Et in Arcadia Ego
The Renaissance and the 19th century literary/arts movement by that name dictated a return to a rustic ideal, the mystique of nature and the pureness of a bygone world.
Pan acts as a homage to the Greek goat-shaped god of Arcadia. Standing for nature’s life force, the bucolic, the hidden libido of the paysage and its fauna, Pan is represented as a horny goat playing pipes, calling all to join him in frolicking.
Although only the pipes remain in a modern world to remind us of him -while in perfume circles Jitterburg Perfume by Tom Robbins, a novel that features him as a character, is mentioned from time to time- Pan’s imprint on the Balkans can still be discerned.
Ragoutsaria is a primeval ritualistic “dromeno” that takes place in winter in Northern Greece in the city of Kastoria, just when nature is sleeping in expectancy of a resurgence come spring. The Greek word “dromeno”(=happening) comes from the verb “dro” which means do/reenact and is the etymological root of “drama”. It is no accident that “tragedy” (which is one category of drama) stems from the Greek word “tragos” which means…goat. The cult of Dionysus (who was seen accompanied by Satyrs in goat form) is the ancient origin of tragedy -and drama in general- more than 2500 years ago. In the above mentioned “dromeno” people dress up carnival-style, some of them dressed as goats to this day and dance and sing and party carrying phallic symbols to steer away evil spirits and induce earth to give good crops. Pan, the goat god with the erect phallus, is symbolically the protector of herds and the impregnator of earth along with other agricultural gods.
In Pan the perfume all those rich references are alive and kicking.
The innovative use of tinctured goat hair acts as a new fixative (while not making an appearance per se in the end product smell-wise). Anya explains: “Tinctured goat hair is like spikenard brought to Eden and back -- transformed. A perfumer has to be willing to take chances and not be bound by fears or prejudices.”
This completely original ingredient comes from around the horns of a rutting billygoat (where there are glands that secrete a concentrated essence that can be harvested by cutting the smelly hair, without harming the animal in any way). Goats have been used before, their hair “combed” by peasants to yield essence because those animals have been known to graze along coastal regions where rockrose/cistus labdanum grows, so the hair retains the smell of the plant which is useful in perfumery (and is an ingredient integral in the chypre family of scents), but this innovation in Pan is pushing the envelope one big step further.To my knowledge Anya’s Garden is the first brand to make use of such an ingredient. Kudos for originality in a market saturated with the same tired stories over and over again!
Animal ingredients, when they come indeed from an actual living being and not a lab, are imbued with the elusive mystique of “pheromones”, those aromatic substances that are in part responsible for choosing a mate in the animal kingdom. If only it were as simple as that in the human arena as well…
Pheromones cannot be successfully synthesized in a laboratory, neither can they be grafted from another animal to our own “corpus” and although many perfumes from Realm to Philosophy’s Falling in Love have made claims of harnessing those animal powers in the form of a synthetic substitute for safe human use, the results have not been any more substantial than those rendered by the old standard placebo, proving that sometimes suggestion is much more potent than olfaction.
If that is truly the case though, all the more power to a product that actually does contain an animal ingredient which, even if not proven to stimulate pheromone-related attraction, cajoles our limbic system with the wink of an animal known for its feral, relentless sexuality.
The scent starts on a strong, musty, herbal and woody opening that may startle you, but a little patience is more than welcome to fully appreciate its insidious message. The deep green colour of the juice is inviting you on a trip you never thought would be so. Seville Lavender (Lavandula luisieri, which is an interesting variety and apparently is indigenous to Portugal ) adds its unusual herbal note to the mix, but this is not the standard cleaning-day lavender we are used to in most perfumes and household products. In fact it wouldn't be identified as such if sniffed without warning. The impression I get is of freshly peeled bark rolled onto camphor balls and rosemary. It's an exciting thing for sure! You can read about all iberian lavenders here.
After a couple of minutes soft woody notes appear with a little sweetness following quickly on its footsteps. At this stage it is almost cuddly, with an androgynous quality. A fluffy cloud over blue skies, casting shadow over the mountains and the woods, playing games with the sunshine that is emerging after a short spring shower on the damp earth; animals coyly sticking their heads out from their hideaways. And it's whispered that soon, if we all call the tune, then the piper will lead us to reason. And a new day will dawn for those who stand long. And the forest will echo with laughter.
Pan has a musky inviting smell, a bit winey, animalic enough to rival Musks Kublai-Khan maybe, yet it is not difficult to wear.
I suspect the actual musky smell comes from the natural Hibiscus abelmoschus seed , an ingredient I have read is much used by natural perfumers both for its great musky olfactory aspect but also its fixative powers, making perfumes last on the skin as an alternative to synthetic musks that are abundant in more mainstream perfumes (such as the ingredients Galaxolide, Exaltolide, Habanolide, Muscenone etc. which are patented molecules churned out by the the big perfume producing companies).
The fanning out of good and probably aged sweet patchouli oil, which is a predominent note throughout, gives an earthy powdery quality that furthers the herbal theme and consolidates it in our conscience for good. The remnants on skin are lingering seductively.
Official Notes: goat hair, cedar, Seville lavender, hay, patchouli, beeswax, musk seed, white lotus
Anya's Description: agrestic, sweet, herbal, woody
To see the range of perfumes click here To get samples to try her intriguing perfumes or contact Anya click here
Next post will be about Riverside.
Pic is statue of Aphrodite and Pan (courtesy of greeklandscapes.com) from the greek island of Delos and can be seen at the Natioal Archaeological museum in Athens. You can see it bigger and read the funny description here.
Pic of patchouli sent to me by e-mail (unknown source)
Lyrics quote from Stairway to Heaven (with sincere appreciation to J.Page/R.Plant).
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pheromones are always cool
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