Sagittarius Moon & Earth Cycles

Luna is full in the fiery, visionary sign of the archer, Sagittarius. Raise your sails as we head into this new chapter under her luminous light.

Sun & Moon, Night & Day, Dark & Light are examples of the duality within our selves manifested on our dear planet Earth and vice versa.

Like many of you, I tend to deep dive into subjects that come up in the collective consciousness. The reason for the dive is a profound sense of curiosity and search for truth.

The ancient alchemists viewed their art as one of transmutation, referring to consciousness or a substance, moving from a base form to an enlightened state. This applies to both psychological (internal) and scientific (external) aspects of the work.

We move from base matter to a more refined understanding and then go through the process again and again, like the cycle of the Phoenix and the ouroboros, in a constant loop.

These loops can be seen in our physical world as described above and through the three motions 

of the Earth:

1. Her spin on the axis within 24 hours, resulting in night & day
2. Her revolution, producing the four seasons
3. Her wobble, taking place approximately every ten of thousands of years. The wobble cycle has a few names, including the Yugas, originally described in the Vedas, and Greek Great Year by Plato. The current cycle is referred to as the Kali Yuga, the Iron Age.

"The Kali Yuga is an age of darkness, when we witness human morals and capabilities at their lowest point. The Mahabharata describes this period as when the “World Soul” is Black in hue; only one quarter of virtue remains, which slowly dwindles to zero at the end of the Kali Yuga. Men turn to wickedness; disease, lethargy, anger, natural calamities, anguish and fear of scarcity dominate. Penance, sacrifices and religious observances fall into disuse. All creatures degenerate. Change passes over all things, without exception."1

Sound familiar? The good news is that we are moving out of the Kali Yuga, which Indian academic Bibhu Dev Misra has calculated to begin at 2025 as we move into an upward cycle called the Dwapara Yuga, the Bronze Age. There is much speculation as to the exact dates, according to The Great Year documentary, the dates may fluctuate depending if we have a binary sun or not.

Artwork by Yoshitaka Amano

1 Bibhu Dev Misra

Forbidden Fruit

In the kitchen the other day I remarked, "Something smells fruity." My teenage daughter rolled her eyes answering, "Mom, everything smells fruity to you lately!"

Well, not everything, although I have been picking out the fruit note in a number of items that normally I would not have. It's as if my olfactory antenna is tuned to that fruity note. Our local farmers markets and CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) program is abundant with fruit lately, amplified by the fact that I've been working on a fruity Chypre perfume.

As I develop other perfumes and accords I've become keenly aware of the note. Each time an essence crosses my olfactory terrain that has a semblance of fruit I add it to my expanding list. Some essences are obvious like those in the Citrus family and Osmanthus. I've got some Apple blossom concrete which is within the right family but has more agrestic qualities than fruit. Will see what transpires with the aroma when I dilute it in alcohol.

Why fruit? The addition of the fruit accord for this fragrance is at the request of Ms. Michelyn Camen. Read some of the back story about this fruity chypre by following this link.

The odors of this major fragrance family are of edible fruits such as apple, apricot, banana, berry, citrus, peach, pear, pineapple, and prune. For the botanical / natural perfumer we have plenty of aromatics are our disposal from the citrus subfamily and a few from the berry grouping. However, we rely on other materials which impart fruit notes, like Osmanthus for example. Osmanthus is an evergreen shrub/tree producing fragrant flowers native to China that is often referred to as The Jasmine of the Orient. Boronia and Champa are other exotic, rich floral notes that can be utilized for imparting fruit. Chamomile has a strong apple aromatic note while Ylang Ylang can sometimes convey the banana note. Absolutes from the conifer family contain fruit jam notes that will be part of this bouquet.

Essences which impart "wine" notes (referring to grapes), include Ambrette, Pomegranate, Davana and Cognac. The two later have the ability to impart fresh, fruity notes to the top of the composition when utilized with mindfulness. Sea Buckthorn is an extract from berries commonly used in aromatherapy that has sweet berry notes. I have not used it in a composition as of yet and am sensing it may work well in this accord.

With this fragrance I am also interested in essences with warm, honey notes like Genet, also referred to as Broom, Mimosa, Beeswax and Hay are possibilities. These will work well with conveying the Pampas, which plays an important aspect in my connection with Argentina. I'm just not sure if I will add them to the accord or the overall composition. We will see as this accord progresses and matures....just like fine wine.

Read part three of this segment here: Equus caballus.

A Garam Masala Accord

Sunday we planned to go over to a friends to celebrate her birthday and also watch the Oscars. Although we have a TV, we are not plugged into any bad news networks. Instead we download our favorite shows like LOST and Fringe and head on over to friends house when something special beckons us.

