What purpose does Oil serve?

[Zagacat]

Thank you for the responses. I found them very helpful. I just want to add that I think that there could have been a double purpose. Makes me wonder if placed on the head and other places during rituals it can help transmit intention. I am starting to find that many of the things that were assumed to be ritualistic, or used based on availibilty, sometimes had more functional applications.

Originally Posted by Zagacat

Thank you for the responses. I found them very helpful. I just want to add that I think that there could have been a double purpose. Makes me wonder if placed on the head and other places during rituals it can help transmit intention. I am starting to find that many of the things that were assumed to be ritualistic, or used based on availibilty, sometimes had more functional applications.

This is a good observation Zagacat, I agree many times there is a deeper meaning to the use of certain items in rituals.

[Silver]

I can see this, too...oil being so precious, using it was an intention ~ or to symbolize that the intention was sincere, the oil being a sort of sacrifice, like the fatted calf (fat = oil too), being annointed with oil = what worshippers were willing to give of themselves, a token of their genuine worship. In modern terminology greasing the palm (w/money) to 'make things work'.

[IsleWalker]

Zag--

I know why you're asking and this is the best I could find out there. It is in a book (which I can't cut and paste from). It says:

Ionic compounds are usually arranged as crystalline giant lattice structures of regularly repeating ions. The electrovalent bonding gives the ionic compounds this property, and most ionic compounds are hard, high melting point solids that conduct eletricity when molten or in a solution (hence they are called electrolytes in the body).

Ionic compounds are not found in the chemistry of the essential oil compounds. However, they are very important in the functioning of the human body.

So, scratch that suggesting! Maybe not a good idea, although I may try just for grins.

Lora

http://books.google.com/books?id=q-qbUdcOr04C&pg=PA20&lpg=PA20&dq=essential+oils+cond uct+electricity&source=bl&ots=QRM3S6mbm8&sig=K8w2d 94QVO6OQj1JierG4uf2Wzk&hl=en&ei=eU29ToKMDuHciQLrvO 36Ag&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&sqi=2& ved=0CDUQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=essential%20oils%20con duct%20electricity&f=false

Link to the book, in case you're interested. Hope it works because it's one of those searches where it finds text in books.

P.S. It goes on to say that essential oils is an example of covalent bonding, where it bonds non-metals together. The substance puts ion or ions into a bond and needs space in it's outer shell for the other (sharing) atom's electrons to go. It occurs between atoms of the same elements, like hydrogen and oxygen.

So now I don't know again!