LES RITES DU PRINTEMPS | Limited-Edition Spring Seasonal Box
❝ The Rites of Spring.❞
"April showers bring May flowers" — Just as this old adage goes, the fourth month of the Gregorian calendar year was a rainy one for us, the sky splitting open to water the soil and melt the snow below. Though this damp period of thaw can feel discouraging and is widely unwelcomed by those of us living in the Northern hemisphere, who've longed for the warmth's return since the early days of winter, it's important to remember that the weather is doing its work; nourishing new life and ushering it forth so that we may, in turn, nourish ourselves from it.In devotion and gratitude to the April showers which have led into May without relenting, this limited edition seasonal box is built around our signature rain accord as well as a wide variety of in-house artisanal tinctures made in part with the discarded vegetation which was struck down earlier this season. We thank the Earth for the deep, damp aromas of flooded soil and the life stirring below.
This limited-edition seasonal box includes:
LA BÉNÉDICTION DES EAUX ◦ Eau de Parfum
The connections between springtime, new life, and rebirth are inextricable from one another; as the sun returns to languor in the sky, so too do the clouds, each, in turn, beating down on the earth below to cleanse the soil of winter's debris and call forth what lay dormant beneath.
Across the world and throughout millennia, humankind has observed and known how bodies of water and rainfall have graced us with the gift of life — though exactly who or what was responsible for its distribution was oft a mystery veiled in intrigue and cause for many a rite and ritual. In ancient Greece, inhabitants of the land would offer their sacrifices to Zeus in hopes of bringing rain and avoiding drought; in India, altars festooned with fruits, flowers, and grain were built to honour Indra, god of Rain. There are rainmaking ceremonies, still practiced by stewards of the land today, and each one of these traditional ceremonies recognizes our dependence on the natural world, its precious gifts, and its fickle elements.
La Bénéction des Eaux is a reverent ode to the blessings of water as it falls from the sky and nourishes us all, composed of handmade tinctures of golden beets (for their earthy geosmin (petrichor) scent), desert sage, and poplar buds, along with precious attars, absolutes, and essential oils
Notes: desert sage · cypriol · ruh khus · geosmin · eucalyptus · poplar bud · oakmoss · patchouli · agarwood
Impression: a deep, damp, earthen aroma, veiled in a crisp ozonic aroma with complex herbaceous undercurrents.
The Ritual: mist the desired amount to anoint the body or as a veil over clothing to amplify the pulse of the Earth's beating heart which courses through you, accepting that tears have their own place in new growth.
15 ml in a black glass bottle with atomizer.
Ingredients: Alcohol (Ethanol, Pure), Natural Fragrance/Parfum (Essential Oils, Absolutes, CO2s, Plant Extracts, and Natural Isolates). This fragrance contains poplar bud extract and may not be suitable for those with an allergy to aspirin.
L'ÉVEIL DU PRINTEMPS ◦ Spring Awakening Devotional Incense Cones
Originally made in May of 2022 to celebrate the arrival of spring and the opening of our new atelier-boutique, L'Éveil du Printemps is back and features the same damp and earthen aromas as its first iteration, as well as new olfactory tinctures made in-house with the new year's vernal offerings. These tinctures include handpicked poplar buds, which fell from the sky in April when the heavy iced rains struck our local trees down, dropping them to the ground like ripe fruit, and which we honour by harnessing their energetic and aromatic gifts to pursue new growth within not only ourselves but the world which nurtures us, too.
The Ritual: light the tip of the charcoal cone and allow the flame to engulf it until it turns red before blowing it out, allowing for the slow burn to consume this fragrant offering and invite the fruitful, renewing energy of spring into your space. Place on a heat-resistant surface away from children, pets, and drafts. Each cone burns for approximately 15 minutes.
25 naturally-scented charcoal cones presented in a black glass jar.
THE MAIDEN RETURNS ◦ Botanical Healing Balm
Though the observed Gregorian calendar would have us consider the first of January—a time where the natural world slows its rhythm and allows for rest as the frigid winter air grazes over barren landscapes—as the start of the year and a time to set new goals and ideals, those who observe the wheel of the year and other ancient ways of situating ourselves within space and time know that Spring is the true (re)commencement. Springtime’s gifts of life and vibrant reawakening from hibernal slumber have historically been reaffirmed through agricultural practices, seasonal festivities, and folklore, with each practice seeking to realign ourselves with the Earth’s natural cycles in order to be in harmony with the Divine.
For those who recognize the three faces of the Earth Mother—The Maiden, Mother, and Crone— it is the fair and fruiting Maiden who presides over the coming of Spring, ushering beauty and abundance after the Crone’s sullen realm of Winter has come to pass. In the Greek pantheon, Persephone, maiden goddess of Spring made queen of the Underworld, would return to her mother Demeter, goddess of agriculture, for a portion of the year before returning below, and this time spent in the world of the living would be highlighted be the return of crop growth and clement weather.
The Maiden Returns is a botanical healing balm and fragrant salve, formulated to refresh and renew the skin and spirit after the arduous trials of wintertime. Comprised of some of the season's most precious and fragrant gifts, it features the golden aroma of the sweet sap of handpicked poplar buds, the sweet scent of early-bloomers narcissus and lily, and an artisanal in-house enfleurage of hyacinths plucked from the perfumer's aromatic garden at early dawn.
The Ritual: scoop out the desired amount of this botanical balm and gently warm it between your fingers before applying it to bruises, sprains, aching muscles, and dry skin, or as a sacred scented ointment. Store in a cool, dry area between use.
30g in presented in a black glass pot.
Ingredients: Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis (Sweet Almond) Oil, Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil, Persea Gratissima (Avocado) Oil, Cera Alba (Beeswax), Populus Balsamifera (Balsam Poplar) Extract, Picea Abies (Spruce) Extract, Natural Fragrance/Parfum (essential oils, absolutes, artisanal plant extracts). This balm contains poplar bud extract and is not suited to those with an allergy to aspirin.
