The Soul of Perfume + The Anima of Plants Draw

viridis genii by Marcus McCoy©

Perfuming owes its being to the alchemist, for alchemy gave it birth. The ancient alchemists of old brought us the still and through the still we distilled and isolated mercury and sulfur, and learned to refine them to their purest forms… and it is the pure forms of mercury and sulfur that we make our perfumes to this day.

15th century Distillation Woodcut 

In saying mercury and sulfur I refer to the distilled fermentation of a plant into ethanol which in alchemy is referred to as mercury and symbolized as the planet Mercury as well. The other distillate is that of the volitales of animalia, vegetal, and mineralia this is known in alchemy as sulfur or the oil. The essential oil is what we use in producing perfume, and the ethanol or mercury is the carrier of the perfume.To work with the symbolism further, in alchemical terms, the mercury is the mind of the plant, and the sulfur or oil is the soul.

Art by Marcus McCoy

We are very literally producing perfumes in the alchemical sense with the souls of plants, and this is how it was originally, and still to this day, viewed by working lab alchemists. As a distiller of essential oils, a traditional lab alchemist and a perfumer, it is fascinating that we have lost this perspective in the days of modern scientific materialism. One would say that perfumes are soulless, that they have no anima, they are an object and that alone. If that is the case then how is that they can move us so? How can a perfume posess us, fill us with enthusiasium, lure us, give us confidence, shroud us?

Digital art “Human Flowers” Cecelia Webbe©

The soul of the plant, the sulfur, the volatile, enters our body through the air, through our nose, and it enters our body, and our body responds to it. Memories flash, behaviors are altered, thoughts and moods change. We have the soul of a once living being within us, many souls, souls from plants that where grown, harvested, and distilled utilizing the same methods of the alchemist for hundreds of years. Oils that are then skillfully and artfully paired and combined with other oils that work together to create a scent, that we place upon our body. We spray the souls upon us so that we and others may be inhabited by those souls briefly to alter their mood, thought and behaviours.  

This is perfuming from the alchemist’s eyes. Perfuming from the point of view of the progenitor of perfuming itself. As I mentioned prior there is no perfume, or perfumer without the alchemist and her still. How is it possible with this history and this background that perfume could be made and mass produced as a mundane and uninspired product? How could it not be seen as something magical, possibly even sacred? How has this perspective been lost in the perfume industry and how could it return?

Surreal Digital Collage by Orbeh©

The first step is aknowledgment… recognize that the essential oil is the soul of the plant. It’s intelligence and anima. Acknowledge that you are placing their souls upon your body, breathing them in and allowing them into your body, comingling them with our own soul. From the point of view of perfuming origins, this is exactly what is occuring.

Tabu vintage ad  1940s

Second step… think of how its created, and what its been created with? In Northern Peru the vintage perfume Dana Tabu is still used by curanderos and brujos for magical and healing purposes. It was a perfume like many others that was created to be sold and to make money like most perfumes, but the curanderos knew it had soul, knew it was animated, new that it was made of many souls and so they found a way of working with those souls, and in a way that enchanted the world.

anatomical collage art by bedelgeuse©

Third… ask yourself what world sounds better to you? An enchanted world where a perfume is a living ensouled being that has power and can be worked with to enchant the world. Or a soulless product of the fashion industry made in a lab by scent chemists who employ the methods of alchemy, but without the soul and philosophy of the alchemist? An enchanted world? Or a world without a soul. Perfume never lost its soul, it is made of souls, the alchemical sulfur, and we have forgotten that.

Guest Contributor, Marcus McCoy, Founder and Perfumer of The House of Orpheus

Art Direction: Michelyn Camen

Marcus McCoy of House of Orpheus

Editor’s Note: Marcus is a Guest Contributor for CaFleureBon and is the perfumer for House of Orpheus a small niche, artisan perfume house specializing in perfume alchemy. He is a lab alchemist working in the green, and is the co-founder and editor for the Viridis Genii Symposium and the book series Verdant Gnosis. Marcus lives in the Olympic Mountains and teaches and writes on the subject of esoteric distillations. You can read his articles on Talismanic Perfumes here,  Bottling a Star Here and How to Use Perfume to Change your Luck here

Thanks to Marcus we have a draw for 4 ml of Cyprian an all-natural fragrance (Bay, frankincense, palo santo, rue.) in The USA. To be eligible you must be a registered reader, (register here) and leave a comment with what you thought was fascinating about this article,  and if you believe that fragrance (and plants have souls) . Draw ends 6/7/2017

We announce the winners only on site and on our Facebook page, so Like Cafleurebon and use our RSS feed…or your dream prize will be just spilled perfume.

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18 comments

  • tiffanie says:

    Mercury, ethanol, eau de vie. Sulfur, essential oil, parfum.
    I’ve experienced a different way of thinking about the world today.
    A plants transforms and grows, that energy is the soul.
    When fragrance a blooms on skin and in air, that gift is the soul.

