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We are now going to take a look at the fundamentals of essential oils – the structure and effects of their chemical components. I want you to enjoy this chapter, and I hope you find it absorbing and stimulating.

Essential oils can be classified in several ways and if you know the chemical composition of an oil you can make a fairly good guess as to its therapeutic effects and possible hazards. There is no need for me to go into great detail – as my husband puts it, ‘It is quite safe to drive a car without being a qualified mechanic, so long as we understand the simple basic principles of how the car works and we have learnt to control it.’

I shall explain only the basics, very simply and I hope clearly, so that you can appreciate the significance of the components which make up the oils – and their relationship with one another. This way, you will get to know these precious gifts of nature and be able to use them in an understanding and respectful way.

Everything in the world, both living and non-living, is made up of chemicals. Most of the chemistry I learned at school was about things that are non-living and have never lived – this is called ‘inorganic’ chemistry. The chemistry which includes all living things (and those which have once lived) is called ‘organic’ chemistry or the chemistry of the carbon compound, since all organic substances contain carbon. The two main groups of chemicals in organic chemistry are referred to as chain or aliphatic and ring or aromatic (not necessarily meaning odorous).

Carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen and oxygen (this last accounts for nine-tenths of the human body!) are the basic building blocks of life itself, each of them being composed of atoms, the atom itself being thought at one time to be the smallest particle in existence.