Essential Oils

One of Nn's classmates mom is really into Essential Oils. There apparently is an entire pyramid type empire out there that sells these things. Her personal testimonies are quite convincing. She also talked about how back in biblical times, oil was as banal as Starbucks and Peet's for modern day. You see someone on the street and say, "Hey! Let's get a cup of coffee. Well, back then, it'll be "Let's go get a dose of oil!" She even cited these books and studies on different oil recipes from the bible. Then it occurred to me.... wait....this isn't just biblical times... this is MY CULTURE!!!! The Chinese also believed and practiced in essential oils...
In my recollection, there's the all loving, all encompassing, very nurturing, 蠟梅油.  You use this for various illnesses from bug bites, to scratches and cuts, to even pimples. 






If 蠟梅油 is the Mother of All Oil (which it's not, as you shall see), then the Father of All Oil is the all curing, much dreaded, ever-smelling "BITE" of 獅子油?? If pungency equated to potency... the lion oil certain takes that crown. Unlike 蠟梅油, 獅子油 burned. It reeked. It brought water to our eyes. But you reached for it... for all the tougher cases. And mom said... for a while, the US banned sale of this, cuz Americans really thought the oil was made of lions. *Shrug* or should I say, *Growl?*


There's the much much more famous, but not in my household, 活絡油.  Ahhhhh.... for massaging, relaxing, balming and was the forerunner for "Hot Ice" and "Ben Gay."  Maybe this is the Uncle of All Oil??? I dunno....

And then... the oil the That Shall Rule Them All...the oil That Shall Not Be Named... the oil above all oil.... the one where if you're riding a city bus and you get a whiff of it, you immediately bounce up and yield your seat.  It's the oil... where if someone is fainting, it comes out to go under the nose, behind the ears and on the temples.  Arthritis.  This oil. Stomach ache.  This oil. Itching / allegies. This oil. Migraines? This oil. Cook dinner.... man.... makes you wonder.  It's the oil... which brings you back to days gone by... days of the past.. days where you can no longer hold onto.  The infamous...

So Joyce buys into this Essential Oil fad and gets a diffuser and some oil from Whole Foods.  Whatever... if it makes the family sleep better, fine.  If it gets rid of moth problem, fine.  If it changes me into a mutant ninja turtle fine.  What's not fine?!?!?!? WHAT'S NOT FINE?!!?!?  As I dropped the kids off today..  I hugged and kissed them... and they both smelled like.... my grandma.  Sigh....

And then today... I saw Costco selling Essential Oils.  If they sell it at Costco... I guess it's validated.

Dinner Menu: Tinola over Rice