BOOK REVIEWS

JENNIE HARDING RUTH H SMITH

THE FRAGRANT MIND VALERIE WORWOOD

PUBLISHED BY DOUBLEDAY

El 6.99 481 PAGES HARDBACK

T his is a volume illtended to

complement \‘aterie M’orwoott’s

“Fragrant Pbarmac!“, and takes the

same large-format. h;rrdback

approach. The hook is in three

parts; the first section explains

Ltlc link5 bet\veen Il-agrantrs and

the brain, the second section

discusses specific emotional states

and ,( .suqLy3ta easentiat oils to

compensate for them, and the

thirct section assign\ “pcrwnatitv”

tvpc\ to iiidividuat rsaentiat oils,

by dividing them into gl’orlps

t c 1-m C Cl “Fl-uitics”, “M~oodie\”

“Sectlies” etc. Positi1.c and ncgati\c

pel-aonatity traits al-c assigned to

cacti csscl~tiat oil, in orctcr to tlrtp ill

choosing the rigb 1 oila for a

puticlltar persol~.

The general public might find

this book takes some deciphering; it

takes a white to figure out the

different sections and their focus.

There are several listings of essential

oils in the book, admittectt~- f’ol

different pui-poses, hilt a5 011~’ l-cads

ttilot~gb, iL tto~s feet a\ though there

is a tot of I-eprtitioli of information,

Ho~\wer, one cannot doubt the

meal lvith \vhich the auttlol- ha5

\et out LO rsplol? tt1c WI?jWl

from many ctiflercnt angles.

The third scrtion which assigns

the personalit\ types is Ollt’

with which a s a profrssiolial I feel 5tigtitt\ uncom~ol-table. I

heticvc that differeiit people

will have entireI\ individual

i-esponses to fraglmces, and

assiCgniil,g ahaot~lte qualities

to csscntiat oils in SllCh ;I

definite way is rcstrictin,g to freedom

of cxpl-essioil. In SllCll il

subjective area, it is WYl\

very arbitrary. It may he possible to

generatise that for instance “There

is 2111 etctert) quality at>011r

patctiouti, ancicllt and steady, no

matter how old tt1q 111 a,

be. P;ltchoutis are horn aged forty I”

(page 377) bllt I klrow plenty of

\vitd ~romell 1vt10 love tticir

patchouti for less geriatric Ieasons.

There lvilt ah\‘ays be 1-c~spollses

\vhicti do not fit the pattei-il. I am

all foi- a creati\c approach, but

I \vol~ld like people to decide

101 tilclnsrtvrs rvhat lk1g““11ce

ll~can\ to them,

J”

PORTRAITS IN OILS PHILIPPE MAILHEBIAU

PUBLISHED BY C.W.DANIELS, ES.95

298 PAGES PAPERBACK

This iq the abridged translation of “IA

Nouwtte Xroiriattirrapie” published

in French I~\ the umc author,

(Editiolls Jakin, Lausannr 1995.)

That ~otulnr i% a m+jor lvork of’ some

600 page\, Ivith a first section which

has not hecn included in the English

version. Tbi\ is a pity, because it

contained muct~ lnow biochemical

and otf:*ctory information, as welt as

the method of application of essential

oils favourect I,\ .M~lr Maithebiau. The

English version concentrates on hi5

monographs on essential oils, \vhich

fottow a dual approach, namely first

giving botanical and some chemical

information, followed by a much mow

poetic chal.acterisatiol1-is~~tioll 01

I13~-c]~o]qical ,~bes of each essential oil.

There are “1 monographs featured

he1-r, and one has to admire the

\Li]]ful blend of science and poetry in

the presentation. (It is interesting to

Ilc,te that Editions Jakin have rece~ltl~ s+rgcsred that XJerie M’oI-~voocl has

follo\cccl ver\ closelv in Mr

.\Iailhebia~~‘s footsteps in her “Fragrant

\Iind” book whe1) categorising her

essential oil\ by “tenipcl.amentc”. SW

News, page 5.)

However, I am not sure ~vho

\\ill htl! “Port,-aits in Oils”. The

book does not gi1.e methods 01 LZSC

01 stlqqest doyges, so beginners I I will he pt~t 011; as for therapista,

the\ uill not lind ~;invthilrg wall!

new in terms of ~IWS of essential

oils, bill ;t great deal 011

c ol’l‘rc’t botanical idciltificatioli

although sadly 1101 all the botanical

info,-mation in rlrr FI-cnch vu\ioll.

I1 (‘a111101 hnvc txT11 a11 Gil\,\ I~OOL

LO tl-allslatc~, I)rli I \vish ~10mc’ of

the 1nol‘r technical infoi-tllation

had been included.

LIr \]ailhrhiau Ila\ achic\ul ;*I,

;rnla/illg blelld 01 scicllcc and art, and

his \\ol-k Ivill hi-ilig both side\ 01

a,-om;rth~i-;1t-‘) closel- together. (If y011

call read FI-Erich, the original \etGoil

\vill wl yu back al-orlntl fliO.00.)

JH

AROMATHERAPY FOR TRAVELLERS

JUDE BROWN PUBLISHED BY

THORSONS E4.99

166 PAGES PAPERBACK

CVith the traveller in mind the hook is

hoth small and light to carry. Items for

the essential travel kit should be cay

to ohtain from high street stores and

\vill pack conveniently- into an a\‘erage

siLed wash hag. The X-Z of common

ailments and aromatherap!

trwtments are presented in simple

format and there is a quick reference

chart for emergency use.

L’nfortunately. the inforinativr

content of the book is reallv rather-

flimsy, and does not suppol-t it’s well

thought out sqle. The eight essential

oils are consistently referred to I~)

common name only and the common

ailmclrts ambitiously- tackle topic\

SllCl-1 a\ snake and spider bites,

dixuasing in detail the ecology of

1heSe natural species, giving the

reader a sense of’ padding whrrc the

therapeutic informatioii is scanty. The

extreme]\ seriolls condition of

frostbite ia inappropriately diwiissrd

3tith it r-cmeclj, foi- chilblain; and

gcne~-al illformatiou on first aid iq at

tiiires oilt-dated.

RHS