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Neroli
The Lightness of Being
The Scene
The year is 1715. The long imperial reign of Louis XIV is finally
over. The coronation of Louis XV marks the end of an old and the begin
of a new era. The end of the imperial high baroque marked by grandeur,
gravity, ritual and pomp. The demise of all things formalized, austere
and mannered, as seen in the architectural elegance of Corelli's
and Lully's royal court music, the dark velvet drapes of interiors,
the classical poses and heavy colors of De La Tour's paintings.
Enter the Rococo era with its lightness, grace and sea-shell
curves, with its taste for all things delicate, charming and
intimate-the pastel tones of the new fashion's gossamer silks, the
relaxed grace of interior ornamentation, the playful tenderness of
salon music such as Rameau's, Dieupart's and Leclair's, the frothy
brimming sensuality of Boucher's and Fragonard's canvases.
Aromatherapy too was an integral part of Rococo culture, and at
the heart of Rococo consciousness was an essential oil. The oil of
Neroli.
The court of Versailles gained the reputation for being la
cour parfumée dominated by le gout. Society in general
meanwhile displayed a renewed penchant for hygiene, grooming and
well-being. There was an awakening of individual sensibility, and
personal relationships became more important than social standing. One
enjoyed the more intimate pleasures of taking tea Chinese-style in the
fragrant mandarin garden, exchanging favorite fragrances among a
small group of close acquaintances, or making interesting new friends
among tall bay windows.
A key figure in the Rococo fragrance revival was the king's
leading lady, Madame de Pompadour. With her 'exquisite and unerring
taste' she took a special delight in promoting the revival of many
small artisan arts and crafts, and these included perfumery and the
manufacture of scented gloves. The twenty-one
gantiers-parfumeurs in Grasse, the manufacturers of fine leather
gloves scented with essential oils and absolutes, at the time provided
the most popular and enduring form of aromatherapy found in a social
and interpersonal context. They certainly had a plentiful supply of
Neroli oil available from the most fragrant Bouquetier cultivars, as
it had been in production on the French Riviera since as far back as
the early sixteenth century. Madame de Pompadour's patronage
single-handedly turned these Southern France cottage industries into a
business of near-industrial proportions. Thanks to her, Grasse's
scented gloves were still emitting subtle (as well as not so subtle,
depending on the wearer) olfactory messages right into the heady,
tumultuous 1780s.
Neroli-scented gloves were then socially de rigeur.
It was they that carried the Rococo fragrance of Neroli throughout
French and Italian society, and probably beyond. And Neroli was
nothing more than the distilled oil of bitter orange blossoms. This
oil was named after the seventeenth century Italian Princess of
Nerola, Anna Maria de La Tremoille, who wore the oil on her gloves and
probably her ribbons, shawls and other garments about which we can
only speculate. She even took aromatherapy baths with orange flower
oil. Way ahead of her time, Italian society soon found itself in
emulation of her, and her favorite scented gloves became known as
guanti di neroli. Eventually the oil itself also acquired the name
neroli. The favourite Rococo fragrance did not survive the 1790s reign
of terror-but then, the nouvelle bourgeoisie had other scents
to chose from, among them the sandalwood fans (those potent weapons of
seduction).
The Plant
The original orange tree is the bitter orange, from which the
sweet orange is a more recent cultivar. Its home is thought to be
South China, where it still is a common winter ornamental.
Historically the orange tree spread to India and to the Mediterranean
basin over 2,000 years ago: Its Sanskrit name is nagranja, its
Arabic name naranj. The Greek myth of Atalanta figures a
'golden apple' in the Garden of the Hesperides that is most likely an
orange. During the twelfth century or possibly earlier, Arab traders
and settlers began laying out the first orange plantations in Sicily,
Malta, probably Andalucia and possibly Calabria in southern Italy.
These were laid out with excellent irrigation systems, some of which
survive to this day.
In addition to providing fragrance material for aromatherapy,
perfumery and food flavoring, the orange tree also yields the Seville
oranges used in the original marmalade.
