Oil occupies a rich and multi-layered position in the depth-psychology corpus, functioning simultaneously as a substance of physical vitality, a medium of sacred transmission, a symbol of divine anointing, and — in modernity — a focus of collective addiction. R. B. Onians provides the most sustained scholarly treatment, demonstrating that in archaic Greek and Near Eastern thought oil was understood as a concentrated form of life-substance (aiōn), functionally equivalent to seed, marrow, and fat. Anointing the body with oil was not mere grooming but a ritual infusion of vitality through the pores, and the anointing of kings was understood as a begetting — the conferral of divine sonship. Onians further identifies oil as the earthly counterpart to ambrosia, the divine grease of immortality, and shows its centrality to funerary practice, libation rites, and sacrificial offering. Walter Burkert corroborates oil’s place within Greek libation sequences offered to the dead. Von Franz, reading alchemical texts, registers oil’s pneumatic dimension in the phrase ‘oil of gladness,’ linking anointing to the gathering of scattered soul-particles. Gabor Maté introduces a striking modern inversion: petroleum-oil as the object of civilizational addiction, exposing the same compulsive logic that governs individual substance dependency. Together these positions reveal oil as a term at the intersection of somatic mysticism, sacrificial religion, alchemical symbolism, and contemporary socio-political pathology.
anointing with grease or oil the liquid of life was believed to be infused through the skin… ‘anointing’, infusing oil into, kings, i.e. as a begetting, a bestowing of new life, divine life
Onians argues that ancient anointing with oil was understood not as cosmetic but as a literal infusion of life-substance into the body, and that royal anointing constituted a divine begetting.
, The origins of European thought about the body, the mind,, 1988thesis
anointing, the application to the body of oily liquids or unguents, practised from the Homeric age onwards usually after the bath… thought to feed, to introduce into the body through the pores, the stuff of life and strength
Onians establishes that the Homeric practice of post-bath anointing was grounded in the belief that oily substances replenish the life-force lost through sweat.
, The origins of European thought about the body, the mind,, 1988thesis
fat or grease (including marrow, and the vegetable equivalent, oil) was particularly identified with the liquid and liquefiable element of life, i.e. with aiōn
Onians identifies oil as the plant-kingdom equivalent of animal fat and marrow, each being manifestations of the primordial life-fluid aiōn used to preserve and revivify the bones of the heroic dead.
, The origins of European thought about the body, the mind,, 1988thesis
by anointing with grease or oil the liquid of life was believed to be infused through the skin. Ambrosia gives off a pleasant smell just as do fat and oil.
Onians draws the structural parallel between earthly oil and divine ambrosia, both conceived as fragrant fatty substances that convey life when applied to or absorbed by the body.
, The origins of European thought about the body, the mind,, 1988thesis
‘Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed him with the holy Spirit and with power’… son of God by anointing
Onians traces the Biblical theology of divine sonship back to the archaic equation of oil-anointing with the infusion of divine seed-life, making Christ’s messianic status intelligible within a broader Mediterranean physiology.
, The origins of European thought about the body, the mind,, 1988supporting
God hath anointed me with the oil of gladness… the motif of ‘gathering together out of all the countries,’ an allusion to the gathering of the ‘light particles’ or ‘soul particles’ of God which are scattered throughout matter.
Von Franz reads the alchemical ‘oil of gladness’ as a symbol for the pneumatic anointing that reconstitutes the scattered divine soul-particles into the unified, purified self.
, Aurora Consurgens: A Document Attributed to Thomas Aquinas on the Problem of Opposites in Alchemy, 1966supporting
that difference between the oil or grease-like ambrosia and the wine-like nectar is maintained by the Homeric Hymns and indeed seems general
Onians systematically distinguishes ambrosia as the oily, solid-fatty divine substance from nectar as the liquid-wine counterpart, preserving a stable symbolic polarity across archaic Greek texts.
, The origins of European thought about the body, the mind,, 1988supporting
she rubbed herself with olive oil — ambrosial, sweetly scented perfumed oil, and when she moved, its fragrance filled the house of Zeus… She spread this oil over her gorgeous skin
The Iliad presents Hera’s anointing with ambrosial olive oil as an act of divine beautification and erotic empowerment, illustrating oil’s mythological function as a medium of divine vitality and attraction.
, The Iliad, 2023supporting
‘Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed him with the holy Spirit and with power’… son of God by anointing
This parallel passage reinforces Onians’s argument connecting oil-anointing to the bestowal of pneumatic power and divine identity in the New Testament tradition.
, The origins of European thought about the body, the mind,, 1988supporting
the queen brings milk, honey, water, wine, and oil and also flowers to the grave of the dead king; the songs which accompany the pouring call the dead Darius to the light.
Burkert documents oil as one of the canonical substances in the Greek libation sequence for the dead, where its inclusion reflects its archaic status as a carrier of life-liquid intended to revivify the departed.
, Greek Religion: Archaic and Classical, 1977supporting
ambrosia is used in ways unthinkable for anything bread-like… the adjective ἀμβρόσιος shows that ἀμβροσία was expressive of immortality. It is, like αἰών, concrete, the stuff
Onians argues that ambrosia, conceived as an oily or greasy substance rather than a bread or honey, is the divine form of the same life-stuff that oil represents for mortals.
, The origins of European thought about the body, the mind,, 1988supporting
the long-term ill effects of our society’s addiction, if not to oil then to the amenities and luxuries that oil makes possible, are obvious… typical addict’s logic, of course
Maté extends the depth-psychological concept of addiction to petroleum-oil dependency, arguing that collective reliance on oil follows the same compulsive, consequence-denying structure as individual substance addiction.
, In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters With Addiction, 2008supporting
incense (i.e. the exudations, sap of trees) and wine… Incense had apparently replaced native grain or aromatic leaves… with their gum and oil, pinguis verbena
Onians traces the substitution of incense for native aromatic plant-offerings in Roman sacrifice, establishing that oily aromatic exudates were the original medium of communication with the gods.
, The origins of European thought about the body, the mind,, 1988supporting
ληκύθος [f.] ‘casket for oil or perfume’ (Od.), also metaph. ‘rhetorical bombast’… αὐτο-λήκυθος ‘who carries his own oil-casket’ (out of poverty) = ‘poor man, beggar’
The Greek lexicography of the oil-casket (lēkythos) reveals oil’s social ubiquity in antiquity, its possession marking bodily care and status, its absence signifying poverty.
, Etymological Dictionary of Greek, 2010aside
λιπαρός ‘fat, gleaming (of oil or unguent), fruitful’… λιπαίνω ‘to make fat, anoint’… λίπος [n.] ‘fat’ with λιπώδης ‘fatty, oily’
The Greek etymological family of lipos/lipainō demonstrates that the concept of oiliness was fused with fertility, gleam, and the quality of vitality in the ancient lexicon.
, Etymological Dictionary of Greek, 2010aside
μύρον [n.] ‘sweet-smelling oil, salve, perfume’ (Archil., Lesb. lyr., lA)… μυρο-πώλης ‘seller of salves’… μυρ-εψός [m.] ‘preparer of unguents’
The Greek term myron and its derivatives indicate a specialized commercial and ritual trade in scented oils, situating oil within both economic and sacred practice.
, Etymological Dictionary of Greek, 2010aside