All tagged Aromatics
The Future of Scent: The Aromatic Artisan Renaissance
Human beings are in the midst of a dramatic revolution in how we perceive scent. Prior to the 1800’s, most people worked outdoors, lived on farms and were engaged in agrarian work. Starting in the 1800’s, people began to migrate to cities to work in factories and offices. Today, modern humans spend 90 percent of their time living and working indoors. At the same time, we started introducing artificial scents into our homes and offices and now the vast majority of scent compounds we inhale come from synthetic fragrances such as fabric softener, detergents, soaps, shampoos, new carpeting and furniture.
Perfume of the Land
Come with me down a long steep path past craning bleeding hearts and ethereal fairy bells, past the fritillary meadow rue and pungent prehistoric skunk cabbage underneath a canopy of lemon scented fir and drippy cedar to the banks of the ancient river. There we will make our elixir, our rich aromatic perfume of the land. There we will bring the copper still and light the beacon fire. There we will pull in the deep cool waters of the quick stream and watch it flow deep into the alembic. A few of us will bring back the treasures of the land, like pollinating bees, gathering the forest into our hands. We will think carefully, pruning from a recently felled conifer here, gathering a sprig, a sliver there, careful not to disturb the delicate balance, the intricate dance of biota.