  • NiceVULady says:

    This is certainly a different way of looking at perfume. I think plants are enlivened, but I’m not sure they have souls in the strictest sense of the word. How we feel about the scent from the plant may have an interaction. Thanks for the draw. I live in the USA

  • RoseMacaroon says:

    Excuse me for starting out so inarticulately but I really have to say — F*** YEAH!!!! This has been the substance of my adoration of perfumery from its beginning — and I know I’m not the only one, but every single time I encounter this outside of my own head, it knocks my socks off like nothing else. Anyone making perfume in this spirit, I’m an intense fan of, automatically.
    SOOOOOOOO many thanks for this post! I’m considering as a birthday surprise, just a beautiful coincidence. ..
    I am in the US.
    LOVE!!!

  • ntabassum92 says:

    I thought it was fascinating that vintage Tabu is used for healing by some – that is so interesting! It makes sense, perfume can be an ointment just like any other. I don’t believe fragrances have souls, but I have always wondered about plants, as they are living…I like to sit with them and feel them every now and then.

  • Cynthia says:

    I want to know more about the Peru/Tabu connection. That sounds fascinating and far out! I love all types of perfume but I do swear that it is more natural perfumes that seem to affect my body….with feelings of strength, wellness and happiness. I would love to hear more on this subject.USA

  • Savana says:

    “ask yourself what world sounds better to you? An enchanted world where a perfume is a living ensouled being that has power and can be worked with to enchant the world. Or a soulless product of the fashion industry made in a lab by scent chemists who employ the methods of alchemy, but without the soul and philosophy of the alchemist? ”
    MY FAVORITE! So many things are turned soulless by industries wanting to make money only. I believe plants have a soul.

  • Rebecca says:

    I hold high regards for modern day alchemists and distillers of botanical spirits.
    The soul of a plant is MOST definitely imbued by the application of perfume and also the ritual of perfume can be a whole other topic! I appreciate posts like this, not only because it is deeply interesting but because it resonates on a very much needed level that is both ancient and resilient. Plants are messengers!

    I want to know more about the Danu Tabu as well! Very nice article.

  • Jekk says:

    I certainly do believe that plants have souls and that they can be bound to perfumes through skillful magic. I am not terribly familiar with vegetable alchemy, but now I know the parts of the plant associated with sulfur, salt, and mercury, so i thank you. I would also like to applaud the excellent art used for this article.

  • SandiL says:

    Marcus, Thank you for expressing so elegantly that which I have known in my soul for a very long time.

  • Vahagn says:

    Very interesting theme! Thank you !
    I think that perfume must contact and speak with us, tell a story, bring us emotion, sense. So, the pefume can not do that if have not soul.
    USA, DE

  • BethMongold says:

    I am really fascinated in the more esoteric/ healing/ alchemical facets of perfumery. I find Marcus’ work in this area fascinating! I have done some work with plant spirit medicine and have had experiences that felt like contacting the soul/ spirit of that plant–juniper has been one of the most intense for me. I am SO curious about how Tabu is used in Peru, and hoe that came to be. Thanks for an interesting window into the soul of fragrance…I live in Colorado USA.

  • Laurels says:

    I absolutely believe that perfume is “something magical, possibly even sacred.” I wore Tabu in my youth, and had no idea it was still being used in healing rituals in Peru. It is always surprising to me how vast the world of perfume really is. I’m in the US.

  • doveskylark says:

    I like the third step, where we consider that perfume is a living ensouled being that can be worked with to enchant the world. I believe this. I have an old bottle of Tabac Blonde that seems to breathe through the glass bottle. It is alive, always emitting power and passion.
    I live in the USA.

  • Hikmat Sher Afridi says:

    Thanks Marcus for the wonderful read! “Perfume never lost its soul, it is made of souls” is a simple answer to many. I have a conclusion that perfume never expired but its color & viscosity changes., that is why we welcoming the oil pouring on ourselves to please, power, strength & heal our body & soul. The notes are appealing to nurse your body & soul.
    Thanks to Marcus for the generosity and Cafleurebon for the opportunity to participate in the draw by letting my relative address in US.

  • Marcus R McCoy says:

    I am honored and delighted by all of the responses on this page. In peru there is an entire practice called perfumerismo which I learned about, and will be sharing soon here in another article.

  • kittyjay says:

    I have always believed that perfume had a soul. “We spray the souls upon us…” is pure genius. I have always been fascinated by scent memories – my own and those of others. To see the beloved Tabu (an actual tabu from my childhood – my mother wouldn’t let me wear it!) mentioned in this context – used by curanderos in Peru just makes me stupid happy and thanks for that! The entire article is fascinating! Thank you Marcus and CaFleureBon!

  • Tanisha says:

    I appreciate that he simplistically and unapologetically expresses an ancient belief that ought to be brought into modern day use- by both perfumers and perfume wearers. So much more to it than rubbing on a condition oil.