We decided to bring over an Indian inspired feast for the dinner, which included Green Peas in a Creamy Sauce. I've been making these pas for years. It is out of the book Quick & Easy Indian cooking by Madhur Jaffrey's. I picked it up years ago at World Market.

Normally when I make this I use a standard Garam Masala spice mix from the market or Indian Spice shop. This time I decided to follow the recipe for precisely and make the Garam Masala as she suggests. Standard Garam Masala spice blends contain: Coriander, Cumin, Ginger, Red Chili, Cloves, Cinnamon and Bay Leaves.

I began the homemade version by gently opening up green cardamom pods and gently scooping out the seeds. A similar process is utilized for making Vanilla tinctures and infusions. Once I had meticulously scraped out the required amount of aromatic Cardamon seeds, I placed the seeds, a Cinnamon stick, a piece of Nutmeg, Black Peppercorns, Black Cumin Seeds and whole Cloves into my coffee grinder to make a fine powder.

The result was spectacular with a beautiful fragrance which was blending rather nicely with the chocolate brownies that Eve was preparing. It got me thinking about the spiced hot chocolate that the Aztecs & Mayan would prepare. Thus, I am going to work on a natural/botanical perfume inspired by this. The first step will be in creating a Garam Masala accord utilizing the exact ingredients from above but in the form of essential oils.

Alchemical Wedding

" The alchemical operation consisted essentially in separating the prima materia,
the so-called chaos, into the active principle, the soul, and the passive
principle, the body, which were then reunited in personified form in the
coniunctio or 'chymical marriage'... the ritual cohabitation of Sol and Luna."
- C.G. Jung Mysterium Coniunctionis

Although we may have crossed paths as children in Arcadia, California or professional illustrators in NYC, we did not consciously meet until the Autumn of 1999. It was at a Society of Illustrators Portfolio Review here in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles where we finally collided, live and in person.

In January of 2000 we began getting to know each other more intimately, becoming aware that there was more to the relationship than art. On a very romantic evening of February 14th, in the year 2001, Greg romantically proposed to me on bended knee.

Several years later, under a groove of oak trees and an expansive view of the Santa Monica Mountains all the way to the ocean, we were married.

We had planned something more along the lines of the painting “Spring” by Sir Laurence Alma Tadema. We still hold an intention to manifest that vision.

Our secret ceremony began with our entourage meeting at our little woodland cottage. We all cheered with a hydrosol cocktail of Frankincense, Rose and Jasmine, then drove into Topanga State Park. We had selected two sites for our conceptual Heaven and Earth ceremony. First under a groove of ancient Oak trees where I read a poem, followed by all of us jumping through the duirway and then aromatic anointing. From there we walked up the hill to an expansive view of the Santa Monica Mountains all the way to the Pacific Ocean. There had been a rain storm the day before, so the day was gloriously clear and fresh. Here, in Heaven, Greg read a second poem, we proclaimed our vows and sealed the union with a kiss.

It was a very special, magical day that will live in our hearts, brightly illuminated.

Greg and I walking into Topanga State Park, hand in hand.


Continuing along the path, far in the distance is the entourage.


The Sacred Oak


The Duirway


I anointed everyone with an Amber perfume followed by Q, the oak perfume.
Yes, the Amber perfume will be released soon and I am working on a scent emblematic
of Heaven & Earth, with wood, amber, rose and the expansiveness of the sky.


A kiss from the Lord to his Lady


Eve

With our Muse, Craig on the left, whom we adore


The minister, Ricky, and his husband Peleg.

Afterward we all returned to the little cottage in the woods for a homemade meal:
Cheese and Onion Quiche
Carrot Ginger Soup
Green Salad
Fresh Bread
and
Lemon Drop Cake

Delightful & Delicious!

Alchemical Wedding image ©Greg Spalenka, using an old alchemical image as the base for the painting.
Alma Tadema painting Spring, on display at the Getty in Los Angeles.
Most photographs were taken by Peleg Top, with a few by Craig Marshall.

See more of Greg's work at his website.

Reveal-ations

The rains have finally arrived to the City of Angels! I love it when it rains this hard, there is a warm and snuggly feeling about it as well as an immediate sensation of clarity. All my newly planted native plants have got to be thrilled.

Lots of perfume projects are underway and will be disclosed here in the next few days. Some are still in the morphing / development stage while others are toddling along a clear path. The latter is what I will reveal.

I am also re-working the look of this blog, as you may have noticed, something that I've wanted to do since it's inception and am now starting to tinker with a bit. Thus, for awhile, things will be changing daily as I work on getting it just right. (Ha!)

More in the morrow.