Oil of The Five Thieves

Lately a lot of people have been asking me about Thieves Oil. It is actually an oil combination that I use a lot. Not only is it’s aroma one of my favorites, very uplifting and powerful, I also find that it is a very useful combination.

I first came across Thieves Oil when it was left in my truck after a long camping trip. It was in a vial with a handmade label that said “Thieves.” It was intoxicating. I was instantly a fan. This lead me to do a little research and I found that the recipe was easily found on the website and until recently I only remembered the brief version of the story that I read when I first found the recipe on a Young Living website.

Recently I have found that there are several different versions of the story and that what I have been using isn’t really the “original recipe.” There are a lot of variations of herbs and oils that are used to boost immune system and protect against disease.

The earliest story I have been able to find evidence of regarding the four thieves was published in 1825 Pharmacologia. After recounting the story of the aromatic vinegar used by the four thieves of Marseilles, it goes on to note that, “It was, however, long used before the plague of Marseilles, for it was the constant custom of Cardinal Wolsey to carry in his hand an orange, deprived of its contents, and filled with a sponge which had been soaked in vinegar impregnated with various spices, in order to preserve himself from infection, when passing through the crowds which his splendour or office attracted. The first plaque raged in 1649, whereas Wolsey died in 1531.” The Pharmacologia then sites the French Codex and The German Dispensatories as possible earlier sources of the vinegar recipes.

This story is that during the plagues of the middle ages spice traders found themselves often without work as the country was sick and the spice traders were forced to take up another trade, scavenging. These scavenging spice raiders became thieves as they realized that they could use their spices to protect them from catching the sickness.

With sick areas abandoned by the well, fearing that they would catch the sickness themselves. The four thieves became pawn brokers overnight, until the King found out.

It is Jean Valnet (1920-1995) who first told the story advertising it’s influence on essential oils. Valnet quotes the archives of the Parliament of Toulouse. He claims the original recipe was revealed by corpse robbers who were caught red-handed in the area around Toulouse in 1628-1631. Given the virulence and deadliness of the plague, the judges were astonished by the indifference of the thieves to contagion.

The thieves were sentenced to burning at the stake for strangling victims before they robbed them. In order to save themselves from the fire, according to Valnet, they gave the following recipes to the King, after which they were hanged mercifully.

Original Recipe for Four Thieves Formula
3 pints		white wine vinegar
handful		wormwood
handful		meadowsweet
handful		juniper berries
handful		wild marjoram
handful		sage
50		cloves
2 oz.		elecampane root
2 oz.		angelica
2 oz.		rosemary
2 oz.		horehound
3 g		camphor

Dr. Valnet has a variation of his own described as an antiseptic vinegar:

Of course there are other stories in the long line of oil and salve salesmen there is the famous Dr. Christopher who used the story to promote the health effects of Garlic. And garlic may have been the most important part of the original recipe. Dr. Christopher told the story of the “four thieves” but also wrote “Others claim that a man named Richard Forthave developed and sold the preparation, and that the “medicine” was originally referred to as Forthave’s. However, with the passing of time, his surname became corrupted to Four Thieves.” (Lucas, 1966, p. 38)

Five Thieves Formula
10 drops		Clove Oil
9 drops		Lemon Oil
5 drops		Cinnamon Bark
4 drops		Eucalyptus
3 drops		Rosemary
Alternate Five Thieves Formula
80 drops		Clove Oil
70 drops		Lemon Oil
40 drops		Cinnamon Bark
30 drops		Eucalyptus
20 drops 20–40 drops		Rosemary other oils of choice, including frankicense, lavender, oregano, tea tree, ginger