Queen of the Sun

Queen of the Sun is the latest project by Taggart Siegel, the director of "The Real Dirt on Farmer John" a fabulous documentary I mentioned here in September. From the website:

"Queen of The Sun is a feature-length documentary that celebrates bees from a perspective of reverence and renewal. Queen creatively explores the global honeybee crisis as a catalyst for change.

Bees are a barometer of the health of the world and they are in a state of emergency. The bond between humans and bees, once a sacred partnership, is now a profit-driven exploitation."

 

The Acorn Queen print by Marisol Spoon

The film Queen of the Sun highlights unsung heroes from past and present who are dedicated to the survival of bees: from poets and philosophers to scientists and shamans, from political activists to biodynamic beekeepers.

A central presence in Queen of The Sun is Rudolph Steiner, the spiritual scientist who founded biodynamic agriculture and Waldorf education. In 1923, he predicted that, in 80 to 100 years, the continued practice of artificial queen-breeding would bring about the demise of the honeybee. Now, pesticides, herbicides and genetically engineered plants exacerbate the problem, and the current bee crisis confirms Steiner's dire prediction with Colony Collapse Disorder.

Stained Glass (Honeycomb) Visionaries Original Print by Vaeda

On a pilgrimage across continents and centuries, Queen of The Sun exposes civilization's broken relationship with the natural world. It seeks answers through unique and unusual characters who have heart-felt respect for their bees and who share a common belief that solutions for regeneration lie in a renewal of agriculture and in a culture that is in balance with nature.

I am a holistic parent of a child that has been in a Waldorf school, an artist, a creator of agricultural based botanical perfume products and now embarking on the path of beekeeping. Taggart's projects sing to my sou. If you have not yet checked out the film The Real Dirt of Farmer John I suggest putting it on your Netflix or even better supporting the film by purchasing it and sharing with others. It is quite moving as I am sure this next film about the Queen of Sun will bee.

Om Shanti Om

Today is the birth day of Mahatma Gandhi, if he were still walking this planet as a human he would be 140 years old. Happy Birthday dear Gandhi!

On this auspicious day I have the two winners of the perfume devoted to peace samples. They are the Ace of Hearts: Charlotte Vale and the King of Clubs: Linda K. The solid natural perfume mini will be going to Linda K who specified she wanted to try a solid, while the liquid botanical perfume sample will go to Charlotte. Congratulations ladies and thank you to everyone who stopped by the journal and participated. I'm really grateful for everyone's support.

Om Shanti Om

Image: Give Peace a Voice @Greg Spalenka for the Peace Alliance.

In the Raw: Gourmand

For over a year now I have been contemplating starting this new blogging series. It is called "In the Raw" and will delve into specific materials within the palette of a natural botanical perfume artist. I am thus debuting it today with the spotlight on the gourmand/edible scent family.

With over ten million scent receptors in our noses we have the ability to identify upwards of thousands of different aromas. Understanding what we are perceiving in a scent helps us to classify a note or perfume into a specific odour family. The main odour families are: floral,woody, animalic, balsamic, vegetative, herbaceous, agrestic, green, spice, coniferous, marine, minty, medicated and fruity. The odour classification gourmand or edible are fairly new terms in the linguistics of aromatic families. In the past gourmand scents were put into a miscellaneous category. A gourmand perfume implies that there is a predominant foodie note in the fragrance, not to be confused with fruity, which is a subclass of the citrus family. Odours typical of the gourmand family are generally found in the primary category of spice, herbal, fruity, or vegetative. For example, below is a short list of a few materials from the palette of a botanical perfumer that are considered to contain gourmand qualities, but, are classified in one or two of the main categories first.

• Basil: Spice / Herbaceous
• Black Currant: Fruity
• Celery: Spice
• Chamomile: Fruity / Herbaceous
• Coriander: Spice / Herbaceous
• Fennel: Herbaceous
• Ginger: Spice
• Grapefruit: Citrus / Fruity
• Mushroom: Fungal/Vegetative
  
• Pepper: Spice
• Saffron: Spice
• Sage: Herbaceous
• Spearmint: Minty
• Vanilla: Balsamic
  

The notes that do not fit into those main compartments and are in need their own separate category, which is termed gourmand or edible. For example:

• Artichoke
• Bitter Almond
• Burnt
• Butter
• Caramel
• Chocolate
• Coconut
• Coffee
• Cognac
• Garlic
  
• Hazelnut
• Honey
• Tea
• Wheat

These aromatics are generally warm and seductive. I generally am not a fan of over the top gourmand fragrances, however, I do appreciate the genre and have caressed it a just a bit with Sierra Solid Gold and the fragrance devoted to peace which both feature gourmand notes.

The holiday season feels especially fitting for gourmand fragrances since the focus is on feasting. This genre has a rather wide spectrum and can encompass a very sweet vanilla perfume which makes one smell like a dessert, to a warm spice, to a completely avant-garde herbaceous garlic aroma. That last one is a little out there, I know, but why not? The art of perfume is an art after all and I am a believer in pushing the visionary envelope and getting out of the ordinary. Albeit I won't be going out in the world smelling like a cake or a salad dressing. Although, I have had some people interpret the aroma of ylang ylang as bubblegum. (!?!) My particular interest lies more in the fragrances of the land, forest and fairy realms.