Bubonic Plague buster: Thieves oil

In the past three blogs, we’ve talked about essential oils a lot. Maybe you find it difficult to believe that something so accessible can be so powerful. Well, here’s a little-known historical tale to illustrate essential oils’ value.

 It seems that during an outbreak of the Bubonic Plague, four thieves would descend upon the dead or dying and rob them—without becoming ill and dying themselves. These cavalier bandits were protected by, you guessed it, essential oils with vinegar and garlic.

 How do we know? Apparently, they were caught red-handed. The constabulary at the time granted the thieves leniency for disclosing the secret of how they avoided infection. The bandits described a concoction of aromatic herbs, including vinegar, garlic, cloves and Rosemary that they smeared all over themselves before ravaging the dead and dying.

 Hmmm, you might say, doesn’t prove anything. You’d be right, except that modern scientists have scrutinized the products they used and have found that “many harmful microbes can’t survive in the presence of certain essential oils.”

 As recently as 2005, Edward Close, PhD, a mold remediation expert used the thieves oil to eliminate a particularly persistent mold problem that had defied the strongest mold remediation products available. Fait acompli, with no chemicals and no harmful side effects.

Now no one is sure that there were actually four thieves; could have been 40, or maybe the thieves oil concoction came about from a man named Forthaves and the legend morphed into four thieves. Nevertheless, current-day studies have indicated the mixture of essential oils that make up thieves oil is efficacious for suppressing microbes that want to mess with our immune systems. Plus, it is chemical-free and environmentally friendly. With the advent of flu season, it might be something to pay attention to.

In the end, even though we don’t know for sure about the validity of the thieves oil story, we know the validity of essential oils is real and practical.

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