Opoponax - the boy

Smelling opoponax tonight.


First the evaluation ~ then the personality.
Here are some words that come to mind: light, resinous, sweet, anise or liquorice, many layers. It sort of makes my tongue tingle when I smell it. As it dries out it becomes softer and sweeter with a syrupy balsamic glow.

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It's like smelling my childhood. Like taking deep breaths of sweet memory.

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What a boy. I remember Opoponax.
He was the boy with the sallow skin who was tall for his age. He was confident and self assured without seeming big-headed. We never spoke to each other but I would hear him talking with his friends.

His voice was sweet and soft and he was able to make people laugh. He was the peacemaker, the boy who would validate and then help to make light of a heavy situation.

In school he carried in his pocket a small brown paper bag of 'bulls eyes' and he would share them with anybody who looked a bit down. He was larger than life and he commanded respect wherever he went. In his teens he became fond of the taste of fine liqueurs and cigars. One time, I heard, he saved for a year so that he could afford a full box of Monte Christo cigars.
He drove a white MG convertible in his final year at college, and would fly past, like a cliché with the wind in his long dark hair.
He was a 'dream boat'....

Note: after I wrote this I checked in my copy of Perfume and Flavor Materials of Natural Origin by Steffen Arctander. .. I always check it after and evaluation to test my olfactory skills.
He says of opoponax oil: "The oil is occasionally used used in liqueur flavors for for its heavy-sweet body and wine-like notes, spiciness and naturalness." P.472

What do I think of your "friends"...

Have you an essence you want me to personify-Just leave a comment with an essences name below and I will do the rest.

Mimosa the sylph

Mimosa is a sylph, she guards the winds and the earth. She dances and makes a storm, she sings and makes the sky blue. Her mind is clear and her heart is open. She creates dreams and eases nightmares. Mimosa is a muse in herself. When she is near new ideas flow easily. She is very shy and she likes dark forests and mysterious undergrowth.
Mimosa might act like a delicate flower but she is stubborn and when she sets her mind to something there's not much going to stand in her way. She's never in the same place for long so it's easy to miss her. Look out for the golden shimmer of yellow in the corner of your eye, that's her, Mimosa.

Holy Neroli

She says a prayer in the morning before getting out of bed and says grace before breakfast, lunch and dinner. Then she gives thanks and rejoices at the end of every day. Sister Neroli, only wants to please God. She's bright, cheerful and squeaky clean. She follows a strict no-toxin diet and it shows in her skin. At the age of 12 she decided to live a chaste life, admiring the way the sisters at her convent school were able to live their lives without needing to follow fashion trends or get attention from men. Since joining the Poor Clare's cloistered convent she has not seen her family or friends, except once during her Fathers funeral.

The sisters in the convent are self sufficient. They grow organic vegetables and keep chickens and goats in their large walled garden. Neroli, like the other sisters sleep in a tiny room which is furnished sparsely with a bed, a chest of drawers, a wardrobe and a kneeling prayer bench. There are no mirrors anywhere in the convent and Neroli hasn't seen her reflection clearly in over 10 years. She loves sewing and tending the flowers in the garden and arranges the flowers for the small chapel in the convent. Neroli has never in her life kissed a boy and never missed it, at times she yearns to have children especially when she's in the garden and hears the squeals and laughter of school children as they walk home from school. Instead of pining however Neroli looks up to heaven and says a prayer of thanks for all the beauty God gifted to the Earth.

Neroli

Neroli is the essential oil distilled from the flowers of the orange blossom tree. Orange blossom absolute is the extraction from the same flowers...read more

© 2008 - Natures Nexus

The Three Angels of Lavender

This story was inspired by three lavender concretes I received from Marcia Elston of Samara Botane.

There was once a heavenly white angel of Lavender. He wore robes as pure and as white as the driven snow. He was a giant of an angel, with arms that could encircle the whole of the Earth in a single embrace. His breath was the sweetest breath in heaven and when he spoke a soft sweet breeze would float through the meadows and towns and past the homes of the people of Lavender and everyone who breathed it would stand still in wonder with eyes closed. Their hearts would open and wherever they stood and wherever they were the truth would come out of their mouths and they would not be able to contain it. So powerful was the white angel of Lavender.

Underneath the flowing silk robes of the white angel there was hiding the small delicate violet angel of Lavender. He was hiding because he was so innocent and vulnerable that even the lightest negative vibration would cause him to weep uncontrollably. When the violet angel saw saddness or suffering he would grieve and tears would stream from his eyes and form rivers and floods. The tears would saturate the cloaks of the other angels and make their clothing heavy.
He had skin that was so soft that to the touch it felt as if it was not even there at all.

Every evening as the sun set the blue angel of Lavender would begin to sing. Her voice rang out and was heard all around the world. The birds in the trees and the beasts on the land would stop and listen. Her voice made tears sprout from the eyes of everyone who heard it and lumps come to their throats and they couldn't understand why. Gradually night would fall and the sky would turn to darkness. The stars in the heavens would hear the voice of the blue angel of Lavender and come closer to hear. The moon would rise over the mountain tops to get closer to her voice. The night that was once dark would suddenly be a twinkle of lights and all through the hours the blue angel of Lavender would hum her songs, lulling the world and all her children to sleep.

The three angels stay nearby always the white, violet and blue angels of Lavender.

Amen.

Audition 2 - Hyacinth

She is always late. Hyacinth is a distraction in herself and is also distracted by the smallest thing. Like a child, focusing on a serious issue is not something she is good at. Flitting from task to task, she is a butterfly woman. Say to Hyacinth "would you hold on a moment ma'am and I will see if we have that in your size" and then come back 2 minutes later to find her *gone*. Giddy beyond belief, at school she was constantly being told to sit still, which was an impossible task for the girl then and still is now.

Hyacinth always seems to be in a good mood, smiling and cheerful all the time. She wants to be your VERY best friend after only knowing you for 5 minutes and "best friends" comes with all the perks, like hand holding or arm linking, hugs for good bye and hugs for hello and hugs just for hugging sake. She's the type of girl that gives you a present on her birthday. When she calls to visit she never comes empty handed, on the contrary, she is certain to bring a large bunch of flowers, a cake and a book she thinks you will "just adore". The book needless to say is a romantic paperback novel with a pink or purple cover and a title something like "What Friends Are For". Never go near Hyacinth when you are feeling down in the dumps, she will drive you to tears with her constant "cheering up" tactics.

One thing is for sure you just have to love her, but she will drive your boyfriend crazy if you EVER bring her back to your place. Hyacinth just cannot talk to a man without giggling, it starts off as an endearing and attractive quality and to tell you the truth most men take it as a message that she fancies them. But after about 15 minutes of being in her company men start making their excuses to leave. Just remember, "My cat is sick and I have to go home and heat her hot water bottle", is not a good excuse to give Hyacinth when you want to get away from her because chances are she'll have her jacket on and be ready to go with you offering to perform 3rd degree reiki on your sick cat. Don't worry, you can tell it like it is to this woman, she is thick skinned and even if you say something like "Hyacinth I find your company a little hard to take today, I have to go", the next time you meet her she'll give you her best smile and her best hug and still be your VERY best friend.
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