Dear Editor With respect to the discovery in the last journal that Earl Grey tea bags can cure herpes there is a plausible explanation. Firstly, the herpes virus needs a humid environment in which to reproduce. The tannin contained within tea has an astringent effect and the virus becomes inactive because of the reduced availability of water. Secondly, Earl Grey tea in particular contains oil of bergamot which is rich in terpenes and are known to aid the healing process of skin wounds and rashes. In principle, all herbal teas that are rich in tannins and terepnes should encourage the healing process of herpes, which includes peppermint and chamomile. This is provided they are strong enough and applied as early and as often (every hour) as possible 0

Suante Travenius

Perstor$, Sweden

Dear Editor The Healing Hands Network is a organisation comprising complementary and orthodox medical practitioners dedicated to helping relieve suffering caused by the effects of war.

We have fifty volunteers so far and are working in former Yugoslavia, where we have been met with a very positive response especially from sufferers of Post Traumatic Disorder and other war injuries.

The Healing Hands Network has recently applied for charity status

LETTERS Readers are invited to submit correspondence

for publication on these pages. Inclusion will depend on availability

of space and some editing may be necessary Jar this

and is currently looking for more volunteers and donations. If you would like to support or help our cause please contact: Vicki Poole RoWan,~

Haydown Leas Vernham Dean

Hants SPll OLB, England

01264 737641 0

Dear Editor Tessa Ferguson in her article, ‘Kinesiology and Oil Selection’ (IJA vol 7 no 2) inaccurately represents the work of ‘aromatherapist% trained in the Chinese energy system’ and wrongly assumes that my article on ‘Oils for depression’ reflects the totality of the oriental approach. The Theory of the Five Elements is in fact just one facet of oriental medicine, relevant in the main to the diagnosis and treatment of psychological problems.

Oriental medicine is f~mdamentally a very comprehensive system of energetic physiology and applied therapeutics, and has theoretical parallels not only with other eastern medical systems, but with the ancient Greek roots of the scientific model. It possesses, in addition, a wide range of diagnostic techniques that through

eason.

their (selective yet) multiple application ensure that practitioner testing is sufficiently broad to be reliable. These techniques, moreover, depend upon an absolute minimum of practitioner interference, with the possible exception of pulse diagnosis (which I refrain from teaching on a one-year course).

The oriental diagnostic approach is therefore systematic, time- honoured and varied, and relies above all on careful questioning and observation, logical deduction, and a degree of both sensitivity and intuition. And yes, of course ils success will ‘depend on the therapist’s (good) training’ - as will any worthwhile system.

Even if one assumes that the theory of muscle - testing is both substantial and sound, one should not, I believe, seek to present it as therapeutically worthwhile by implying along the wdy that an approach based on a intricate yet practical system such as oriental medicine is merely ‘over-formulaic.’ It is no more helpful than referring to muscle-testing as just ‘a clever technique’ 0

G&&l Mojay The Fns&ute of ?+aditional

H&zlMedtiirz & Annnathera@~

Dear Editor No diwqbect was in.ten.ded

to any of the therapies described

in the article. As Gabriel says,

Chinese Energ Medicine is a

system of great breadth and

pro&ndity. In,deed, kinesiology

owes an enormous debt lo its

insights and concepts, drawing

as it does on, the Meridian.

syslem and Five Element Theory

for in,stance.

The article simply

described the benefits I

persomzlly had found, as an

u~~mnalherupisl, in using

kinesiology lo truss check and

refine my viezu of what the

patient ,needed 0

Tessa Ferguson

I.ondon

Dear Editor I have been using taget oil for some time without any worry until I recently came across a reference to the oil which put it in a very unfavourable light. I then searched through all my essential oil books for references to this oil.

Whilst looking through the Aromatherapy A-Z (Enlarged Edition) by Patricia Davis I was very disturbed to find the following about taget oil:

‘Tagetes is a hazardous oil. Tagetes is a toxic oil, containing a very high proportion of Ketones (mainly tagetone). It also contains some furocoumarins, which are photosentisizing agents. Tagetes is occasionally used in the treatment of corns etc, but there are perfectly safe oils which have the same effect. When buying any oil labelled Marigold be certain that you know the botanical origin to avoid a potentially

dangerous confusion’. The Encyclopedia of Essential Oils by Julia Lawless has the following under the heading Safety Data: ‘it is quite possible that “tagetone” (the main constituent) is harmful to the human organism. Some reported cases of dermatitis with the tagetes species. Use with care, in moderation.’ I hope you can clarify the situation for me and I look forward to receiving your reply in the near future 0

Jenny Williams

Kings@, Canterbury

Thank you very much,fir your

letter about tuget oil. I think it is

unfortunate that an, unproven.

theory is being taken as scientrjic

,fact by many aromathera$ists.

