Well if it's good enough for 16th-Century grave robbers...

He knows what I'm talking about

We've done it. We've jumped into the world of essential oils and can report that it's actually working for us. Wonderfully so, in many cases.

While I want to talk all about the different things that using these oils has brought about for our family (I'm always happy to answer questions in private or in the comment section) what I REALLY want to discuss is the legend behind one of the blends we use, Young Living's Thieves Oil.

This is the oil that these guys hang their hats on as being THE blend to use as a first line of defense against those common illnesses that tend to sneak up on us while we're refusing to wear jackets in the middle of chilly weather. We've even heard stories of a weeks worth of diffusing Thieves helping rid homes of black mold.

That's the ultra basic. The LEGEND behind the blend is somewhat creepier. Flash back hundreds of years to the time of the bubonic plague. This was a disease that had outbreaks that wiped out half the population. The doctors at the time wore these creepy bird-looking masks as protection. The reason for this apparent weirdness makes sense once you understand the function. The doctors of the time would put herbs and oils in the beak that would help protect them against the most deadliest of deadlies, with great effectiveness.

Bubonic plague doctors were huge Souixie and the Banshees fans

The legend goes that four thieves from Marseilles had put together an oil concoction that they would use to steal from the corpses of plague victims. They claimed it offered them complete protection from the pestilence. When they were caught red-handed the judges that tried them noted that they had a complete indifference to the contagion. The blend was then referred to as 
"Marseilles Vinegar," or the more popular name, "Four Thieves Vinegar."

Of course, there is a counter legend that the blend was developed by a guy named Richard Forthave. He called it Forthave's, but like many things, with the passing of time the name morphed into "Four Thieves." Is it a more plausible story? Maybe. It's nowhere near as interesting.

That's just the fun stuff. We use it and have noticed a difference in both our personal health and the atmosphere of our home.