Hey Crew. Scent semantics?
We get a word, we get a date, we have to choose a single fragrance that fits the word and then have to explain how it fits together, in our way. As much or little as we feel the word/fragrance connection needs. We are going to probe a little into how each of us bloggers see the world, fragrance, ourselves. We get to see how one word can inspire different directions in connection. or not.
ANGELIC Scent Semantics #2
Angelic! WOW! So much to think about. You may know I’m a non practising but dyed in the wool Roman Catholic. My parents were Dad (CofE) and Mum (RC). They were only allowed to marry if their children would be brought up Roman Catholic. Mum took this very seriously and we were weekly church goers, went to Nun run primary school and then my sister went to the Loreto and then Brigidine nuns while I went to the Jesuits. The Christ story and church dogma runs deep and wide through my knowledge banks and controls much of the way I think, react, operate. It’s been a lifetime of trying to live by the simple carpenters words (yes, I know they were written years after and changed in the early centuries by a group of devout businessmen.)
As I grew and developed into the shining gay icon that you see on the daly our local priest and headmaster tried to shame and guilt Mum into sending me off for ex-gay treatment at a young age. In a nutshell her argument with this fire and brimstone, old school priest was that, “If God is all powerful and my son is a product of his creation then whatever he is must be by design and intent. An all loving God must love and cherish this child as he is.” To say there was a schism is an understatement and we changed churches, going quite a ways each week to somewhere mum had found that wasn’t so hard line. Mum’s faith never really recovered from this problem and we spent less and less time in church, though still going regularly at school. On her deathbed, just two days before finally dying Mum sat bolt upright and declaimed to all of us gathered, “I want to be buried under a tree, facing the sea; and NOT in the Catholic section.” It was the last truly lucid thing the said.
My beautiful husband Jin is also an evangelical atheist. DO NOT get him started on the church, its corruption, the covering up of its pedophile rings for centuries, the lies fed to the faithful, its finger pointing hate and guilt complexes and its disregard for the good of the people & our world and it rapacious greedy hoarding of wealth and power. We are not talking about Jesus, or any of the gods, but the BUSINESS of religion. Its design to create separatism, hate, war and plunder. The business of religion that seeks to divide, instead of divine.
All this for context because this month Elena has chosen the word Angelic.
Even this word, ANGELIC, holds memories and mixed emotions for me. Are we talking cherubic? The cute winged children portrayed (often with very devilish faces) in art? Are we talking the mighty and glorious archangels? Those greatly feared messengers of the gods? Are we talking people who have lived good lives and sit with god in heaven? Angelic could even refer to the spurned and fallen angel Lucifer. So much scope.
Dia Woman extrait by Amouage
Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Aldehydes Cyclamen Violet Leaf Sage Bergamot Fig Tarragon
Heart: Peony Turkish Rose Oil Orris Root Orange Blossom Peach Blossom
Base: White Musk Heliotrope Sandalwood Incense Cedar Vanilla Guaiac Wood
I really wanted the fragrance I chose to reflect the bright light of worshipful goodness and cleansing. Also, it would be good if it has the fluffy, powdery softness of feathers. A commanding presence is important. The incense I associate with religious observance and the woods and polish of pews have to be part of it too. Always my daydreams of angelic visitation, and many of the stories about their happenings, have taken place in caves or caverns with water. Trying to find a fragrance that embodies all these separate angles and still have the glow of internal religious rapture seems like a hard call.
Fortunately Dia fits all these qualities and adds a few more. It is regal, gives me strength and creates a soft but very present cloud of protection around me. That sounds pretty ANGELIC to me.
What perfume would you associate with the word ANGELIC?
Portia xx
Elena https://theplumgirl.com
A Bottled Rose 
I recognise and understand every word you have written, having grown up in the RC ethos. The word ‘angelic’ has several meanings for me: caring, innocent, loving, nurturing, steadfast, dependable, welcoming – and more besides. How to translate that into a perfume is a mighty task. I’ll have to think on that one. Thank you.
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I can’t wait to read what you come up with Cassieflower.
SNAP on the RC youth.
Portia xx
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Wow, never smelt the extrait but Dia edp was my first Amouage and it is a beauty. Angelic to me is light and fluffy and pure, 4160 Tuesdays Clouds fits that bill.
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Great choice, Tara! Clouds is heavenly.
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Now you two have given me a hefty lemming.
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What a fabulous choice TaraC.