The orange symbolises different values in different cultures. In
Taiwan, for example, oranges and tangerines signify good fortune and
wealth. In the South of France there is a tradition of using orange
blossoms as bridal decoration-in the bridal wreath, for example. The
significance here is most likely the heart's expression of love,
joy-and courage! (Although, knowing about Neroli's actions we
could also look at it another way and say that the flowers might help
relieve the anxiety and stress of getting married . . .)
According to Maud Grieve, the exhaustive researcher into herbal
traditions from the mid-twentieth century, this French custom came
over to England during the early decades of the 1800s, and in some
areas may still survive today.
The Oil
At least sixteen different essential oils and a few absolutes are
extracted from various citrus plants-botanically the citrus genus in
the rue family-and are derived either from the flower, leaf or fruit
rind. The more commonly used oils from this important fragrance family
are Neroli (bitter orange flower), Petitgrain (bitter orange leaf),
Sweet orange rind, Bergamot (bergamot orange rind), Bergamot
petitgrain (bergamot orange leaf), Mandarin rind, Lemon rind, Lime
rind, Persian lime rind, Grapefruit rind (pink and white). At least
three of these, Neroli, Petitgrain and Bergamot, have been used in
high quality eau de colognes since the seventeenth century when an
apothecary first created the original 'Kölnisch Wasser' (the
original European perfumers were pharmacists, for the most part). Here
these three citrus oils are valued for the fresh, tangy, gently
uplifting topnotes they impart. All of these citrus oils are used
today in perfumery and aromatherapy. Each has specific as well as
common therapeutic actions and indications when used in the
environment or topically.
When
used in clinical aromatherapy in a nebuliser or one of the
other administration techniques designed for internal absorption,
Neroli oil is essentially a relaxant remedy. The oil targets mainly
the nervous system and thereby the cardiovascular and digestive
systems, reducing hyperfunctioning in these systems. Applications
include general nervous hyperfunctioning involving stress-related
conditions in general, as seen in conditions of anxiety, restless
behavior, fear, etc.; and smooth muscle spasms, including the heart
muscle itself, such as tachycardia, vascular and cardiac spasms,
colic, IBS, stress-caused diarrhea and such like.
Neroli's relaxant effect is balanced by a restorative effect on
the brain and a stimulant action on the organs of upper digestion.
This is why the oil should be considered for blends addressing such
conditions as chronic fatigue and chronic depression on one hand, and
forms of indigestion arising from biliary/gastric/pancreatic
deficiency on the other.
On the microbial front, Neroli oil can be engaged effectively for
managing bacterial and fungal infections, especially digestive and
respiratory, and has shown some success with parasitic conditions such
as giardiasis and hookworm.
Orange flower water, or Neroli hydrosol,
has been in use for
almost 500 years by pastry chefs in southern and central Europe, and in
the 1920s was particularly used by manufacturers to add crispness to
biscuits. This exquisite floral water is also excellent for toiletry
and other domestic preparations, including lotions, misters, mouth
rinses for gum problems, and various deodorant products. In
aromatherapy, Neroli hydrosol is especially welcome for babies and
infants, in a diffusor, humidifier, in a carrier oil for infant
massage, in the bath water and-in about a teaspoonful
dose-possibly in the feeding bottle itself. Here it carries the same
uplifting and calming actions and indications as the Neroli oil
itself, but on a very much gentler scale.
Perhaps the best historical example of environmental fragrancing
with orange comes from China. There, the highly fragrant finger lemon,
Fo Shou, cCtrus sarctodactylus, has been used for millennia on
credenzas and buffet tables to fragrance interiors.
The Fragrance
It would be difficult to find a person averse to the smell of
oranges. Regardless of whether flower or fruit, wether bitter orange
or sweet orange, whether true orange, mandarin or bergamot
orange-Orange period is universally beloved. So ubiquitous, we take
the orange for granted. This makes a more objective assessment of its
aromatic qualities more difficult. However, Neroli oil has seen some
research for its psychological effect and continues to be highly
valued by aromatherapists worldwide for its particular qualities and
functions.
