Smells and Bells

As I wrap up the final assignments for Smells and Bells, I was trying to think of a way that my last blog post could culminate all I've learned. So I decided to try and think of my favorite event that incorporates all of the senses- and I came up with one! A campfire. When I tried to put together all my favorite tastes, smells, sounds, textures, and sights (and even some elements of 6th senses) it all wrapped up into one easy package.  A campfire plays with all the senses, and that's why I believe they are so popular (I personally have never met anyone who hates a bonfire). Everything "traditional" that's meant to happen at this event is connected to one of the senses: s'mores (taste), signing, playing the guitar (hearing), star gazing, watching the fire flicker (sight), feeling the warmth of the fire on your body (touch), the scent that stays on your clothes for days afterwards (smell) and even the tradition of ghost stories and myths enchants our 6th sense. ...

Throughout Spell of the Sensuous, Abram references the human connection to nature and the importance of this ecological relationship.  For some reason, when I think of the concept of a 6th sense, I also connect it to nature. More specifically, animals. When I was little I always dreamed of being able to talk to my dog, and I feel the most spiritual presence out in nature. Just recently, I learned about the idea that every person has a "power animal" (or animals) which are described as "an energy pattern that exists in the spiritual realms, more specifically, the spiritual animal kingdom.  This energy pattern appears in animal form and expresses the characteristics or abilities that the animal form represents"   According to some, we all have power animals and they are "connected to us as protectors, guides, healers and teachers." To me it seems that Abram would embrace this idea that everyone has a special connection with a specific animal not only for it...

It is interesting to me how many different perspectives humans have on the idea of touch. I really saw this contrast through our massage therapist guest speaker, and the play "What Happens When". While it seemed that Elizabeth Robinson was very comfortable, and even wanted to break down barriers that exist in people touching other people, "What Happens When" showed how in a sexualized situation this touching can be very much wanted or unwanted.  I had a friend in high school who hated to be touched. While it's second nature for some to tap a shoulder to get someone's attention, my friend would always flinch before you even realized what you had done.  For some touch is comforting, helpful, and always welcome (we all know a "hugger") and for others it is uncomfortable, awkward, and to be avoided at all costs. And of course many of us are in the middle, or our feelings depend on the situation.  This made me think about how helpful it would be to have...

While reading "Seeing the Divine Image in India" I was struck by one reference in which Eck described not only India's religious sights, but also how they are constantly seeing poor and disabled community members on the streets. I liken sight to awareness and connected this idea to ecology. We often throw out what we don't want, and don't care because the trash gets taken out that night or the next day leaving us with a fresh bin. But where does it go? Do we ever really see that- the piles of trash we no longer care about? In another ecology class we talked about the idea that "there is no such thing as away" and that just because it is out of sight doesn't mean it should be out of mind. It made me wonder what a difference just seeing  would make in our current ecological crisis. What if our trash was only picked up once a month? What if we had to live with the full bags of trash for that month, seeing them everyday. Maybe if we could just see how mu...

While I found the St. John's Passion concert to be an impressive display of talent, I did not find the religious experience I think many others did with it.  But then I began thinking, what do I think is religious music? Not what people tell me is religious music but what I feel to be religious.  I came up with two different avenues. One in which I feel connected to people, and one where I feel connected to nature.   Singing with other people, whether it be hymns on Sunday in church or even chanting with others during my yoga class- this is where I feel a strong connection with others that almost overwhelms me. To me just experiencing any music with others can be a religious experience if you make it that way.  The other thing I found to be true in the following days was my religious connection to the sounds of nature. Birds chirping, rain falling, the oceans ebb and flow, when I am reflecting on just the sounds of nature a feeling of gratitude swe...

While on my Instagram this spring break, I saw this post from Martha Stewart and the caption immediately made me think of this class.  While it seems like food articles used to target taste buds, articles now about food are targeting a social media audience with an "it's pretty" approach.  People care so much about their social media feeds that Martha Stewart has had to develop synesthesia, connecting colors with tastes. She now focuses some of her recipes based on how they look. Are they pretty enough to post? This title says nothing about how the items taste, yet it's a post about food- with a recipe! Do we think that if it looks pretty it must taste good?  Just a quick observation on how the world around us (and our senses) might be changing due to this social media age. 

The readings for this week about food metaphors and how taste influences religion and vice versa got me thinking about how much our culture uses different phrases to enhance this relationship.  "Those brownies were heavenly." "That meal was divine." "I love soul food" All of these phrases are used both by the religious and the secular yet it is clear where the roots of these sayings are.  Taste has long been involved in religious traditions and the argument can be made that these traditions even enhance the tastes of certain foods.  Although I am not particularly religious, I imagine it feels similar to how egg nog is a highlight of Christmas-time, and turkey seems like a delicacy at Thanksgiving. I believe religious traditions make certain "average" foods (like bread at communion) seem special.  While the definition of taste is "the sensation perceived in the mouth on contact with a substance" I think the taste...

In Aroma of Righteousness, a story was told in the section on Fragrance and Rabbinic Beliefs that stuck with me throughout the week. The story was of king who had an orchard that was taken over by thorns and thistles so the king had decided to cut it down. However, he saw one blossom, smelled it, and decided ''For the sake of this flower, the orchard shall be saved". I read this passage while it was snowing (again) knowing that there were no signs of flower life outside. Yet I could image the smell of this flower and it gave me comfort, much like I expect the king felt comfort when he smelled the lone flower in his orchard. Hope. The king felt hope for the survival of the orchard and I feel hope that spring will one day come. Nimshal explains this story in religious terms and parallels it to the story of God saving Israel. It was amazing to me that the smell of a flower and the emotion that it brought the king could be compared to the emotion felt by God while he ...

When Ackerman writes on touch she mentions that "our fear of pain contributes to it. Our culture expects childbirth to be a deeply painful event, and so, for us, it is" (102).  The idea that we could control the amount of pain we feel just by changing our mindset fascinates me. I once had a friend who dislocated his shoulder while diving. We drove to the hospital and after many hours of waiting they informed him that they would just pop it back in. Steve had the choice of being awake or being put under. I was very uncomfortable with the thought of just hearing and seeing his shoulder being returned back to its natural resting place and couldn't even image his thoughts as he would be the one feeling it to. To me the choice was obvious. But much to my surprise Steve said he'd been practicing meditation and that he would be fine without any medication. He told the doctor to give him a minute and then to proceed. What I saw next amazed me. My friend simply closed h...

While reading Diane Ackerman's Natural History of the Senses, I was stormed up inside my boyfriend's apartment. It was a snow day after all, so I decided that I had to make a cup of hot chocolate the "old fashioned" way: by heating up milk on the stove and pouring it over a mix of 100% pure cocoa powder, sugar, and a touch of vanilla extract. While adding my ingredients together my boyfriend's roommate said from another room "that smells like the real stuff".  Pre Ackerman I probably wouldn't have payed much attention to the comment, however reading about "the mute sense" has made me much more in tune with it. I was suddenly amazed by our abilities to smell and was puzzled by why we all (myself included) take this sense for granted. If you were to ask me three days ago if I thought that people could use smell alone to tell the difference between different types of cocoa mix (Swiss Miss, Hersey's, Nestle, or packet vs. hom...