The alchemical trinity of Chaparral

The perfume Chaparral is not a reference to the creosote bush, Larrea tridentata, which sometimes goes by many name chaparral, as well as greasewood and la gobernadora. I named the fragrance after the California biome distinguished by wet winters, hot summers and drought-tolerant shrub land. This biome is also found in the Mediterranean, South America, Australia and South Africa. The word chaparral comes from the Portuguese and Spanish word “chaparro" meaning evergreen oak shrub land.

Back in 2006, when Chaparral was conceived and launched, my intention was to bring awareness to this community of plants which are very undervalued in Los Angeles where residents opt for pesticide and water hungry lawns and non native palm trees, rather than the local sages, artemisias, oaks, etc. 

In creating the perfume Chaparral®, I weaved together my love and commitment to the indigenous plants of California with skills in aromatic plant preparation and the artistry of perfume formulation.

“Art arises when the secret vision of the artist

and the manifestation of nature

agree to find new shapes.”

~ Kahlil Gibran

My husband, Greg Spalenka states that there are three main components of great art which applies to the full spectrum of the sensory realm including visual, auditory, culinary and olfactory orchestrations.

He adheres to these three components as a trinity of "Mind, Body and Spirit":

Mind; the idea and/or concept

Body; representing the materials

Spirit; the love, passion, integrity and/or soul nature

In alchemy the trinity is Sulfur, Mercury, and Salt, code words for what is also referred to as "Soul, Spirit, and Body"

Sulfur = Soul = Consciousness 

Mercury = Spirit  = Mind

Salt = Body  = Mineral

So if we go back to Greg's trinity, I have overlayed Greg's trinity with that of alchemy in this way, substituting Greg's word Spirit for Soul/Love.

Mind; the idea and/or concept / Mercury = Spirit

Body; representing the materials / Salt = Body

Soul/Love, passion, integrity and/or soul nature / Sulfur = Soul, Consciousness

All these components, working together at a high level of sophistication and awareness, create a synergy, where each component becomes more than the sum of its parts.

In perfume the mind aspect (Mercury) is the concept that the fragrance is built on, encompassing much more than a scent based on a fragrance family or type. The body aspect (Salt) is made of the materials contained within the perfume, the artist’s palette. Soul (Sulphur) is the burning passion of your creation, this is where the true artist weaves their own authenticity into the constructed artwork using their consciousness. Each is important and is required for the finished art to transcend the ordinary, to reach the heights of the sublime.

Over the last twenty years I have come to keen realizations regarding California natives and their value. The journey beginning with guided instructional walks led by herbalist David Crow back in the 90's when he would lead nature walks in the Santa Monica Mountains. Davids introduction than deepened with lessons from communicating with the mighty Oaks on my property and its surroundings, when we lived in the Santa Monica Mountains.

The California native Coastal live oak was the one who spoke to me and revealed the value of native plants just as I began organizing my community to protect four large trees on an lot next to us. In an attempt to secure the safety of the trees I created a perfume devoted to them. The perfume is called “Q” for Quercus agrifolia and was the first in a series titled Californica.

The second perfume in the series, Chaparral® was birthed in October 2006 when I was researching incense. Incense was used by a variety of cultures depending on the plant material in their particular region. The indigenous people of California use the sacred white sage, Salvia apiana, to clear a space or fumigate an individual. I chose to create an incense themed perfume devoted to the California indigenous people based on the plants of the area.

The trinity mentioned above works in Chaparral like this:

Mind/Concept | Mercury/Spirit: The native plants of California, the chaparral.

Soul/Love: The soul nature of this perfume is expressed through the mindful harvesting and preparation of the plant material. The fragrance is created by hand with an intention to expand awareness of native plants.

Body/Material: actual, vital plant material used in tinctures and essential oils to represent an “authentic” fragrance of the regions native plants.

California native plants add tremendous value to a California garden including: authenticity to a landscape design, low water needs, benefits to wildlife habitat, increased biodiversity, and the ability of these plants, particularly the Coastal Live oak, to sequester carbon. Learn more about the chaparral at the website for the California Chaparral Institute.

Related links here at the journal:

Restoring the Woodland

California Dreaming

The Shadow

Medicine Wheel

A Perfumed Bestiary, Letter A for Axolotl, Part 2

The first fragrance in A Perfumed Bestiary series has been sent, those participants will have the first opportunity to order more of the limited edition before it is offered to subscribers of Illuminated News.

For those who signed up for the "compact" as part of their membership I used the version with the cabochon insert, offering a rose quart, black onyx or unakite stone, all of which were purchased locally here in Santa Fe, New Mexico. I've been assured that the stones are not synthetic, imitation or heated. Although, they did tell me that the native people, some of which are vendors on the Plaza along the edge of the Palace of the Governors, do and did bake their stones to alter their color.

