Wander|Wonder : Smell
I breathe deeply, the natural scents of the earth - flowers, trees, hummus sweet - enter my lungs, and by taking them into me, I become the earth too.
“Smells spur memories, but they also rouse
our dozy senses, pamper and indulge us, help
define our self-image, stir the cauldron of our
seductiveness, warn us of danger, lead us into
temptation, fan our religious fervor, accompany us
to heaven, wed us to fashion, steep us in luxury.”
~ Diane Ackerman, A Natural History Of The Senses
Today we will think about the sense of smell, which is inextricably linked to the sense of taste, so you may utilise some of the items we find today again for the final sense, taste, coming to you next Friday!
Our sense of smell is nowhere near as heightened as most of our non-human kin, but it is a powerful memory maker and emotion provoker. What smells of wonder and delight to one of us may smell abhorrent to another. Smell is meaning-making, we associate it (sensibly, no pun intended) with foods likely to be good to eat, people that we know are a comfort, and places we know are safe. Equally, smells can point to danger or potentially harmful places, and illness. Smell can open portals to other worlds in our imaginations, exotic, wild, alluring. Smells can prime us for a magical experience filled with delight, or the opposite. We often don’t realise how pervasive our sense of smell is, how it stimulates our other senses, and how it works quietly to enhance mood and concretise memories from subtle experiences.
Mantra
I breathe deeply, the natural scents of the earth - flowers, trees, hummus sweet - enter my lungs, and by taking them into me, I become the earth too.
Wandering
Scent Stroll
This one may be a little trickier for those of you in deep, dark, heavily snow-laden winter, but we can play with some indoor alternatives.
For your wander today, be led by your nose. Breathe deeply, slowly, in a considering manner, and really note the scents around you. I know, for me at least, this is my least developed sense in terms of really noticing what I am smelling constantly. We tend to live in a highly perfumed and antiseptic environment in modern life. If you live on land, or are from rural areas, you are more likely to have a more robust relationship with scent.
There are all sorts of scents, of course. Ones we find pleasant, ones we find repugnant, but there is no morality attached to them. They simply are. There is a sweetness to the smell of decay on a forest floor, as leaf litter turns to rich black humus. But everything must decay at some point, and that can be an unpleasant smell indeed, and one that most of us are less used to smelling these days.
Try not to judge any of the scents you pick up - notice them, name them, and move forward. This is a noticing adventure, just like our other wanders. But, I will caution here, really smelling a lot, might give you a bit of a headache - we are just not used to it (and of course, if you tend to get allergies, please don’t go exacerbating those!). So take it slow, give yourself sniffing breaks to just breathe normally a while and reset. And don’t hyperventilate from excessive breathing!
If you are lucky enough to find your wander leads to a quiet wooded area outside of suburbia, sit under a tree and close your eyes and let the scents wash over you. Peel them back, layer by layer, noticing each individual smell as it emerges.
Yesterday I walked down to the watershed. On the way down the street was the fresh cut lawn smell of a neighbour, the petrol smell of a motorbike that just went past (a reminder I am in suburbia, not a forest), the frangipani on the corner of my street - all heady and tropical. I crossed the road and could smell the wetland - a mix of foetid decay, wildlife, and still water. It is not entirely pleasant, but nor is it horrible. Walking across the grass to the footpath, I could smell the honeysuckle that is growing wild on the fence, sweet, treacle, sugary. And the slightly rose scented - blackberry I am guessing - brambles next to it, flowers covered in bees. On the left of the path is a nature corridor, all tea-tree and other native shrubs, some eucalypts. There is an astringent and clean smell to our native bushes here, particularly in the heat of summer - we do use the essential oils in cleaning and wound care after all. It smells like home, like Australia. Walking past houses now, there is a dwarf flowering gum, bright red and covered in bees. Given how interested they are, I thought for sure the flowers would be strongly scented - but no. A slight floral scent, but not riotous. Coming back home, I walk past a group planting of agapanthus and their heady scent wafts up. Walking out into my yard, I run my hands over the scented trees I have purposefully planted - most are lemon/lime citrusy scents, and I adore them all. I could roll around in the leaves of my lemon scented eucalypt, the lemon scented tea tree, the juvenile leaf eucalypt with that classic eucalypt smell so strong. The lemon verbena, lemon balm, lemon grass (do you sense a theme here??).
If you are unable to get out and about, or find very few scents to tickle your nose when you walk, spend a little time smelling your favourite essential oils or incense - try to make sure they are pure oils, rather than manufactured. There is a huge difference. If you don’t have these available, or you are very sensitive to those sorts of concentrated scents, have a look at what fresh produce you have. Again, these are from the earth, their scents and tastes are all natural. Smell the peel of citrus, then smell the pulp - how are they different? Do you have an apple and a pear? They are from the same family, how do their scents differ? What fresh herbs do you have? What dried herbs do you have?
Note: Don’t ask me to smell strawberries though, they are positively Pavlovian to me - my mouth will water and they will all be in my gob, being savoured and devoured before you can stop me!!
