The Three Selves and Perfume Magic
Jul. 15th, 2022 08:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
flamingswordI am writing a class for my pagan crafting group, so you get to read it early! Lucky you!
Reclaiming Tradition
The Feri and Reclaiming traditions teach that human beings have three levels of consciousness. They’re called the conscious “Talking Self,” the unconscious mind’s “Younger Self,” and the place where what we are touches the divine - the “Deep Self.” In the book The Spiral Dance, Starhawk of the Reclaiming tradition explains that the purpose of Neo-Pagan Witchcraft is to get these “selves” communicating. This is accomplished through rituals and the senses. In the words of Starhawk, the only way to reach the Deep Self is through the Younger Self:
Perfumery Basics
Much like not everyone has the same conscious and unconscious pieces of themselves, not every scent reacts to skin the same way. In perfumery, there are odd skin to scent interactions and few hard and fast rules about what will be a heart note versus a top note on an individual’s skin, but two things are for sure: it takes different scents different amounts of time to dry down to where you can’t smell them, and each scent has a different amount of “throw”, which is how far away from the skin the scent carries.
The three layers of the self correspond directly to the three layers of notes in a perfume. The outermost layer that first comes into contact with others is our Talking Self, which corresponds to the top notes of the perfume that have the widest “throw” but last the shortest duration, usually 5-25 minutes. Citrus notes, grassy green notes and some crisp florals and light aquatics belong here.
Then, when the Talking Self calms and those top notes dry down a bit, time begins to reveal the Younger Self as people get to know our emotional selves. This corresponds to the heart notes of the perfume, a little richer and more long-lasting than the top notes, that tend to wear a bit closer to the skin. These middle notes tend to be things like rose and the more full-bodied florals, fruits, lighter wood notes like birch and conifers, many spices and incenses, and lots of foodie or “gourmand” scents like chocolate and coffee. These scents generally last about 2-4 hours.
Eventually these will wear off, leaving only the base notes of our Deep Self, the god self where what we are merges with what we perceive to be Deity. And deity smells like musks, vanillas and the heavier woods like oak and sandalwood, patchouli, amber, and moss. These parts of a scent can last between 6 hours to multiple days, depending on molecule size and rate of evaporation.
The Craft of Scent Magicks
Now for the hands on part of this: Choose ingredients that speak to you, or that have symbolic resonance with what you want them to do.
First: what do you want your scent to do? Would you like a cleansing room spray, a subtle protection woven into a personal scent, something to anoint a candle with for a prosperity ritual? Something else? Pick a direction, and then a carrier.
Choose a base to carry the scent, either oil or alcohol, that will have the qualities and level of throw that you want. Alcohol tends to have the widest throw but be shorter in duration, while oil based scents wear closer to the skin but for longer times. Alcohol bases make better room sprays and cleansers. Straight scent oils can be used to anoint candles or be added to your shampoo or conditioner.
Safety concerns! Aviso! Be careful to not get these oils on your skin in their undiluted form, as they can be very irritating to the skin and it’s many nerves! For most oils, a 1:10 dilution ratio is recommended, but some essential oils such as clove and the citruses are photosensitizers, so you will want a 3:100 dilution for them if they are going to be getting on your skin. Never get essential oils on your animals; even the ones that are not toxic to them may be enough to sedate them or make them very uncomfortable.
Once you have picked a purpose and a base, decide what you want your blend to smell like; pick up the bottles and smell them together to see if you like the combination. I’ve made up a few general formulas with no numbers below to get you started. Mix them in the proportions you feel most called to, since not all the oils are the same strength. Be careful with Rose, Dragon’s Blood, Honey and Clove - they’re all VERY STRONG scents. A little goes a long way, etc..
And if you have any other questions, I’m right here.
Scents for Beginners:
Purifier: Lemon - Basil - Birch Oud - Cedar / Cedarwood
Healing Cleanser: Lavender - Pine / Cypress - Rosemary / Eucalyptus - Amber
Energy Cleanser: Sage - Apple - Ylang Ylang (flower) / Vetiver - Patchouli / Salt
Energy Protector: Chocolate- Coffee - Sandalwood - Dragon’s Blood
Prosperity Attractor: Vanilla Oak - Oakmoss - Cinnamon - Ginger - Musk / Aldron
https://usa1lib.org/book/3681663/b52d1c -https://archive.org/details/completebookofes0000worw - The Complete Book of Essential Oils and Aromatherapy, Revised and Expanded by Valerie Ann Worwood - a free resource that is very helpful for this sort of thing.
