Our perfumes containing Cedarwood
Wars of antiquity were waged in the middle east for the possession of the Lebanese cedarwood, so precious for building ships and temples. In fact, the essential oil that it contains makes it resistant to insects and to sea animals that eat ship wood.
It was probably the first distilled essential oil, thousands of years ago in Egypt, as it is sufficient to boil the powdered wood to see the oil float on the surface. Egyptians knew how to use it as perfume, as medicine, in cosmetic and soap making. Cedar trees of different shapes possess the same unique fragrance from the mounts of Atlas in Morocco to the Asian Hindu Kush where the wood fat with fragrant oil is used to light fires at home. Tibetans use it in the fabrication of incense and are probably those who today have kept better the knowledge of its medicinal properties.
Cedarwood essential oil is antiseptic of the respiratory tract and helps expel catarrh and resist cold diseases as do all essences extracted from woods, but its aroma is much wealthier and warmer than pines scents and has deeper properties. It infuses joy and peace into the heart, giving it the necessary strength and stability to open to the higher pleasure of prayer and meditation.
