Nuri McBride
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In this series, we examine aspects of death and bereavement through art, olfaction, and imaginative thinking. Feel free to follow along at home and leave your take on this scented death meditation below. This Week’s Muse Death the Bride, Thomas Cooper Gotch, 1895 This Pre-Raphaelite work is rather subdued in both theme and colour pallet
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As a society, we have an anosmic view of history. We don’t think about how things smelt or what olfaction meant to people in the past because olfaction is not a primary consideration in the present. When we do think of the scents of the past, it is with modern snobbishness and assurance that all
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I’m of the opinion that perfume isn’t just a consumable commodity but a cultural one, and part of our shared heritage. Perfume is olfactive art, like visual arts and music it has the power to move, soothe and inspire people. In fact, because of olfaction’s connection to the limbic system, a smell can trigger emotions
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When I was a girl, I went for a walk in the forest with my family. While prancing about, as I was wont to do, I came across a bush of the most beautiful berries surrounded by flowers that looked, to me, like small purple bluebells. I was young, but I remember the allure of
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Remember kids, the most toxic plants are often the most innocent-looking and alluring. Datura is a girly sweet-floral, but its other names give away its true nature (Devil’s Trumpets, Hell’s Bells, Poisoned Moon Flower). Datura, as with most of its Nightshade sisters, holds its poison in both its seeds and blossoms. The most likely cause
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Here at Death/Scent we tend to play with pleasant fragrances that are used to create an atmosphere of sacred space during death rituals. I am not, however, averse to talking about the darker side of scent. Especially when new research on the fetid haze of human decomposition may lead to improved forensic recovery. So let’s
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In the Indie perfume universe, the word alchemy pops up a lot. It graces the title of several popular companies. It also tends to be the word we use once words fail to describe the process of turning disparate ingredients into something more than the sum of their parts, something magical. As Clarke’s Third Law states:
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This post is no longer available click here to redirect to Tapputi Bellatekallim: The First Perfumer? Author’s Note: In 2016 I wrote the post, The Lost History of Women in Chemistry: The First Perfumer. In the interim, my knowledge of Assyriology and Mesopotamian olfactory history has grown, and I no longer agree with how I
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This is Part II of our two-part look at Famadihana. Read Part I here While forces have been at work for some time trying to kill the lively and joyous practice of Famadihana, they have done little to dampen the practice in the highlands; what may prove the death nail, however, is the pneumonic plague. All of
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Places have souls; you experience them through their scents. What does Madagascar’s soul smell like? Mango and lemon chutney, recently plucked limes and papaya, fresh green coffee pods, and newly ground cocoa powder. It’s in homemade cinnamon-infused rum mixed with coconut milk (a Punch Coco), carved Rosewood figures rubbed with nutty Baobab oil, wild ylang-ylang
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Death Scent 