Learn About Essential Oils #8 - What's Pure?

My 2nd class meeting was on April 26th.  We are only meeting once a month for about 2 1/2 hours and doing the rest of the studying on our own.  In the 2nd class we learned about "purity" of EO's.  This is how to tell the quality of an oil.  Remember, you only want to use a good quality EO for therapeutic or medical purposes. 

There are many factors which determine the quality of an EO.  It's important to know how the oils you are choosing are treated.  Some important factors include:

1) Growing condition:  geographical area, soil, climate, altitude, types of fertilizers, grown organically, usage of chemicals, etc.

2) Harvesting: does the harvester use the best practices, how close is the distillery (the quicker the plants get to the distillery, the fresher they are), which parts of the plant is used.

3) Distillation:  this is probably the most important aspect in determining the quality of an oil.  Distillation is a complex and magical art and there are not very many knowledgable distillers left in the world.  You would want to know as much as you can about the distillation process, for example; what type of distillation is being used (water or cold pressed is the least harmful to the oils, low heat is better, longer with low heat is good), are they taking time to get all the complexities of the oil, are harmful additives added to make the distillation quicker.

4) Purity:  Are the oils adulterated in any way?  Are there any extenders, additives, solvents, etc.  You want your oils pure with no additives.  Some distillers refer to this as a "complete" oil. (More on this later.)

5) Transportation and Storage:  how are the oils transported and in what conditions, how are they stored.

6) Energy:  All of the above factors will contribute to the energy of the plant being transferred to the oil.  Where is the oil coming from?  Are the plants treated lovingly and with gratitude.  Are the people dealing with the oils loving and caring, or are they just in it for the money.  Remember, there is a greed factor that can energetically spread to the oils as well.