoming an expert Practitioner

of Aromatherapy is not likely unless one creates their own dogma and

operates within the confines of that dogmatic position. Becoming a Safe

Practitioner of Aromatherapy is within our grasp is we want to learn.

 

There is more misinformation, disinformation, urban rumor and marketing

hype to be found here than in most any field I know of .. except maybe

politics and counter intelligence. But in those cases folks don't even

try to unwrap the commo wire from around the axle.

 

But .. the responsible and safe use of Essential oils is REAL .. they

work .. I know this because I personally have not taken an over the

counter or prescription medication since 1996 .. have not made a visit

to a doctor except for routine physicals and dentists .. and I am more

healthy today than I was then.

 

Some folks will still be seeking " truth " in Aromatherapy long after I

have retired from the industry and no longer give a crap. When I am

still using essential oils for my own benefit and the benefit of those I

care for, and chasing Largemouth Bass and Beach Bunnies, some folks will

still be arguing about AT issues that have no definite answers.

 

Lawdy Lawdy .. that is a heartwarming thought. ;-)

 

In the meantime, I think we should try to play nice and learn from each

other and discuss this and that without doing battle unless its a mere

skirmish rather than a full scale attack. We learn from each other ..

we learn from those we think are right and from those we believe are

wrong .. I don't think there is a need to elaborate on that statement.

 

Y'all keep smiling. :-) Butch http://www.AV-AT.com

 

A Conservative Doing His Best To Function in a Liberal Environment!