#ds&durga

Mississippi Medicine is based on what little is known about the rituals of a fast-growing death cult that emerged in the southern part of the US in the 1200s. Called the South Eastern Ceremonial complex, it is more of a period within the Mississippian culture (the mound builders) when a specific system of religion quickly emerged. Other names for it were The Buzzard Cult and simply The Southern Death Cult (badass). The cedar tree was sacred to them, representing an axis mundi (a gateway between the lower and upper worlds). Nothing gets me going more than the concept that seemingly mundane places – a cave, a space under a bush, a tiny lake, are gateways to the other world. Ancient peoples' understanding of the world integrated landscape, flora, and fauna into their whole being. Mississippi Medicine is rich in cedar. Dry red Virginia cedar. Healthy doses of incense help marry the wood to the pine. Incense has been used in rituals since the dawn of time, which means we connect it to religious feeling in the depth of our bones. The heart of MM is filled out with an accord of wild viola that could have grown by the mounds in Mississippi. Birch tar adds a primal smoke. It smells mysterious and ancient. [X] Notes: Red Cedar, Aldehydes, Incense / Cypress Root, Black Pine, Kaskarilla Bark, Wild Viola / Incense, Spanish Cedar Juniper, Birch Tar

So there's cedar in Mississippi Medicine, and cypress, and pine, and juniper - it's a veritable forest of fragrant conifers, with red cedar serving as the ceremonial axis mundi of this evocative perfume.

Juniper's amplified presence almost makes it hard to believe there are at least four distinct softwoods distributed across the top, heart, and base notes ("very pronounced" fails to convey its aggressive dominance).

I waited for at least a full minute after spraying before lifting my wrist to my nose. In those sixtyish seconds, juniper boldly invaded my nostrils as I dangled my arm at my side to let the perfume dry. It was like a game of hide-and-seek I didn't know we were playing, and when the note found me, it was a bully-shove rather than a sporty tag.

The initial focus of Mississippi Medicine is cedar, because cedar was the Southern Death Cult's world tree, connecting the celestial, earthly, and underworld realms. On me, though, there is no cedar - there's also no cypress, pine, roots, or bark. As far as my skin chemistry is concerned, juniper is the only player in this game.

This isn't fresh juniper, though. It's fire-ready dried boughs, so dry they're almost dusty. When handled, the spiky clumps of needles break up into prickly confetti. This is how our spare bedroom smells in January, when I'm drying Holy Supper's fresh juniper in a paper bag beside the radiator to ensure it's fully dry for our Twelfth Night bonfire.

It's not that other notes aren't present, but they require nose-to-skin contact to be detectable. When I press my nose against my wrist (and forearm and the crook of my inner elbow), I sense heat, but it's more of a low-key smouldering than a raging bonfire. Something organic is definitely burning, but it's not dry leaves, and it isn't producing volumes of eye-watering smoke.

As the embers of the softwood pyre continue to glow and crackle, juniper graciously grants some of the other conifers stage time. None of the evergreen notes comes across as fresh, resiny, or sappy. They're all bone-dry, like wood deliberately seasoned for a long-burning fire.

In addition to a pile of coniferous firewood, I get smoked ham, formaldehyde, and, I think, a little incense (it's almost as if something interrupts the frankincense, preventing it from unfolding its full spectrum of scent).

On me, Mississippi Medicine lives up to the repeated complaints that the perfume disappears quickly. There's a pleasant medley of conifer wood, heat, and incense that emerges as the projection begins to collapse, but the perfume's longevity is too weak to detect the progression from top and heart notes to base notes.

(Divider by @strangergraphics , requested by @princesspineberry , since 2013)

Bowmakers

Cowboy Grass by DS&Durga - I don't know why cowboy but it's every herb (mainly sage) against sore throat on a pillow of pretty tame vetiver - very pleasant and comforting.

Debaser by DS&Durga - hey there, aren't you a very good juicy and fresh fig with both woody notes and slight slight coconut. Accidentally got it on my mask again and didn't regret it. My favourite Sacred Earth is sweeter.

Jazmin Yucatan by DS&Durga - pretty unusual Jasmine which smells like neither jasmine from tea nor like mock orange (that does smell like jasmine sometimes) - there's definitely a lot of freshness from the water and citruses at the top and greenery and vetiver at the bottom. The jasmine itself is a little animalistic at the start (if I'm not imagining it) and much sweeter at the bottom. Loved it.

Notorious Oud by DS&Durga - well this oud is weird and medicinal enough to be niche sounding and interesting but not unpleasant enough to be unwearable. I bet the civet that's looking at me with its big sad eyes from the bottom of the pyramid is also doing its job. Nice enough.

Radio Bombay by DS&Durga - well, that's sandal with sandal and sandal and a bit of coconut at the start. Pretty simple but pleasant.