Family: Lauraceae

Synonyms: Cinnamomum verum

Aroma: Bark- warm, spicy, sweet and tenacious. The leaf oil is warm, spicy and harsh

Colour: Bark – pale to brownish yellow. Leaf – yellow to brownish yellow

Plant: Bushy evergreen tree with strongly aromatic leaves and bark reaching up to 15 metres in height. In summer small, inconspicuous yellow white clusters of flowers bloom before turning into oval purple berries

Main Growing Areas: Sri Lanka, India, South East Asia, Seychelles, Zanzibar, Indonesia

Major Constituents: Bark – cinnamaldehyde, eugenol, benzyl benzoate, a-pinene,1.8 cineole, linalool, caryophyllene
Leaf – eugenol, eugenyl acetate, cinnamaldehyde, benzyl benzoate

Interesting snippets: Mentioned in the Bible and used by the ancient Egyptians as part of their mummification process.
In ancient China cinnamon was considered more precious than gold and was mentioned in a book on botanical medicine dated 2,700BC

Part of Plant used / Extraction: Dried inner bark or leaves/Steam distillation

Therapeutic actions: stomach cramps, flatulence, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, antibacterial, antifungal, carminative, insecticide, loss of appetite, aches and chills in the early stages of cold and flu, fatigue, lethargy.

Emotional and Spiritual: depression, emotional coldness, tension and fear

Keim and Bull suggest cinnamon promotes self-confidence, strengthens willpower and courage.

Gabriel Mojay states cinnamon is ideally suited to those who feel they have lost their ‘passion for life’ – that is, their creative impetus, emotional warmth or spiritual purpose. Full of light and vital heat, cinnamon works to encourage, inspire and reawaken.

Philippe Mailhebiau writes that cinnamon bark restores a taste and vigour for life to the depressed and the fire of courage to the belly of those who may have lost it in the maze of melancholia.

Robbi Zeck states that when you are feeling emotionally withdrawn and living in a state of separation, Cinnamon trickles into the vast, deep, inner world, bringing warmth, energy and a sense of connection to the present moment.

Valerie Ann Worwood writes love, in all its many guises, speaks through cinnamon to touch those hidden areas of the self that we have denied love access to. Bringing into our hearts the ever-understanding love and oneness, it invites love from higher realms; even if at first, inner love is often difficult in the human state of being, the warm glow of cinnamon radiates through all space and time, transforming sorrow into happiness. It brings the realization that love is always there, if we tune into its warm vibration.

Aromatherapy Insight Card: COLDNESS AND INTROVERSION
Come out of your shell and regain that passion and enthusiasm for life. For those who have grown emotionally cold and have isolated themselves from the outside world, Cinnamon is excellent for helping you warm cold and withdrawn emotions. There are plenty of people who are introverts playing the extrovert to survive in life. Access your extrovert inside as you tap into your own inner strength and be who you really are or who you want to be.

Fragrant Change Healing Card: I have the power within to change and regain my passion and creativity.

Safety: When used on the skin cinnamon bark can be a severe dermal irritant and sensitiser.

Tisserand and Young recommend that cinnamon bark essential oil not be used in pregnancy and while breast feeding. They also caution cinnamon’s use orally for people who are on diabetes or anticoagulant medication, have had major surgery, have peptic ulcers or other bleeding disorders.

Note: Cinnamon bark is often adulterated with synthetic cinnamaldehyde and natural eugenol.
Most sources strongly state that cinnamon bark should not be used on the skin due to its severe dermal irritation. Cinnamon leaf may possibly be used topically but should always be patch tested first and used in an extremely low concentration. Inhalation is preferred especially for spiritual, emotional and subtle use.

Sources:
Battaglia S, The Complete Guide To Aromatherapy. The Perfect Potion, Australia (1995)
Battaglia S, The Complete Guide To Aromatherapy. Third Edition. Black pepper Creative Pty Ltd, Australia (2018)
Hodges C, Fragrant Change Healing Cards (2015)
Fischer-Rizzi S, Complete Aromatherapy Handbook. Essential Oils for Radiant Health Sterling Publishing Company (1990)
Jefferies J, Cinnamon Essential Oil Profile. Aromatherapy Today, Vol.40 (2007)
Jefferies J, Osborn K, Aromatherapy Insight Cards. Living Energy, Aust. (2nd Ed. 2005)
Keim J, Bull R, Daily Aromatherapy, North Atlantic Books (2008)
Mailhebiau P, Portraits in Oils. The C.W.Daniel Company Ltd. (1995)
Mojay G, Course notes (1999)
Tisserand R and Young R, Essential Oil Safety Second Edition, Churchill Livingstone Elsevier, 2014
Worwood V.A, The Fragrant Heavens. Doubleday Publishing UK (1999)
Zeck R, The Blossoming Heart. Aroma Tours (2004)