Smell in the Context of Rituals

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𖧧 Aroma of Righteousness/smell- Smell in the Context of Ritual ð–§§

    Scent is inherently holy. Even as someone who is not religious, I fully believe this. Before I wrote this, I switched out my room scents for fall. There's a honey crisp apple candle sitting under my wax melter and I've reapplied my trader joes pumpkin body butter at least three times because it smells so good. Even my sheets are freshly washed and they smell like the honey rose fragrance pebbles I've been tossing in the washer. The window is open and the fresh petrichor smell becomes stronger with ever wave of rain. Together, it smells like how every autumn since I was a kid smelled like. This is why I think scent is so holy. No other sense has the ability to transport you through time like smell. It can bring you back to a specific place or memory and the exact emotions you felt during that time. For example, with the autumn smells, I feel very warm and happy because fall has so many good memories attached to it for me. In this way, something as simple as burning a candle becomes a ritualistic act, something that traps that moment in time forever. That point in time becomes one you can access forever just by doing something as easy as putting on a scented lotion or melting a candle. 




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