New etymological connections unlocked:
Lavender seems to be the etymological ancestor of a number of words:
the English words "lave" (verb, wash, bathe), "lafian" (to wet, make wet, bathe something in fluid/liquid), and "lavatory",
the Spanish "lavar" (to wash) and "lava"(noun, the act of washing),
the French "laver" (to wash),
and the Latin lavāre (to wash). Also, "lavender" was used as a label for "washer women" and "launderers" who would lay laundry out to dry on lavender bushes.
Given the Latin connection, it's germane to point out that the Romans used to use lavender in their bathhouse baths. Roman soldiers would carry lavender to dress battle wounds. Pliny the Elder wrote that a pound of lavender blossoms could cost up to a month's worth of wages. Being economically minded, it's worth pointing out that there was perhaps a distorted or possibly downright nonsensical superstition that poisonous asp vipers nested in lavender bushes, which drove up the price of lavender.
Christians would hang crosses fashioned from lavender over their doors to ward off evil spirits. In Spain and Portugal, it was thrown into bonfires on St. John's Day for the same effect. It was a key ingredient in love spells. Tudor girls drank lavender tea to dream of their future husbands. Queen Elizabeth 1 appointed an official "Purveyor of Lavender Essence". During the Plague, lavender was burned in sick rooms and doctors would stuff their masks with lavender. Grave robbers would also use it to protect themselves while plundering the homes of plague victims. Lavender oil was famously used in 1910 as a healing agent by Rene-Maurice Gattefosse for burns that had developed gas gangrene. Gattefosse would go on to coin the term aromatherapie which titled his 1937 book.
Modern science says that linalool is believed to enhance activity of GABA receptors which calms the nervous system similar to anti-anxiety medications. When the scent is taken in through the olfactory system, the thalamus is bypassed on the way to the limbic system where the amygdala (emotional processing) and hippocampus (memory) are located, explaining why a whiff of lavender can so swiftly impact mood and stress levels. Lavender also increases both alpha and theta wave activity. As research has shown, theta waves are kind of important as they relate to past life memory exploration, healing, and activation of dormant chakras. Given the relationship between activation of dormant chakras and the kundalini serpent and the Egyptian asp hieroglyph, the Roman superstition about asps and lavender begins to seem like a distorted reference to the connection between kundalini, theta waves, and lavender.
The next time you're at the store buying hand soap, dish soap, dryer static sheets, or laundry detergent, and you notice that there's always a lavender scented option, you'll know why.