With its intensely sweet floral, somewhat citrusy, fresh
fragrance, Neroli can be classified under the traditional elements of
Water and Air, promoting harmony, balance and calm on one hand, and
clarity, sensitivity on the other. The balanced state of being this
oil promotes can be described as a lightness of being, a gentle
lightheartedness. This specifically counteracts states of
mental-emotional overintensity seen, for example, in people on fiery
missions, with moralistic drives, or in those tormented by obsessive,
repetitive ideas. As a solution to any problem, Neroli oil seems to
seductively suggest we give lightening up, softening and opening up a
try. "What is there to loose? Greater intensity?" In conditions of
depression, listlessness and discouragement in particular, Neroli's
well-established euphoric, mood-elevating effect creates a true
en-lightening effect, dispersing the darkness, even the despair, while
reducing the intensity. Other euphoric oils here come to mind
for a synergistic effect, including Clary sage, Jasmine and
Rose.
Neroli oil likewise adresses states of anxiety, apprehension,
worry and fear of known perceived dangers, with the additional calming
effect achieved through nervous sedation. So for instance, anxiety and
panic issues around performance and test situations can be effectively
handled with Neroli, including exams, interviews, stage performances
and (last but not least) sexual performance. Combinations with other
sedative oils (e.g., Lavender, the Camomiles, Blue tansy) and
regulating oils (Geranium, Helichrysum, Rosewood, Rose) clearly
suggest themselves in this context.
Neroli's Water aspect, arising from its sweet-floral aroma,
engenders calm, harmony and renewal. Not only anxiety, but states of
anger, frustration and irritability are also appeased. The oil
promotes emotional poise and harmony on the feeling level, and a
gentle, non-fatiguing mental clarity-especially as regards intuiting
functions-on the thinking level. Here Neroli's link with the liver
on an energetic as on a physiologic level becomes evident. Neroli is
especially appropriate for those in whom liver congestion generates
heat that overstimulates the heart-syndromes that are well described
in Chinese Medicine.
Another example of Neroli's space creating effect is the way
that it promotes an open Heart. The fragrance helps us open to the
world with the natural sincerity arising from our true self, with a
deep inner joy and confidence. It can thereby help us receive the
emotional support and nurture we seek, as well as helping us let go of
past negative experiences that we fight or try so hard to avoid.
Neroli basically smoothes the exchange between the self and the world,
between self and other, an exchange that ideally operates like a
well-oiled swing door. Simply put, the fragrance of Neroli promotes
the experience of that innocent, generous, playful Heart space when we
open and yield our true self in joy and inner passion to
another.
Neroli's intimate connection to the heart on an energetic as
well as a physiologic level should now be clearer. Joy, confidence and
inner courage are two of the heart's main spiritual faculties on an
energetic/spiritual level-qualities recognized as such by most of
the world's cultures.
The Conclusion
The reasons for the Rococo period's predilection for neroli oil
should now be clear, especially after the long, turgid, stultifying
reign of the Sun King. It was clearly time to let go of baroque
pomp and braggadoccio, and open up to something more light-hearted,
unaffected and spontaneous. Enter the Age of Enlightenment. We can
only speculate about the depressant and depressing effects of such a
long reign, as well as the mixed feelings of anxiety and fear it may
have caused in some parts of French society. It seems that neroli oil
was instrumental in the healing of French culture and its development
throughout the appropriately-named Age of Enlightenment. That that age
went on to exhibit the negative aspects of the Rococo, of the neroli
influence, is another story . . .
Whereas Sandalwood oil points to the depth of being, the
complementary Neroli oil shows us the lightness of being-an equally
significant aspect of reality. Far from being unbearable, connecting
with the Rococo lightness of being is as essential to our well-being
as connecting to its depth. Let's take a tip from the
Neroli-drenched Italian princess.
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