Neil Morris Fragrances Summoning Review + Magical Woods Draw

March 2, 2019March 4, 2019

"…The hour of fairy ban and spell:

The wood-tick kept the minutes well;

He counted them all with click and stroke,

Deep in the heart of the mountain oak,

And awakened he has the sentry elve

Who sleeps with him in the haunted tree,

To bid him ring the hour of twelve,

And summon the fays to revelry…" – from the Culprit Fay by Joseph Rodman Drake

Ent in the Riparian Zone by Gail Gross @ 2019

Ancient, towering, majestic trees, furry animalic denizens of dark glades, smoky well worn leather and rich, loamy earth come together in Neil Morris Fragrances Summoning. At once bewitching and soothing, Neil Morris’ Summoning evokes the mysterious spirits of cool, wet coastal forests, the comforting warmth of leather and coffee, mysterious musky animal familiars and the protection of soft Mother Earth.

Photo portrait of Neil Morris © Neil Morris Fragrances

"Summoning is an attempt to call forth Deep Powers from Beyond. It's the calling of the protective Circle around the Home-fire to keep menacing elements outside. It also represents our ability to Summon sacred powers from Within us, to protect and strengthen ourselves and those we love in an hour of need…" – Neil Morris

There is no doubt that Neil Morris is a master of forests and woods, incense and smoke, evidenced powerfully by Neil Morris Fragrances Visiting Trees (beautifully reviewed recently by Ida Meister), and by one of my CaFleureBon Best of 2018 fragrances Neil Morris Rose Afire. In the protective, woody comfort of Neil Morris Summoning, the perfumer's talent for subtle, expert blending, balance and reinforcement creates a fragrance that is not only evocative and original but also magically easy to wear and enjoy.

"I who am the beauty of the green earth and the White Moon amongst the Stars…and the desire of the heart of man. I call unto thy soul, arise and come to me, for I am the Soul of nature who giveth life to the Universe…" – from the Gardnerian Book of Shadows by Gerald Gardner

Neil Morris Fragrances Summoning is an homage to this same Soul of Nature and to the great ancestral trees – the Giant Sequoias, the most massive in the world, living to an age of 3,000 years, and to the Coast Redwoods, the tallest, with life spans of 2,000 years and more.

Coastal Redwoods via Pixabay

The first breath of Summoning transports me to a dimly lit morning in one of the fresh and foggy-cool, high canopied cathedrals of the Coastal Redwoods of Humboldt County, California. As the day progresses and rays of sunlight filter down into the dark mossy glades Neil Morris Summoning begins to warm with scents of the forest floor. The perfumes of fecund earth, leaf mold, roots and bark, invoke the ancestral spirits of the Redwood groves. The scent of oily, terpenic evergreen needles, nuanced by green herbs and rank undergrowth, stirs up an imaginal world of ents, fairies, elves and familiars.

As evening descends on the Redwood groves, spicy resins and balsamic sap from fallen arboreal giants mingle with sawdust and wood shavings. Boot leather, smoky sweet tar, coffee and a flourish of the musky sensuality of castoreum and civet conjure the warmth and humanity of home-fires, creating a protective spell that binds, distracts and soothes the shades of the night and the denizens of the primeval forest.

Notes: Redwood, coffee, leather, teakwood, soft earth, sawdust, castoreum, civet and Nootka cypress.

Disclaimer: I would like to thank Neil Morris for my magical bottle of Summoning. My opinions are my own.

Gail Gross – Senior Editor

Thanks to the generosity of perfumer Neil Morris we have one 30 ml bottle of Neil Morris Fragrances Summoning for one registered reader worldwide (be sure to register or your comment will not count). To be eligible, tell us what appeals to you about Gail's review of Neil Morris Fragrances Summoning, where you live and if you have a favorite Neil Morris fragrance Draw closes 3/5/2019

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