I hope Sarah gets word that you’ve chosen one of her fragrances as your ANGELIC scent.
Portia xx
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Perfect!
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The business… yes. I could never figure out angels either, so I couldn’t come up right away with any idea of what kind of perfume would fit. Now I think it would have to be something airy. Maybe The Body Shop White Musk, if it weren’t so pervasively worn by millions of mere humans. 😉
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HA! Could they be aiming at ANGELIC lives through scent NoseProse?
Portia xx
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What a thoughtful post, Portia! BTW, I’m thankful that my own (non-Catholic) church fully agrees with your mother’s eloquent statement on your behalf. Or, as one of my friends likes to say, “If God disapproves of gay people, why did he make so many of us?” Exactly.
I have a mini of Dia and will take it out to try it with your description in mind.
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Next time you go into your church thank them on my behalf please OH. If only all our childhoods had such broad and welcoming ideas there would be more of us still in the system.
OOOH! I hope you get what I smell when you wear your Dia.
Portia xx
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It’s very beneficial to have grown up in a liberal Episcopalian church (the American version of CofE). There’s a saying about being Episcopalian vs. being Catholic (which my husband, raised RC but firmly in the Episcopal camp, endorses): “All of the gilt, none of the guilt!”
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HA! That is a perfect summation of how I see non RC church.
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Portia, I knew your mum was your strongest supporter but had no idea she had to protect from conversion treatment. Thank goodness she brought you up and not someone weaker or more ignorant. What a lady.
As for perfume, it’s obvious but I keep coming up with Angelique by Papillon. It’s very innocent and soft.
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Oh yes, there are a million bits that take a while to bubble to the page Tara. It has to be a moment that triggers the memories. They’re safely boxed up in my brain.
Obvious works perfectly. Angelique was my favourite of the initial three offered from Papillon. Excellent choice.
Portia xx
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The two fragrances that I associate with my two feline grandbabies…Parfum de Couer’s Fresh White Musk ( for Pickles Bella) and Maja ( for Wedge Licorice). These inexpensive beauties smell like the sweet, musky fur of these beautiful black angels ( yes, each daughter adopted a black cat). I’ve taken organized religion out of the equation, P!!
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Oh squee, you now have two little furry granddaughters? I need pics. 🙂
Plus I love the middle names, Mila wanted one too so she is now Mila Renée.
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I owe you a long email 😉
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Excellent. Very WITCHY of you Brigitte. I think that’s an organised religion of sorts though. It definitely looks like it on Bewitched.
Many years ago I had a black cat for a little while. He arrived at the back door looking very mangy, hungry & sad so I fed him. Came in and made himself very comfortable, never left. He made two house moves with me but HATED the apartment. He made his dissatisfaction known in a million little ways but the last straw was he scratched me on the chest to wake me up one morning, looked me in the eye and pissed all over the bed. He was very quickly rehomed.
I bloody love Maja soaps. There’s one in my indie drawer.
Portia xx
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Haha!! I am a good witch. The whole family loves the black cats because they tend to be unwanted. Pickles Bella can be sassy. Wedge Licorice is a goofball. You would love them both. A local supermarket carries the Maja products including soap, lotion, EDT, dusting powder and shower gel for an excellent price. It’s a beautiful scent. I have the soap in my shower right now .
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I hope you mean that you are an EXCELLENT witch, he he he. I kind of imagine you as Sabrina, the naughty but nice twin of Samantha Stevens.
We have Maja Xmas gift sets here in the chemists. Usually soap talc and perfume. Maybe I’ll grab one this year.
Portia x
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Oh gosh yes!! I am the older version of Sabrina!! I’m going to pick up some more Maja soon. I am also using the lotion now. It’s fantastic.
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🤣🤣🤣🐈⬛
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You know these two fur babies quite well lol
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Dia is such a fine choice!
I enjoyed reading your take, so much to think about – indeed!
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Elena! You got me right in the fervour. It took me by surprise. ANGELIC is a fantastic word choice and I loved getting into myself and finding the right perfume to match my smellovision.
Thanks.
Portia xx
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High five to your Mum!
Organised religion is the biggest evil in this world (I’m with Jin). According to the RC church my brother & I are bastards. Dad was an atheist, mum RC. Dad had no intention of converting & neither the RC or Anglican churches would accept us into their flocks. Their loss!
Therefore my Angels would be the Weeping Angels from Dr Who 😈
My angel equivalents are the woodland angels, Fauns, imps, dwarves, trolls, celties generally the little people of ancient legends!
