Scent of the gods
On the 18th of March, I was taking notes in my personal grimoire, stylishly titled Grimorium Exactum as a nod to another well-known book I’m sure we are all aware of. Carefully adding to my notes is one of the practices I commonly do before bed. I find it to be a relaxing experience, and as the name of my notes suggests, I like to really take my time while adding to them.
It was during this peaceful and reflective time that I was struck by the foul smell of my cat’s litter tray deposits, as he seems to know exactly when to pick the right time to expel his bowels. While I was sitting there with this faint odour lingering in the air, it hit me—and not just the smell, but something more imaginative. This reality stinks. Quite literally. There are many foul and impure smells not only in our environment, but also coming from the magician themselves without proper purification, known in some aspects today simply as washing.
Over time, the human body produces impure smells and ultimately remains grounded in materialism. In fact, all the effort we take with shampoos and soaps, heavily fragranced with exotic notes of cinnamon and citrus, is cleverly designed to cover up the reality—to put a veil between your nose and the ground. Of course, the non-practitioner never utilises the aspect of fragrance beyond the mundane, but this event really got me thinking as to why spirits require or prefer incense-filled rooms.
I believe the veil or mask fragrance puts over reality causes the environment to become more hospitable to the spirit. We all know this to a certain extent. With this idea, we can ask another question: should the magician veil his scent also? So I have decided to experiment with homemade perfumes, starting with frankincense and later working with other effective scents to observe the difference it makes on the magical efficiency of the magician if he maximises purification of his vessel.
To what extent does purification of oneself elevate your effectiveness as a magician?
This will all require experimentation, and I will be sure to add its end results to my pages. Hopefully, the reader will find it useful.