Read through the words below, slowly, and see if you have a visual pop up in your mind - it may be associated with a memory of your own making, or it may prompt recognition from a movie or book or something as well. For me, comforting is the smell of potatoes baking, heady is the wisteria that grows in my yard, fusty is a used book store or the oldest sections of a library (a smell both pleasant and detracting to me), fresh is the petrichor smell of rain on a hot afternoon.
75 Words That Describe Smells from Writers Write
anosmic – odourless, no smell at all
antiseptic – clean or pure smell that is bland an characterless
aroma – a smell that is strong but pleasant
comforting – pleasant aroma
delicate – subtle, faint, smell that is not overpowering
evocative – a smell that makes you think of something, often something that you experienced in the past
faint – a smell that is not strong
fragrance – a sweet or pleasant odour
heady – strongly aromatic, pungent, rich, intoxicating, spicy, piquant – not a mild smell
heavy – a sweet and strong smell
intoxicating – A smell that exhilarates, disorients, or excites
laden – a literary word that describes a strong smell
odour/odor (US spelling) – a smell
odorous – a strong smell
odourless – with no smell
piquant – stinging, pungent, an aroma that tickles the nose.
powerful – a strong smell
redolent – smelling of something
reek – to smell strongly and unpleasantly
scent – a particular smell, especially a pleasant one
whiff – a slight smell of something
Words That Describe Unpleasant Smells
acrid – a smell that is strong, bitter, and unpleasant in your nose and throat
damp – a wet smell
fetid – an unpleasant smell, usually caused by decay
frowsty – an unpleasant smell caused by a lack of fresh air
funky – a strong and unpleasant smell
fusty – smells old, dusty, or damp
high – an old-fashioned word that describes a strong flavour and smell
malodorous – scented, aromatic, redolent, fragrant, stinking.
musty – unpleasant, stale, and not fresh
nasty – unpleasant smell
nauseating – a smell that causes disgust, loathing, or revulsion
noisome – extremely unpleasant, especially because of being very dirty or having a bad smell
overpowering – very strong smell
pungent – a smell that is strong and sharp
putrid – decaying and smelling very bad
rancid – rancid food is no longer fresh and has an unpleasant smell
rank – a strong unpleasant smell or taste
ripe – a strong or unpleasant smell
sickly – makes you feel sick
smelly – an unpleasant smell
sour – a taste or smell that is no longer fresh
stale – not fresh or pleasant
stench – a very bad smell, especially of decay
stinking – an unpleasant smell
stuffy – a smell caused by an area with no fresh air in it
Words That Describe Pleasant Smells
ambrosial – sweet smelling, fragrant, aromatic
aromatic – perfumed, fragrant, scented, sweet smelling, pungent, usually pleasing
bouquet – the particular smell of a wine or flower
delicious – a pleasant smell
fresh – a pleasant, newly made smell that can be clean, clear, cool, crisp, refreshing, sweet, warm
fragrant – with a pleasant smell
perfumed – pleasant to smell because perfume has been added or used, or it has a natural perfume
rich – a smell that is strong in a pleasant way
savoury/savory (US Spelling) – pleasant to taste – spicy, pungent, flavoursome, and aromatic, salty but not sweet
scented – a pleasant smell
sweet – a pleasant smell that is sweet
tangy – a smell or taste that is strong and bitter in a pleasant way
Wondering
Today, let’s journal about scent memories and favourite scents.
Scent memories are special memories indeed. Gingerbread will always be the scent of my beloved Nan, as she used to make gingerbread girls and boys for my brothers and I, little currents for eyes and waistcoat or dress buttons. Tea tree and eucalypt smells like home, like long hours training in the Australian bush for Oxfam Trailwalker. Sandalwood smells like meditation to me, because it is what I often burn while sitting in contemplation. My mum used to wear boronia perfume - this is an Australian native flower, and whenever I smell it growing in a yard or at a nursery, I think of mum.
What scent memories do you have? Do you have any that you can directly ascribe to nature in some way? Many of our scent memories will come down to foods, because we share that with others and make most of our memories that way. Break down the food into its natural elements, and consider what the dominant scent is, and how you can invite more of that into your life - if it is a smell you like, that is!
What smells like home to you? What do you notice when you walk in the door if you have been away a while
Now let's think about smells you love, that remind you of your wild heart. Crushed herbs. Freshly mown grass, rain, wood fires. Fragrant flowers, fragrant leaves crushed and inhaled deeply. How can you incorporate that into your day with the intention of grounding yourself in nature? I want to live in the woods one day, wild and free (though I am so grateful for my little suburban plot now), so I burn essential oils that make me think of my dream - woody and floral (patchouli and sandalwood, rose and oakmoss, geranium and jasmine). Think about the words in the list provided in the previous lesson - what stands out for you? What scents can you explore that might provide you with an unobtrusive sensory reminder of your connection to nature?
Sensory observational meditation
Find yourself three or four items that you can sit with and explore scent-uously! Make sure you know these items are safe to handle, of course, and won’t result in skin rashes. If there is nothing green growing in your garden right now, use fresh and dried produce!
Again, close your eyes to really get deep into the scent exploration. Does it smell different when cut or crushed?
I hope you enjoyed this little smelling adventure! Tell me, what is your most favourite smell, and why?