Whilst I initially thought Papillon Dryad I’m going to go for the indies if indie perfumes, Thomas O’Brien’s Faun. The photorealistic autumnal British woodland, damp, yellow leaves, moss, lichen, freshly turned earth & a furry texture of little mammals snuggling down for the winter.
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Hey Alityke,
I’m sorry religion created such an awful feeling in your youth. It’s never nice to be rejected and religion seems so all pervading as a kid. Their loss indeed.
I love your choice. WOW! It sounds heavenly.
Did you ever read the E M Forster short stories? There was a faun in one of them that both terrified and called to me.
Poretia xx
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I haven’t read the EM Forster stories but will d/l to my Kindle now. Thanks for the tip x
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When my raised-RC husband and I were engaged, we went through all the approval processes so that his mom would be happy (she was devoutly RC, and I adored her). The Catholic priest with whom we had to meet more than once, to have him process the paperwork for a dispensation, handed us a brochure that referred to our pending nuptials as a “mixed marriage.” I think that was the point when my husband decided, “Right, that’s it, no more RC in the future.” Luckily he had had a RC chaplain in the service who was much more sensible, and who was coming to assist in the ceremony, and he told us the exact words my husband had to say to the priest to qualify for the dispensation (which did NOT include a pledge to raise the children as RC, though the priest tried to make him promise that). When he said the exact phrase required, the priest said “You have fulfilled the letter, if not the spirit, of Church law.” And he signed.
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WOW! That’s an excellent story. It makes me wonder how differently the world would work if everyone had had that phrase back then.
Do they still try and pull this stuff?
Portia xx
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I honestly don’t know! We found out later that the paperwork priest was affiliated with a very conservative RC group, so he may have been an outlier. The parish priest was very nice.
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Dia is an inspired choice. There is of course that one by INeKE – Angel’s Trumpet – but that would be too obvious. 😉
“If God is all powerful and my son is a product of his creation then whatever he is must be by design and intent. An all loving God must love and cherish this child as he is.”
Good on your mother…I am not one now, but was brought up a Christian Scientist, and they followed a similar, yet different line of reasoning: “If God is good, and is all powerful, and if he created man in his image and likeness, that image must therefore be good, and sickness and evil an illusion.” It’s a high bar to believe illness and sin don’t exist, but it does present God in a good light as the creator, at least!
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WOW Vanessa, I never knew of your Christian Scientist roots. Yes, just as hard to believe but a less negative outlook. It would be hard if you had a disease though, no?
Angel’s Trumpet was really pretty by my far away memory. Perfect choice. we call those blooms Christmas Lillies.
Portia xx
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Didn’t have a chance to get back to this yesterday. I spent some time thinking and I’ve come up with Teint de Neige. Silken powder and the idea of the glinting of a bright winter sun off snow. We don’t actually know what form, if any, these celestial beings take, but they are frequently depicted as flashes of bright light. And a lot of people associate powder with children, and children with all things good and innocent.
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Oh that’s a wonderful choice!!!
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Cassieflower! Inspired choice. I love it.
Portia xx
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Being the third generation of atheists in my family, I didn’t even suspect that this word would have such a deep impact on you. It was just wonderful to read about your mom: not knowing her, I’m very grateful to her for you. Not trying to hurt anyone, I must say that in my version of the World I would uncontestedly choose loved ones over G-d, and even more resolutely over any church or other form of organized religion.
Love Dia! Beautiful choice.
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Hey Undina,
Yes, Mum was instrumental ion keeping me alive, whole and on track, even through my darkest years she held tight and was unconditional in her love.
Yes, a god of love would want us to choose the loved ones over a business.
Glad you think Dia a good choice too.
Hugs,
Portia xx
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Your mom sounds like she was an incredible and incredibly strong woman, Portia! Sadly, I have known friends whose parents chose the Church over their children. It’s a wound you never recover from, or at least my friends haven’t. I loved reading your take on angelic and hats off to you for thinking of a fragrance that meets all the criteria and more. I haven’t worn Dia in a while, but you have inspired me to dig my sample out of storage and wear it. Xoxo
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Heya Daisy, yes, the church won many more times than it lost. We still see the damage it does in the LGBTQI+ suicide and homelessness rates, only eclipsed by our First Nations Aborigines here in Australia.
YAY for Dia, I hope you find your sample.
Portia x
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