Fragrant Musings

  • Jasmine | Featured Note For May, the Month of Dante

      With feet I stayed, and with mine eyes I passedBeyond the rivulet, to look uponThe great variety of the fresh May. Canto XXVIII, Purgatorio   With this message we celebrate the notes of Jasminus grandiflorium & sambac, also known as Common Jasmine or the Poet's Jasmine. Aptly, we choos... View Post
  • Lavender Absolute | Featured Note For April, & Beltane

    With this message we celebrate this year's Beltane, situated midway between the Vernal Equinox and Midsummer. Historically & ritualistically celebrated in Ireland, Scotland, and the Isle of Man, Beltane served to mark the beginning of summer and to protect the cattle, crops and people, and to... View Post
  • Saffron | Featured Note For February, & the Martyrdom of Saint Valentine

    Saffron—or crocus sativus—is not only the most expensive spice in the world, but an olfactory material (derived from the dried stigma of the autumn bloom) that has been used for over 4000 years in sacred applications, to induce visions, and to stimulate desire. The scent of the dried saffron has a fatty-herbaceous undertone that follows a truly unique, hotly sweet and spicy odor. View Post