The following is an excerpt from Dr. Poran’s 2001 interview with Robert Tisserand, who re-introduced and developed the ancient field of healing with plant essential oils in the ‘70s:

Tisserand’s was 19 when his mother, a British cosmetologist, went to France to attend Valnet’s workshop in 1970.  She brought Valnet’s autographed book home, and Tisserand, being (luckily for us) in the process of choosing a vocation, was immediately drawn to reading the book that had a tremendous impact on him.  He realized then that he was meant to do healing and body work.  He enrolled in a massage school and started to read everything he could about essential oils.  He found one of the few printed copies at the time of Marguerite Maury’s “Guide to Aromatherapy” which detailed the uses of essential oils primarily for cosmetic/massage benefits.  He decided to blend the 2 approaches: Gatefosse and Valnet’s strict medicinal uses of essential oils with the little known Marguerite Maury’s massage and cosmetic benefits.  He started testing the oils on relatives and friends and was amazed by their potency which he found was much more striking than Herbal Medicine.  In 1977 he published his first book “The Art of Aromatherapy” but it took 15 years (until early 1990’s) for the world to catch on.  In the meantime he opened a couple of massage schools in England and introduced aromatherapy into the curriculum.  He has written several more books including the Essential Oil Safety book and numerous articles.  Tisserand was the editor of the International Journal of Aromatherapy (this publication is not published anymore) and founder of the Tisserand Institute.  Although he is pleased by the tremendous growth of the field today, he feels his “baby” has been too popularized by the aromatherapy industry ignoring its true therapeutic potential (thankfully this is rapidly changing).  He therefore works closely with the medical profession towards the advancement of Aromatherapy as part of a complementary/integrative health care system.  He is actively involved in developing fine aromatherapy products sold by Tisserand aromatherapy operating from Britain.

“What we are really talking about here is qualities, or vibrations.  How do you know if two things have the same quality or vibration?  Only by feeling, by using that sixth sense which we call intuition.  The more we develop our intuition the more we will be able to see the order and perfection of the universe, and the deeper and richer our lives will become.”

From “The Art of Aromatherapy” 1977 by Robert Tisserand

Tisserand is obviously the conceiver/visionary of vibrational and subtle aromatherapy and I would fondly like to call him the “father of intuitive aromatherapy” - after many years of working with essential oils, he has honed his intuitive skills so much that he can create complex blends completely in his head!  He can clearly “smell” the scent of the final blend and know precisely which oils and at what ratios to use in the formulation before he even gets started!  He plays with the scent notes like a brilliant musician composer plays with musical notes.  Now, that is something to emulate!

Thank you Robert for all your efforts and inspiration!