Love for fragrance is not to be cultivated; it is innate, but requires constant grooming and chiseling lest it should get rust. To be a fragrance addict means to be a voyager ever ready to discover un-heard and un-smelt fragrant islands and harbours. Blessed are the souls that realize and actualize primal thirst to navigate mysterious Oscent, and have an abode on an island- Musk, Oud, Sandal, Rose, Frankincense, etc. All islands are apparently apart, but are mysteriously connected. Poetic sensibility never misses that mystery is beauty, and beauty is mystery. If there is no sacred longing, the Oscent never unveils her beauty. A hobbyist or a part time jobber can never ever discover the true essence of fragrances. So, he or she cannot appreciate the way a ‘gnostic of fragrances’ can. The way a sacred addict detests synthetic element in oils and stays away from them, the Oscent never let a synthetic-fragrance-wearer smell and relish its true nature. Only a devotee, a sailor, a voyager or an addict crosses the borders and barriers of physical aspects of fragrances, and experiences the joys of spiritual dimensions of the Oscent.
This is truly a sacred voyage, a kind of pilgrimage to holy islands. There are categories of fragrance wearers, better say sailors:
· Those who like fragrances
· Those who love fragrances
· Those who live fragrances
The third category includes the adorers who live the physical, metaphysical and spiritual dimensions of Oscent. This is the voyage from liking to living. One who is a newbie is not necessarily on the first stage- to like; and the one who has spent pretty enough time to navigate the Oscent is not necessarily a gnostic of fragrances- to live. There is possibility that the one who has immense information about species and distillation techniques be a non-serious-nose-holder actually. No more than a hobbyist or a Saturday wearer. In the same way, one with plenty of Oud oils and wearing them three times a day can actually be the patient of chronic internal influenza (arrogance), thus absolutely unable to Love and LIVE fragrance, incapable of liking fragrances.
This Spiritual dimension of fragrance cannot be overlooked at any stage. And the one who has just ‘consciously’ become a sailor (generally named a newbie)- an explorer of fragrant islands- can be a pure and true adorer of the Oscent. An astrophysicist might have a hell of information about the Moon- its surface and soil, its mass and metals, etc., but it is not necessary he or she loves or can love the Moon the way a Chukor (Rock Partridge) does. When there’s full Moon, Chukor loses its identity.
A fragrance aficionado does not let go the blissful moments in a wild goose chase activity of decoding and deciphering notes. Simple it is that collecting oils or collecting information is not the criterion of one’s being an Ouddict (though the word Oud is the root-word here, but it includes all fragrances). It is unconditional and volunteer annihilation into the Oscent. So, to be an Ouddict is to be free from anything that delimits ‘internal sensibility’ and ‘external faculty’ to cherish and relish fragrances.
The Oscent is unfathomable; the islands are blessed with limitless shades and nuances while life is too short to be a master of a single island. So, all are newbies in reality. If someone’s head is pretty swelled and has developed the notion of one’s being a master is no more but a man living with innumerable hallucinations, and actually has not stepped on to the shores of the Oscent. Fragrant humility is the hallmark of a fragrance lover. Blessed are the ones who ‘live’ fragrance, and let other ‘live’ as well. A fish doesn’t need visiting a training center or meeting a ‘big fish’ or reading descriptions about the attributes of water, etc. because it is made to rock and roll in the open deep waters. No need to look here and there for descriptions. No need to be a follower. The Oscent is ever welcoming. Senses are innate. Just daring attitude is enough to plunge deep and explore. Having one vial of perfume oil, but with love and sacred awe, is thousand times better than having a hundred vials with shattered and scattered shallow approach towards fragrance as such.
Let’s love and live the Oscent. Let’s explore limitless shades of the holy fragrant islands. Let’s love and respect the voyagers.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official position of the Ouddict community.
Last edited: