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"Steal This Book of Shadows"
ver 2.0
by
Azzerac
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Page 47
Spellcasting #14
Triggers #3 - Aromatics
(Brought To You By,...)
This isn't just about incenses & oils. This isn't just about triggering memories. 'Aromatic' means anything that affects the olfactory bulb. Now you may ask what is so important about it? Well, if you know basic anatomy, you'll realize that it's the only one of the senses that isn't run through the hypothalamus. All of the other senses are shunted through this little switchboard, or 'Nerve Hub', and most importantly, past the Amygdala, which is the "Great Suppressor" of the brain & it's software. Without the "Great Suppressor", we are forced to feel & experience all that it triggers within us.
(This is the very reason why I push for greater development of your relationship with your sense of smell, in ESP Exercises. The effects on both forms of information reception are similar. Understanding those changes within ourselves, in one case, helps us better relate to the information reception in the other).
Now, herein resides why memories are triggered so readily AND relentlessly by smell. None of the software your brain runs on (intrinsic or developed) is in a position to buffer or diminish the effect it has upon the brain. Some would see this a weakness, while others (like myself) see this as a tool, double-edged as it is.
The absence of connection to the hypothalamus denotes that this sense (in one form or another) developed independently, if not previous to, the central nervous system. It would stand to reason that the development of chemical perception, and the ability to respond reflexively to those perceptions, would be a cornerstone to evolutionary development within an aquatic environment. Given the complexity of the eye, a chemical-trigger based receptor is downright simplistic.
Why do I mention this?
Because there are inherent sections of hard-wired programming within the brain that are triggered in ways we can't even begin to remember why. These triggers are as old as life, and our reactions to most of them are probably outside the scope of experience, here on dry land. Even if there were similar scents, here on terra-firma, there is no guarantee that everyone would react the same way, as genetic mutation is ever a factor, especially after such a long period of 'dry-land' development. It would take some truly insightful aroma composer to find all of the right triggers.
...or the work of countless generations of hermetic practitioners, exploring what can only be related as 'magical mixtures'.
These pioneers & practiced apprentices have recorded numerous concoctions, and what effect they gave on the magical practice. This unstoppable sense is so useful in producing the proper mind set for a spell, as it triggers some areas of the brain, and quells others. If you ever have trouble getting in to the right "head-space" for your spell work, the right incense, oil, or even a self-composed trigger scent, can be the lightning-fast cure to "Caster's Block".
"But this is only memory, Right?"
Remember the first time you smelled jasmine? How about chamomile tea?
These are just two incidences where the effect preceded any form of association. The first time I smelled them, the 'mellowing effect' was triggered. I wasn't even reading, let alone reading books on aromatherapy (which hadn't even existed, in 1967). If a response precedes associations TO that trigger, it isn't memory that is triggered, but innate chemical reactions triggering innate hardwired responses.
Okay. So smell helps. So what?
Many may see the addition of aromatics in spellcasting as a 'nice idea', but they fail to see where their absence can be disastrous.
Scent works both ways.
Ever try to cast a defensive working, and have the smell of chocolate-chip cookies roll in through an apartment vent, from the neighbors next door? Ever try to maintain a meditative state, and fart "a really raunchy one"? Ever try to do coven-work with a person wearing a very alluring perfume or cologne? DISTRACTION!
It isn't just about Getting into the right mind-set, but about staying there. In a craft of this delicacy, all your planning with astrological variances, proper stones, and all the other accoutrements, can go straight out the window, if the wrong or distracting scent wafts in through it. Controlling your environment can be more than useful, but damned-near mandatory in, say, a Smoker Household, or even harder in a POT Smoker Household. Remember that concentration is one of the cornerstones of magic working, and if your too worried about distractions, where does your concentration go?
Keep that in mind, the next time you try to NOT ask "Who Farted?"
For more information on the use of aromatics in spellcasting and ritual, check out our incense page.
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