The theory is that all functional

groufis,found in essential oi1.s

share certain pharmacological

properties. According to th.is

theory, ketones are all

neurotoxic, and it is not hard to see h.ow this misconception came

about. Out of the compounds in

essential oils found to be

neurotoxic, every one of them. is

a ketone. However; because all

neurotoxic comp0und.s in.

essenl%al o&are ketone.q it does

not follow that all ketones found in essen.tial oils are neurotoxic.

(This is a well-know logical

jlaw. If all bananas are yellow,

it does not mean that every

yellow object is a banana.)

There are several type.s of

com.merc%ally available taget oil,

all of them containing large amounts (30.70%) of the

ketonw tagetone, tag&none and

dihydrotagetone. This is clearly

the reason why Patricia Davis

labels taget oil as neurotoxic.

However; taget oil is not toxic (or neurotoxic). It has been tested jar

toxicity by RIFM, the &search.

Institute for FraFance Materials

(an organisation which exists

primarily to test the toxicity oj

fragrance ,materials) and their data indicates that taget oil is

n.ot toxic (LDx 3.7 g/kg).

Neurotoxic compounds,

such. as camphol; thujone and

pinoca.mphone, have a

stimulant ejfect on the CNS, leading to convulsions in high

doses. Taget oil, howevq

demonstrates all the attributes of a sedative. It depresses the CNS,

prolongs sleeping time,s, lowers

body temperature and blood pressure, and counteracts the

rzeurotoxic effects of

amphetamines. It would be hard to imagine a more unlikely

caradidate for a n‘eurotoxic

essential oil than taget. Howevq Patricia Davis

is quite right to say that tuget oil

contains furocoumarins, and

that it is photosensitising. In

fact taget oil is about 10 tcmes

more hazardous in this regard

than bergarnot oil. To avoid

phototoxicity, taget oil should be

used in a con.centration of no more than 0.05 % This is

equivalent to 1 drop of essential oil in 100 ml of vegetable oil.

Higher concentrations can sajely

be used, as lortg as the skin to which the oil is applied is not

exposed to sunlight {of any

strength) or Wrays,for at least

12 h.ours. This means that you

can generally use phototoxic oils

quite safely in the evening. You

can also use them during the

day, as long as the the skirt to

vihich the oil is applied is well

covered with clothing. You also mention

derm.atitis. According to the

RIFM data,. taget oil is non-

ititan.t and ,non-sensitising.

Thq do cite a ,report which

mentions ‘primary irritant effects

and severe and prolonged allergic contact dermatitis in

hurnans followirzg exposure to

the fresh leaves and flowers of

Tagetes minuta. ‘However; since the REM tests found ‘no

evidence of sensitisation with the

essential oil, it is likely that these

cases were due to compounds in

the plant not found in, the

essential oil.

May I ,recommend the

book .which Tony Balacs and

,nkyselJ wrote: Essen,tial Oil

Safety, Churchill Livingstone,

ISBN: 0 443 05260 3 0

Robert Tisserand

Editor

Dear Editor In February 1996 the publishers EditionsJakin faxed and otherwise distributed a three page document entitled ‘An Uncanny Resemblance?’ to many people in the aromatherapy world, including several magazines and newsletters. Some of them published extracts and thus distributed some of the contents to a large world- wide audience, including that on the internet. In the docttment it was suggested that a resemblance exists between material in a book entitled La Nouvelle Ar~omatherapie by Philippe Mailhebiau, and my book, Th,e Fragrant Mind.

I emphatically and unreservedly deny these accusations. I regret that neither Mr Mailhebiau, his publisher or legal represenlative chose to contact either myself or my publisher to put forward their complaints. The timing of the event may be significant however - February 1996 - the same month as his English edition reached the bookshops, and eight months after Th,e

Fragrant Mind was published, it has therefore been

suggested to me that the whole incident may be nothing more than a marketing ploy.

Although Editions Jakin’s accusations refer only to two books, mentioned above, there are in fact four books involved in this matter: 1. V. Worwood, Aromantic,r,

London: Pan Books, 1987 2. P. Mailhebiau, La Nouvelle

Aromatherapie caracterologie

des essences et temperaments

humains, Toulouse: Editions Vie Nouvelle, 1989. 3. V. Worwood, Th,e Fragra,nt

Mind, London: Doubleday, June 1995.

(The final section of my manuscript was delivered to the publishers on 1st June 1994. It included part three of the book, entitled Aroma- Genera, which is the only part referred to in Editions J&in’s accusations.) 4. P. Mailhebiau, Portraits in

Oils, Saffron Walden: C. W. Daniel Company Ltd. (Although the innerjacket details say this book was published in 1995, according to the publisher, The C. W. Daniel Company Limited, the book was ‘published’ if defined as available in the shops for sale, on 28th February 1996.)

