"A bird doesn't sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song."
~ Maya Angelou
The sphere is vibrating with threads of serenity today on the International Day of Peace. Aligned in a harmony of peace, a merry band of bloggers has joined together to share thoughts and impressions of Peace and the new botanical perfume devoted to Peace. At the bottom of this post please follow the links to each of the blogs participating.
{ The Nature of Peace }
The perfume devoted to Peace does not go by a name but the modern symbol for peace that became part of popular culture in the sixties. Iconic images are created when they become a mass sensation, this particular revolutionary decade produced a wealth of imagery which has become forever emblazoned in the minds. Besides the little circular image with the upside down Y-like letter we also have two fingers of the hand in a V-like mudra that also conveys the same message. It was certainly a very creative time to be on spaceship planet earth.
At a cocktail party in the Hollywood Hills the a couple weekends ago, the hostess asked me how things were going with my perfumes. I shared that I had a new perfume inspired by Peace about to be released. The handsome fellow standing next to her chuckles and asks, "Will it have marijuana in it?" I answered, "No, put we do have an essential oils of hemp." From there the conversation traversed into the current news worthy topic of
marijuana. I suppose if the idea had occurred to me earlier I could have woven some of the more herbaceous notes with the hemp for the peace perfume, but, then we would have
Vera!
Let's
back track a bit, the new fragrance came into being out of an intent to help a friend manifest his vision of an annual worldwide telecast concert of Superstar musicians performing Sacred Music from the most mystical concert venues on the planet: Egypt's Great Pyramids, England’s Stonehenge, Australia's Ayers Rock, Peru's Inca Pyramids, Japan's Mount Fuji, and California's Mount Shasta. His vision has not yet been realized. I intend that this perfume will facilitate the birth of this glorious idea, just as the perfume Q facilitates manifesting consciousness for the California coastal live oaks.
My husband,
Greg, dived into the project first by creating an
image for the campaign. He collaborated with Tibetan master Romio Shrestha to create a stunning image that is reminscent of the sixties era yet still modern. Since this was to be the illumination for the new perfume we selected the a shade of burgundy from my color palette which was also in Greg's image the image. Purple was the other possibility but I have two other fragrances with that color resonance already in the line, thus burgundy.
As I contemplated creating this perfume my first thoughts went to the essences from my studies in Aromatherapy which evoked a sense of peace. The first ones to come to mind were:
- Cedarwood
- Chamomile
- Citrus essences like Bergamot, Orange, Tangerine and Neroli
- Frankincense
- Geranium
- Lavender
- Marjoram
- Sandalwood
- Ylang Ylang
Basically ALL clinical essential oils in some way promote a feeling of serenity by there very
nature. Essential oils are concentrated, potent, plant energies that aid relaxation and stress relief. Thus, any perfume composed primarily of clinical grade essential oils will have an affect of peace, unless the individual has a negative scent association with a specific essence or a shadow aspect that needs resolving.
From there I began to explore the terrain of Incense. The word perfume comes from the latin,
per “through” and
fumus “smoke”, thus “through smoke." Aromatic, sweet smelling smoke is a religious and spiritual practice used as a means to transport our intent to the heavens. This idea felt good. I have done quite a bit with incense and smoke in my perfume line, I knew it would need to transcend what I had done in the past. I also knew I wanted to add one or all three of the Lotus essences available because Greg's image featured a Goddess sitting on a Lotus.
At a fund raiser for Project Peace on Earth I introduced the idea to a large group and had them give me feedback on about ten different essences including:
- Champa
- Frankincense
- Jasmine
- Neroli
- Rose
- Sandalwood
- White Lotus
The essences that seemed to get the biggest response were Champa, Sandalwood, Neroli and White Lotus. Thus, I placed each of those into my minds cauldron and meditated on how to orchestrate the perfume. Many of the essences utilized are exotic and precious. The cost of raw materials for a natural botanical perfumer are exorbitant. Mindfulness is required when working with some of these divas to coax them into a harmonic resonance.
Botanical perfume is a necessary luxury. By supporting botanical perfume one then supports organic agriculture and small independent labor all over the planet. True botanical perfumery cannot be a mass market, inexpensive commodity. This is due to the cost of the raw materials combined with the skills of farmers, distillers and the artisans who then craft the final elixir. The main benefit is that the individual who decides to support botanical perfume is then supporting a host of fabulous, interconnected industries like organic farming, bee keeping, handmade, indie business, and the arts. Each of these represent part of ancient systems that are important to foster and continue to cultivate. Botanical perfume brings together the old with the new in such a way that supports the whole.
With the concept of the concert in mind, I orchestrated the fragrance like a symphony with three complex chords of base, middle and top notes. Each chord contains up to seven different notes. The top chord features Neroli with supporting citruses and a few spice notes. The middle chord is the most complex with over thirteen individual essences featuring Champa supported by both White and Blue Lotus. The base is a very rich, earthy chord with Tobacco and Vanilla. There are over thirty pure, plant essences combined in organic, food grade, grape and grain alcohol in the liquid perfume extract.
In keeping with the vision of Project Peace on Earth the perfume contains essences from each continent, including locations close to the sacred sites for the performances. Greg is working with me on a pictorial image that will illustrate this concept.
A percentage of proceeds from the sale of the 7 gram flacon and solid perfume compact support
Project Peace of Earth
The perfume is also available as a solid perfume unguent, as well as pure, botanical liquid perfume extract in a variety of sizes, all available at my shop at
Illuminated Perfume at Etsy.
"When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will know peace."
~ Jimi Hendrix
I am giving away one .25 gram sample of the liquid perfume and one solid mini sample. Please leave a comment here on at the journal to be entered. If you prefer the liquid over the solid or vice versa please let me know.
"Peace begins with a smile." ~ Mother Teresa
Please migrate over to all the writers who have contributed to this vibrating web of peace today. Each one of them have a very distinctive and beautiful voice. I am brought to my knees in gratitude for the opportunity to weave this magic web with every single one of them.
The PEACE Blog-o-rama
Bitter Grace Notes: Maria
Bitter Grace Notes: Ida
Examiner, Cleveland: Beth
Examiner, Portland: Donna
Indie Perfume
Memory and Desire
Perfume Shrine
Perfume Smellin' Things
Scent Hive
The Non-Blonde
To be entered in the Peace perfume draw please leave a comment on this by October 1st indicating that you are entering the giveaway.
