On Reason and Passion

[doomsday_disco]

Your soul is oftentimes a battlefield, upon which your reason and your judgment wage war against your passion and your appetite.

 

Would that I could be the peacemaker in your soul, that I might turn the discord and the rivalry of your elements into oneness and melody.

 

But how shall I, unless you yourselves be also the peacemakers, nay, the lovers of all your elements?

 

Your reason and your passion are the rudder and the sails of your seafaring soul.

 

If either your sails or your rudder be broken, you can but toss and drift, or else be held at a standstill in mid-seas. For reason, ruling alone, is a force confining; and passion, unattended, is a flame that burns to its own destruction.

 

Therefore let your soul exalt your reason to the height of passion, that it may sing;

 

And let it direct your passion with reason, that your passion may live through its own daily resurrection, and like the phoenix rise above its own ashes.

I would have you consider your judgment and your appetite even as you would two loved guests in your house.

 

Surely you would not honour one guest above the other; for he who is more mindful of one loses the love and the faith of both

 

Among the hills, when you sit in the cool shade of the white poplars, sharing the peace and serenity of distant fields and meadows—then let your heart say in silence, “God rests in reason.”

 

And when the storm comes, and the mighty wind shakes the forest, and thunder and lightning proclaim the majesty of the sky,—then let your heart say in awe, “God moves in passion.”

 

And since you are a breath in God’s sphere, and a leaf in God’s forest, you too should rest in reason and move in passion.

Rest in reason and move in passion: smoked rose attar, honeyed saffron, red sandalwood, red tea, clove bud, and frankincense.

[Teamama]

I got a decant because the notes are too scrumptious to resist. 

I knew in advance that my skin's uncanny ability to amp cloves to outer space would probably throw it off-balance, so bear that in mind as you read. 

 

The honeyed saffron is fantastic! It melds beautifully with the frankincense & clove bud, with warm red sandalwood as a base.

The smoked rose attar comes out fairly strong while wet, but not in a Big Loud Floral way. It cuddles right up to the red tea, & simmers down into a background note. If you're averse to loud roses, don't be scared off. I am a rose slut, & I wanted more.

 

The aftermath: 

 

I was prepared for heartbreak, but it was still painful when my clove-amping skin skin took the clove bud note & dialed it up to 11. After 20 minutes on my skin, On Reason and Passion smells totally different than it did in the decant. My skin chemistry turned a really wonderful blend into single-note clove over a pleasant but indistinct frankincense. 

 

It was worth the gamble. I will wear my decant in a locket, but won't need a bottle.