29 books written in the 1500s, many of which reference massage therapy and spa modalities for healing
The Massage Therapy profession is experiencing a renaissance in the 21st century.
Throughout history, doctors, surgeons, philosophers, religious leaders – they have all used massage therapy as part of their trade at one time or another. But there wasn’t a dedicated name for the treatments that we call “massage” until the mid-1800s. It was described as rubbing, friction, anointment, or a combination of words that amounted to a description of massage.
But while massage was so often written about to describe cures and treatments in medical books and religious texts, massage itself didn’t have a dedicated following like it has today.
Doctors in the late 1800s started writing books about massage techniques, but it wasn’t until the 1950s when nurses started massage training and we start to see a growth in massage practitioners.
More books were being written in the 1980s, and schools started developing to train people in the art of massage. Over time, the schools increased how many hours they offer (and what state’s require). When not too long ago it was difficult to find an educational program in massage therapy that offered even just 500 hours, now there are thousands of schools to choose from with different schools of thought and some now offer up to 1,000 hours – or perhaps more, as time progresses!
Now there are dozens of modalities of massage therapy with a different kind of massage therapist for everyone.
The invention of the massage chair in the 1980s brought massage into public spaces and heightened awareness of the trade while dispelling negative thoughts about it.
Thousands of modern books are available for every massage modality, with a dedicated section in libraries and bookstores just for this treatment.
And while you may see billboards for spas and massage franchises, there still remains a stigma that massage therapy involves sex work, and massage therapists are still fighting to not be sexualized, mistreated, or forbidden from their work due to such beliefs.
Let’s change the image of massage therapy so we can all enjoy the benefits and make this world a better place.
This passion project began in April 2021 without funding nor a commercial space. Just a dedicated massage therapist ready for a challenge and able to scrape up just enough for several 8×10 frames and a room divider to hang them on.
The first couple months involved a lot of reading ancient texts and old books, along with The History of Massage Therapy by Robert Noah Calvert and Spa Bodywork by Anne Williams to get a feel for how to lay out the ideas.
The first framed images were of ancient book covers that Erin found referenced massage in interesting ways. As research progressed, images slowly replaced the framed texts to better illustrate the points being made.
As of July 7th, 2021, we can safely say there is one finished theme in the museum. It is how massage relates to the Bible and the terms “Messiah” and “Christ” (“The Anointed One”).
Receiving a massage certainly can feel like you have witnessed heaven, or spoken to God him/her/itself. The links between massage and holiness are compelling. Other religions will be researched in time.
The next topics are being researched and planned out now:
Massage in other religions
Watsu (water massage)
Craniosacral massage
Fangotherapy (clays, muds, peat)
The Little White House
How Baptism, Craniosacral therapy and infant massage are related
Pregnancy massage
Lomi Lomi massage
The Esalen Institute
and descriptions of the dozens of other massage modalities