The only book written by Mr Mailhebiau and published in 1989 that I am now aware of is La Nouvelle

Aromatherapie caracterolog1e

des essences et temperments hurnains, published by Editions Vie Nouvelle (372 Pages), and this is presumably the one I am now being accused of ‘borrowing from’. Yet the text in this differs substantially and profoundly from that in my book, the

E'rccgmntMind (481 pages). I describe both the human personality that would benefit from a particular essential oil and the personality of the essential oil itself, sticking entirely to modern human characteristics, whereas I have been told Nouv& Aromatherapie is very much a text drawing on mythological/historical information.

In N~uvclh Aromatherapie, Mailhebiau gives a ‘Caracterologlie’ of nineteen essential oils, whereas in The Frugrant Mind

I discuss forty-five essential oils (more than twice the number than in Mr Mailhebiau’s book). Also, my text comes with other information, including lists of the states of mind that would benefit from a particular essential oil under the headings: ‘Use to Counteract These Negative Attributes’ and ‘Use for These Positive Attributes’. Under these headings in Cypress for example there are twenty-six and twenty-five states of mind listed, respectively. Additionally, all forty-five essential oil personality profiles in my book come within the general section, Aroma-Generu

which defines nine present- day basic personality groups, associated with certain essential oils groups.

Aromantics, my book published by Pan in 1987, proves a continuum in my thinking which pre-dates by two years La Nouvelle

Aromatherapie. In Aromantics I say ‘Cypress is proud and eni<gmatic. It eases the sadness, yet is direct and outspoken. Helps you to

stand up for yourself.’ In the first paragraph of the cypress personality profile in The

Fragrant Mind I also use the words ‘proud’, ‘direct’ and ‘o&spoken’. Later I talk about how cypress has sympathy for sorrow and loss, and say people will turn to them in times of extreme distress, as I talked about cypress ‘easing the sadness’ in Ammantics. If I have copied from anyone, it appears to be myself!

None of us in aromatherapy has the exclusive right to define the character of an essential oil, because we are all entitled to our opinions. Indeed, for The Frugrant Mind I invited the opinions of other aromatherapists (many of whom are authors), some of whom provided mc with essential oil characterisations, and all of the fifteen who responded to my invitation are quoted, referenced, and boxed in their entirety within the relevant individual essential oil sections in my book. In some cases, similar conclusions can be seen to have been drawn by these persons and myself as one might expect.

In the document distributed by Editions Jakin in February, quotes from nine essential oil ‘characterologies’ by Mr Mailhebiau and ‘profiles’ by myself were presented in two columns, side by side. At the top of these two pages of quotes above those from Mr Mailhebiau, it states that the quotes come from the 1989 edition, N0u71& Aromatherupie. In fact, this is not the case. In cypress, for example, six of the seven

Mailhebieu quotes come from the book Portrait,7 in Oils. This is important because the text in the French and that in the English differ substantially, and I cannot he accused of copying from a book that was published nine months after my own. The one quote that does come from La

Nouuellx Aromatherapie relates to grandparents and, although it’s been edited to appear similar to my own statement, our full statements have no similarity other than that he talks about grandfather, and I about grandparents Mailhebiau: ’ Cypress

semperuirens is then the <granclfather who tells such

beautiful stories about where old

kings, kind and generous, reip

over lands inhabited by ,fairies

and gnomes, princes and

pvincesses. ’ Worwood: ‘Cypress make great

grandparents because children always know the bounda&s and

feel cxnnfortable in their pre.yence,

while Cypress loves the children S

free spirits. As the children get

older; discipline and ,rzs$ect will be expected, while Cypress 7~21 be

in the, fomfiont oJdefeen.din,g th,e family’.

The document distributed by Editions Jakin extracted three quotes from The Fragrant Mind, this one above, and two which involve text which is very similar to that used in Aromun.tics

(1987)) which pre-dates the French book by two years. (Please refer to paragraph five, above.)

I have been discussing the personality aspect of essential oils for many years, as can be testified by people who have attended my workshops. For example, in

September 1992 I lectured on the subject of ‘The Female

l+&ciple’and a report on these lectures appeared in the newsletter in an article written byJoan Clark. In this, she reports some details regarding my work on the personalities of Aroma-Genera.

This proves that I was using these classifications before I met Mr Mailhebieu in 1993.

At no time did Mr Mailhebiau discuss with me personally his ideas about characterologies of essential oils, nor did we discuss me quoting sources as in this case there was no information to quote. Indeed, as can be seen from The Frugrant Mind itself, all quotes and sources are thoroughly referenced, and I have on pages 266-270 given credit to those before me who have made a contribution to characterology and typology over the years, including astrologers, Sufi’s, ayurvedic medicine, the ancient Greeks, homeopathy, Taoism, Polynesian Kahunas, Dr Edward Bach, C. G. Jung, and the Enneagram. I give credit where credit is due, and Editions Jakin are in no position to accuse otherwise.

When I started in aromatherapy many years ago I believed it was full of peace, light and goodness. I now know that sadly this is not always the case. However, I think we should all remember that the light is inherent in this profession, and WC should make concerted efforts to recognise and rebuff the darkness wherever WC see it 0

Valerie Worwood,

London