And a link for pet-safe oil use. Talk to your veterinarian if you have more questions or a non-dog or non-cat animal.
https://outwardhound.com/furtropolis/health-wellness/pet-safe-essential-oils-for-a-diffuser
Reclaiming Tradition
The Feri and Reclaiming traditions teach that human beings have three levels of consciousness. They’re called the conscious “Talking Self,” the unconscious mind’s “Younger Self,” and the place where what we are touches the divine - the “Deep Self.” In the book The Spiral Dance, Starhawk of the Reclaiming tradition explains that the purpose of Neo-Pagan Witchcraft is to get these “selves” communicating. This is accomplished through rituals and the senses. In the words of Starhawk, the only way to reach the Deep Self is through the Younger Self:
“It is not the conscious mind, with its abstract concepts, that ever actually communicates with the Divine; it is the unconscious mind, the Younger Self, that responds only to images, pictures, sensations, tangibles. To communicate with the Deep Self, the Goddess/God Within, we resort to symbols, to art, poetry, music, myth, and the actions of ritual that translate abstract concepts into the language of the unconscious.”
Perfumery Basics
Much like not everyone has the same conscious and unconscious pieces of themselves, not every scent reacts to skin the same way. In perfumery, there are odd skin to scent interactions and few hard and fast rules about what will be a heart note versus a top note on an individual’s skin, but two things are for sure: it takes different scents different amounts of time to dry down to where you can’t smell them, and each scent has a different amount of “throw”, which is how far away from the skin the scent carries.
The three layers of the self correspond directly to the three layers of notes in a perfume. The outermost layer that first comes into contact with others is our Talking Self, which corresponds to the top notes of the perfume that have the widest “throw” but last the shortest duration, usually 5-25 minutes. Citrus notes, grassy green notes and some crisp florals and light aquatics belong here.
Then, when the Talking Self calms and those top notes dry down a bit, time begins to reveal the Younger Self as people get to know our emotional selves. This corresponds to the heart notes of the perfume, a little richer and more long-lasting than the top notes, that tend to wear a bit closer to the skin. These middle notes tend to be things like rose and the more full-bodied florals, fruits, lighter wood notes like birch and conifers, many spices and incenses, and lots of foodie or “gourmand” scents like chocolate and coffee. These scents generally last about 2-4 hours.
Eventually these will wear off, leaving only the base notes of our Deep Self, the god self where what we are merges with what we perceive to be Deity. And deity smells like musks, vanillas and the heavier woods like oak and sandalwood, patchouli, amber, and moss. These parts of a scent can last between 6 hours to multiple days, depending on molecule size and rate of evaporation.
The Craft of Scent Magicks
Now for the hands on part of this: Choose ingredients that speak to you, or that have symbolic resonance with what you want them to do.
First: what do you want your scent to do? Would you like a cleansing room spray, a subtle protection woven into a personal scent, something to anoint a candle with for a prosperity ritual? Something else? Pick a direction, and then a carrier.
Choose a base to carry the scent, either oil or alcohol, that will have the qualities and level of throw that you want. Alcohol tends to have the widest throw but be shorter in duration, while oil based scents wear closer to the skin but for longer times. Alcohol bases make better room sprays and cleansers. Straight scent oils can be used to anoint candles or be added to your shampoo or conditioner.
Safety concerns! Aviso! Be careful to not get these oils on your skin in their undiluted form, as they can be very irritating to the skin and it’s many nerves! For most oils, a 1:10 dilution ratio is recommended, but some essential oils such as clove and the citruses are photosensitizers, so you will want a 3:100 dilution for them if they are going to be getting on your skin. Never get essential oils on your animals; even the ones that are not toxic to them may be enough to sedate them or make them very uncomfortable.
Once you have picked a purpose and a base, decide what you want your blend to smell like; pick up the bottles and smell them together to see if you like the combination. I’ve made up a few general formulas with no numbers below to get you started. Mix them in the proportions you feel most called to, since not all the oils are the same strength. Be careful with Rose, Dragon’s Blood, Honey and Clove - they’re all VERY STRONG scents. A little goes a long way, etc..
And if you have any other questions, I’m right here.
Scents for Beginners:
Purifier: Lemon - Basil - Birch Oud - Cedar / Cedarwood
Healing Cleanser: Lavender - Pine / Cypress - Rosemary / Eucalyptus - Amber
Energy Cleanser: Sage - Apple - Ylang Ylang (flower) / Vetiver - Patchouli / Salt
Energy Protector: Chocolate- Coffee - Sandalwood - Dragon’s Blood
Prosperity Attractor: Vanilla Oak - Oakmoss - Cinnamon - Ginger - Musk / Aldron
https://usa1lib.org/book/3681663/b52d1c -https://archive.org/details/completebookofes0000worw - The Complete Book of Essential Oils and Aromatherapy, Revised and Expanded by Valerie Ann Worwood - a free resource that is very helpful for this sort of thing.
And a link for pet-safe oil use. Talk to your veterinarian if you have more questions or a non-dog or non-cat animal.
https://outwardhound.com/furtropolis/health-wellness/pet-safe-essential-oils-for-a-diffuser
no subject
Date: 2022-07-16 01:20 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-07-17 10:29 pm (UTC)Welcome welcome
Date: 2022-07-18 12:59 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-01-10 01:31 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-01-10 01:55 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-01-10 01:58 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-01-10 02:10 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-01-11 12:01 pm (UTC)