When building the fragrance I had two things in mind, first the concept: which notes work best with this months beastie, the Axolotl and secondly, how those notes work together to produce the right scent.

I'm choosing to align each beastie in the series with a specific plant, for the Axolotl I chose White Copal Resin, Copaifera officinalis, from Mexico. I was given a nice sized chunk of it as a gift from a new friend here in Santa Fe named Alberto, he had obtained it on a recent trip to Mexico. Auspiciously Greg and I burned a tiny piece during a meditation just as I was working on the fragrance.

White Copal has a bright, fruity scent, much lighter than other resins that are used as incense. As an essence for botanical perfume there is an oleoresin available that contains some of the brightness of the incense burning resin along with notes of wood and pepper. The inclusion of this material had me contemplating an incense/amber scent but with a "water" quality, turning me to the addition of Myrrh and Violet Leaf. I choose to include Cypress and Juniper as a story point for the Chinaimpas islands, located in the Axolotl's native habitat, but also knowing that it would harmonize well with the Copal. There are hints of spice, complimenting the wood and incense, as well as conceptually alluding to the salamander mistakenly being attributed to fire in the first illuminated bestiaries.

Although I can write about this all rather eloquently now, the process of achieving what I envisioned was actually quite a struggle because of the challenge with striking a balance between the scent of water with incense. I didn't want the fragrance to go too much in one direction, but instead master a synergy between incense, which is generally on the dry and smokey side, and liquid fluidity. Seaweed was out of the question since the Axolotl resides in freshwater, thus as I contemplated a list of about ten essences I associate with the scent of water Myrrh and Violet Leaf seemed to work best. I also rather liked that the pairing of many of these plant essences were producing a leathery quality.

As I work on the pairing of the aromatic notes, I am also considering how this all works conceptually with the Axolotl. So, although the Copal came onto the scene from an auspicious/intuitive place that worked perfectly with the Axolotl being from Mexico, most of the other essences were added by looking over chemistry and smelling notes on scent strips to get a sense of how they paired together.

In total, I used twenty seven essences to build the perfume, including some Dragon Blood resin from a trip to Ecuador back in 2009. Creating a perfume is a dance between the right and left hemisphere. I've found that for me, I constantly float in the the gap, standing weightless, on the invisible bridge between the intuitive and rational mind.

If you haven't already signed up for the next limited edition perfume, illuminating a beastie beginning with the letter B, you can do so here.

Choose Your Subscription

One Month: $19.95
One Month: $35.00 with mini compact

One Year Subscription: $210.00
One Year Subscription with mini compact: $245

Each month you will receive a small amount of perfume inspired by a specific
imagined or barely imagined being from the animal kingdom.

The next fragrance will be shipped in June 2019.

Figure 5: Bois REVIEWS

This is the landing page for all Figure 5: Bois reviews, beginning with an exquisite piece by Einsof posted at CaFleureBon and Tom at Perfume Posse. I am feeling pretty darn fortunate on this Venus Day to have two reviews by two stellar guys. Here's a taste of the one my Einsof...

“Myth must be kept alive. The people who can keep it alive are the artists of one kind or another.”

"Myth speaks to the journey of the soul, of the evolutionary process of our lives; handed down by the great religious, psychological and spiritual traditions of the world. Joseph Campbell took great length to describe and collect these small stories containing the universe, and it is in this methodology Roxana Villa of Roxana Illuminated Perfume provides small vials of archetypal aromas- Figure 5: Bois being the latest rendition of the The World Tree."

Continue reading here CaFleureBon
and this one at Perfume Posse by Tom

Figure 5: Bois illumination by Greg Spalenka, his name for the image is Love Incense. 
Photos by Roxana Villa. All images © Greg Spalenka and Roxana Villa.

AUMBRE news

Aumbre is now available in the Eau de Parfum format. While I was decanting the potion my friend Wendel walked into the studio and let loose a torrent of descriptive words including, but, not limited to "Big Sur, crunchy leaves, ocean air, camp fire.." Then on Monday another girlfriend was here who upon inhaling the solid exclaimed "This clearly is something everyone should have."

The conclusion based on the above impressions and the warm, smokey, incense notes of this amber fragrance is that its perfect for Autumn. To my nose there is a apple/fruit within the amber that weaves in and out of the spice, incense and smoke that feels very Autumnal.

Aumbre was made for my husband Greg years ago when I first started creating perfume blends, I expanded it when I was searching for a warm, amber note for To Bee. Aumbre is both an accord/chord and a stand alone perfume in the oriental fragrance family. Within the tribe of fragrances I offer its more of a amber soliflore than a complex work like GreenWitch with her five accords/chords.

Due to the amount of heavy base notes Aumbre has great longevity which carries through into the EdP (Eau de Parfum). I look forward to hearing from those who have experienced the EdP so I can relay your impressions of the notes and longevity.