Memories, imagination, old sentiments, and associations are more readily reached through the sense of smell than through any other channel.
- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.
Nothing revives the past so completely as a smell that was once associated with it.
-Vladimir Nabokov
The words above are a reflection of my feelings about the sense of smell and the only thing that gives me more reflection are the smells themselves!
I can still remember the smells of my childhood-cut grass, our Christmas tree, baby powder, grandma's house, mom's lasagna, milky way bars, peanut butter, rolled up slices of Wonder bread, chlorine in the pool and many more! Some say a song brings back memories, but smells seem to be ingrained in our brain cells waiting to be recalled by a hint of their memory!
As i grew into my teenage years, nature was the main source of my smells. I loved being outdoors. I lived by the ocean and every day after work you could find me walking on the beach enjoying the fresh smell of the water whose mist which would cover my face as a crescendo to the music of the waves breaking against the shore. When not at the beach, i would be off to the parks and forests. The smell of the trees and flowers permeated my being! Ahhh! Just the thought of it now takes me back.
Ironically, i hated smells in a bottle. While most of my peers were lined up to buy the best colognes and aftershaves, i was more content to go 'natural' which was more due to my ignorance about fragrances than anything else. Sweat to me was more 'natural' than the strong, almost nauseating fragrances you'd find at a department store. 'Poison' was the name of one famous fragrance of the time and believe me, the name was appropriate!
My first real appreciation of a plethora of natural smells happened as i was walking in a market in Cairo. I was smelling Egypt!. From spices sold in open sacks lining the streets to incense burning in the mosques, my head was spinning, undoubtedly due to the shock of so many natural scents attacking my senses at one time! There were also the sellers of 'bottled natural essential oils', rolling them on anyone who walked slowly enough to come within their reach. I actually thought the smells were quite good and unusual. Later, I found out that most of them were cheap imitations pawned off on unsuspecting tourists and naive adventurers like me. I would, in time, find my way in the path of fragrances and spirituality, understanding the Divine relationship between the two.
So, after years of roll-on oils and perfumes of suspect origin, the door of 'REAL' essential oils was opened to me by a man called..................................Ensar!
To be continued...........
- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.
Nothing revives the past so completely as a smell that was once associated with it.
-Vladimir Nabokov
The words above are a reflection of my feelings about the sense of smell and the only thing that gives me more reflection are the smells themselves!
I can still remember the smells of my childhood-cut grass, our Christmas tree, baby powder, grandma's house, mom's lasagna, milky way bars, peanut butter, rolled up slices of Wonder bread, chlorine in the pool and many more! Some say a song brings back memories, but smells seem to be ingrained in our brain cells waiting to be recalled by a hint of their memory!
As i grew into my teenage years, nature was the main source of my smells. I loved being outdoors. I lived by the ocean and every day after work you could find me walking on the beach enjoying the fresh smell of the water whose mist which would cover my face as a crescendo to the music of the waves breaking against the shore. When not at the beach, i would be off to the parks and forests. The smell of the trees and flowers permeated my being! Ahhh! Just the thought of it now takes me back.
Ironically, i hated smells in a bottle. While most of my peers were lined up to buy the best colognes and aftershaves, i was more content to go 'natural' which was more due to my ignorance about fragrances than anything else. Sweat to me was more 'natural' than the strong, almost nauseating fragrances you'd find at a department store. 'Poison' was the name of one famous fragrance of the time and believe me, the name was appropriate!
My first real appreciation of a plethora of natural smells happened as i was walking in a market in Cairo. I was smelling Egypt!. From spices sold in open sacks lining the streets to incense burning in the mosques, my head was spinning, undoubtedly due to the shock of so many natural scents attacking my senses at one time! There were also the sellers of 'bottled natural essential oils', rolling them on anyone who walked slowly enough to come within their reach. I actually thought the smells were quite good and unusual. Later, I found out that most of them were cheap imitations pawned off on unsuspecting tourists and naive adventurers like me. I would, in time, find my way in the path of fragrances and spirituality, understanding the Divine relationship between the two.
So, after years of roll-on oils and perfumes of suspect origin, the door of 'REAL' essential oils was opened to me by a man called..................................Ensar!
To be continued...........