Introduction
Introduction
(c)2001, Lady Sara Cunningham
Perfume: a magical, mysterious essence that enchants our sense of scent. Almost from the dawn of mankind there have been perfumes in one form or another. Primitive man rubbed sweet smelling herbs on his body, then, with the passage of time the art of perfumery evolved. The ancient Egyptians were master perfumers, but their palette of fragrances was small by comparison to what the modern perfumer employs. The perfumer transmutes, like a master magician of fragrance, the scents of wild grasses, herbs, animal musks, resins, and floral absolutes into glorious bouquets that entice and beguile our sense of scent.
The alchemy of scent is the exclusive topic of this book. Many works have dealt with general perfumery; both from the technical as well as the creative standpoints, but none have sought to unravel the mysteries of the art of perfume alchemy. The few Occult or New Age books which do provide planetary, zodiacal, or metaphysical attributions are, for the most part, based on the ancient Doctrine of Signatures or on the Medicinal Herbal Pharmacopoeias of old.
The Doctrine of Signatures is an old system wherein herbs, plants, and flowers were assigned either to Planetary rulership, or to parts of the human anatomy based on the color and shape of the plant; hence a kidney shaped leaf is believed to heal kidney ailments and a red flower is thought to cure blood diseases. The color associations, which are linked to astrology, are even more simplistic. For example, all red flowers belong to Mars; all yellow plants fall under the rulership of the Sun, etc. Coincidentally, some of these attributions have since proved valid, but as with all generalizations, the margin for error is great. This system of attributions, however, has no valid application in perfumery since it did not have anything to do with scent.
Medicinal attributions are based on the organic principle of the plant and its ingestion as a tonic or tea, but NOT on the fragrance of the plant and the sensory response that the scent elicits. An alchemical essence is formulated to elicit a specific "psycho-sensory, subliminal response". It is not simply an elegant fragrance. The sensory response to a given fragrance dictates the formulation of an incense or perfume. For example: Chamomile when taken as a medicinal tea acts as a mild sedative, while the fragrance of Chamomile when inhaled, acts as a cerebral stimulant.
The scent of Chamomile is like being in a sunlit apple orchard, thus, Chamomile should be classified under two different planetary rulers; one medicinal, and one aromatic. Sedatives are ruled by Saturn and the Moon, while excitants are ruled by Sol and Jupiter, so medicinally Chamomile would be Saturnian or Lunar, but in the olfactory sense, it would be ruled by Sol or Jupiter. Therefore, using Chamomile in a Lunar formulation would either produce a product with little effect whatsoever, or it would weaken the formulation thereby producing only a mild vibratory effect instead of the desired one for which the essence was blended.
This is why so many purported "magical" essences are magical only on the label: they use ingredients that are incompatible or inappropriate for the purpose of the blend because incorrect correspondences were used in the formulation. If you blend incense based on the medicinal planetary attributions rather than the correct alchemical ones, you might as well be burning grass clippings. The same attention to correct vibratory correspondences holds true for alchemical perfumes.
It is imperative to use aromatic herbs, grasses, and woods that are of the specific classification for which you are formulating the incense. Adding non aromatic ingredients to incense will produce no vibratory effect whatsoever. An example of this would be Rose Petals which, when burned, have no fragrance at all other than that of burning vegetation. This same rule also applies to perfumery, as most of the Doctrine of Signatures herbs have little to do with scent, and the color rulership associations are equally invalid. For example, if you were to include Chamomile in a Lunar perfume blend, you would be in error as the scent of Chamomile is ruled by Sol and/or Jupiter regardless of its medicinal sedative association with the Moon.
Romance of Perfume, le Gallienne, 1928, Art by George Barbier
Perfume Alchemy is an arcane science dealing with the formulation of essences that elicit a specific psycho-subliminal response in an individual, or group of individuals. While it is true that general perfumery partakes of elements of alchemy, its purpose and methodology are entirely different from that of the Perfume Alchemist. Most, if not all perfumes offered to the public, are formulated to attract and enhance; while the Perfume Alchemist works to create essences that will alter or transform consciousness. The methodology of the Perfume Alchemist is intuitive, metaphysical, scientific, vibratory, psycho-sensory, and therapeutic.
Scent, by its very nature, initially bypasses the conscious mind and goes into the subliminal. Olfactory perception accounts for only about 2% of our sensory input, but 98% of that is subliminal, thereby making it an extremely useful tool in the hands of the Perfume Alchemist. Odor perception falls into two categories: Chemical which depends on the odiferous molecules actually being inhaled, and Vibrational which depends on molecular vibration, or the frequencies of specific essences as perceived by the skin. Thus, through careful formulation, the alchemist can direct or alter the consciousness to a specific predetermined state.
Alchemical formulations are created for a variety of purposes, some of which are: meditation, healing, balancing, astrological, Qabalistic, and diverse ritual applications. All Alchemical formulations are based on the Laws of Vibration, and the Perfume Alchemist's goal is to bring together specific vibratory essences into a formulation which resonates in a predetermined accord. Every essence used by the Perfume Alchemist has been carefully classified as to its vibratory signature, thereby enabling the alchemical perfumer to select specific essences that vibrate within the sphere of the accord that is being formulated.
In this book I provide the Alchemical scent attributions, show how to correctly formulate a perfume, and give sample formulas with explanations as to why each of the ingredients was selected. It is my hope that with this book, I will inspire many budding perfume alchemists thereby giving the practicing occultist a wider range of truly magical essences.
Scent, by its very nature, initially bypasses the conscious mind and goes into the subliminal. Olfactory perception accounts for only about 2% of our sensory input, but 98% of that is subliminal, thereby making it an extremely useful tool in the hands of the Perfume Alchemist. Odor perception falls into two categories: Chemical which depends on the odiferous molecules actually being inhaled, and Vibrational which depends on molecular vibration, or the frequencies of specific essences as perceived by the skin. Thus, through careful formulation, the alchemist can direct or alter the consciousness to a specific predetermined state.
Alchemical formulations are created for a variety of purposes, some of which are: meditation, healing, balancing, astrological, Qabalistic, and diverse ritual applications. All Alchemical formulations are based on the Laws of Vibration, and the Perfume Alchemist's goal is to bring together specific vibratory essences into a formulation which resonates in a predetermined accord. Every essence used by the Perfume Alchemist has been carefully classified as to its vibratory signature, thereby enabling the alchemical perfumer to select specific essences that vibrate within the sphere of the accord that is being formulated.
In this book I provide the Alchemical scent attributions, show how to correctly formulate a perfume, and give sample formulas with explanations as to why each of the ingredients was selected. It is my hope that with this book, I will inspire many budding perfume alchemists thereby giving the practicing occultist a wider range of truly magical essences.