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Love is in the air at Black Phoenix, and it has suffused both our Limited Edition section and the general catalogue. First things first: the Love Potions section is now “Ars Amatoria”. Why? Because we’re a little mercurial here at the Lab, and it seemed like a good idea. New to Ars Amatoria… ++ GENERAL CATALOGUE: ARS AMATORIA DEEP IN EARTH Deep in earth my love is lying And I must weep alone. Rose geranium, Spanish moss, Irish yew, and graveyard dirt. DEFUTUTA Good Gods, what a night that was, The bed was so soft, and how we clung, Burning together, lying this way and that, Our uncontrollable passions Flowing through our mouths. If I could only die that way, I'd say goodbye to the business of living. Olive blossom, honey, smoky vanilla, cinnamon, jasmine, sandalwood, and champaca flower. FASCINUM Hic habitat felicitas! The penis was a potent and popular symbol of good fortune, strength, power, and fertility in ancient Rome. Images of phalluses adorned Roman homes and shops, bringing the positive energy that the symbol represents into the lives of the inhabitants. Golden amber, golden musk, litsea cubeba, cedar, and saffron. L’ECOLE DES FILLES We sang till almost night, and drank my good store of wine; and then they parted and I to my chamber, where I did read through L'Ecole des Filles; a lewd book, but what doth me no wrong to read for imagination's sake… and after I had done it, I burned it, that it might not be among my books to my shame. Published around 1655, this is considered to be the origin of modern pornography in France. It is a discourse between two young ladies, the elder instructing the younger in the ways of passion. This is a libertine’s celebration of decadence, debauchery, and sexual freedom: orange blossom, ambergris, orris root, white rose, lemon balm, jonquil, carrot seed, and benzoin. LOVE’S TORMENTS Love's torments sought a place of rest, Where all might drear and lonely be; They found ere long my desert breast, And nestled in its vacancy. White sandalwood, neroli, and vetiver. TO A WOMAN Thy fatal shafts unerring move, I bow before thine altar, Love. I feel thy soft resistless flame Glide swift through all my vital frame. For while I gaze my bosom glows, My blood in tides impetuous flows; Hope, fear, and joy alternate roll, And floods of transports whelm my soul. My faltering tongue attempts in vain In soothing murmurs to complain; My tongue some secret magic ties, My murmurs sink in broken sighs. Condemned to nurse eternal care, And ever drop the silent tear, Unheard I mourn, unknown I sigh, Unfriended live, unpitied die. Benzoin, cassis bud, patchouli, rose otto, and petitgrain. And, the new Limited Edition scents… ++ LUNAR NEW YEAR EARTH RAT A new year's blessing! Peony, China's national flower, with bamboo for flexibility, plum blossom for perseverance, courage, and hope, tangerine for wealth, lychee for strong family relationships and peace in the home, orange for happiness, pine resin for constancy, golden kumquat and quince for prosperity, narcissus and King mandarin for good fortune, coconut for longevity, and candied melon for good health, with a splash of blazing red of dragon's blood... to help you scare away the rampaging Nian. PARENTALIA The Day of the Fathers. A festival of remembrance, honoring family that has passed into the next life. Cypress, rose, violet, frankincense, ambrette, marjoram, and Lebanese cedar. ++ LUPERCALIA 2008 UPDATE ANACTORIA I feel thy blood against my blood; my pain Pains thee, and lips bruise lips, and vein stings vein. Let fruit be crushed on fruit, let flower on flower Breast kindle breast, and either burn one hour. Why wilt thou follow lesser loves? are thine Too weak to bear these hands and lips of mine? The scent of the throes of violent passion: entangled limbs, teeth on flesh, furiously grasping hands, the taste of blood and sweat. Golden amber, white honey, red currant, daemonorops, kush, and Arabian musk. KHAJURAHO 2008 The fabled Khajuraho temples of India are shrines of love in all its myriad forms. They are a celebration of love itself -- transcendental, spiritual and erotic. This is a rejection of sorrow, spiritual ennui and despair. The sexual motifs that adorn the temples, and the temples themselves, are monuments to ecstasy and to passion, and through that, they are also monuments to spiritual fulfillment. It is believed that the realization of moksha by dedicating oneself to adhyatma and dharma can be attained only by first experiencing sexual satisfaction. In the midst of the drudgery and struggle that we sometimes endure during the course of our Earthly lives, it is vitally important that we remember the joy found in kama, and that in kama we can achieve transformation of the body and soul. This is a blissful, euphoric blend based on an ancient Indian love potion: honey, date palm, tuberose, davana blossom, amber, white sandalwood, vanilla bean, Damask rose, and champaca flower. LUPERCI 2008 Piss off, Saint Valentine! Lupercalia is an ancient Roman celebration, held on February 15th, that kicked in the advent of Spring with a very, very festive purification, fertility and sexuality ritual. The ritual began near the cave of Lupercal on the Palatine, an area sacred to Faunus, as well as Ruminia, Romulus and Remus. During Lupercalia, Vestal Virgins first made offerings of sacred cakes to the fig tree under which the she-wolf suckled the Sacred Twins. A dog and two goats were then offered in sacrifice to Faunus. The blood of the sacrifice was smeared onto two naked patrician youths, who were assisted by the Virgins, and the blood was wiped clean with sacred wool dipped in milk. The youths donned the skins of the sacrificial goats, wielding whips made from the goat skins, and then led the priests and the Virgins around the pomarium, and around the base hills of Rome. This was a ceremony of great happiness and merriment, and was of particular interest to young women: being touched by the goat-whips young men that led the procession ensured their fertility in the coming year. It is believed that, after the initial rite, male participants would draw the name of an available maiden, with whom he spent the rest of the night. This scent is for the Luperci, the Chosen of Faunus, the Brothers of the Wolf: raw, down and dirty patchouli, Gurjam balsam, and essence of Sampson Root sweetened with the heightened sexuality of beeswax, virile juniper, oakmoss, ambrette seed over honey and East African musk. PARLEMENT OF FOULES 2008 For the Valentine's Day purists. For this was on seynt Volantynys day Whan euery bryd comyth there to chese his mate. Medieval romance and courtly love. White rose and soft resins. RED LANTERN 2008 A tribute to the opium den cum bawdyhouses of Shanghai in the 1930's. Golden amber, blonde tobacco, Sudanese black coconut, rich caramel, black currant, white opium and delphinium laced with a sensual blend of Asian spice. SMUT 2008 Smut! Smut! Smut! Three swarthy, smutty musks sweetened with sugar and woozy with dark booze notes. VALENTINE OF ROME Many legends surround St. Valentine, and history has yet to show, conclusively, which ones are true and which are fiction. One tale claims that Valentine was a 3rd century Christian priest. When Emperor Claudius II declared that his soldiers were never to marry – the emperor believed that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and children – Valentine continued to perform wedding ceremonies in secret. When the emperor learned of Valentine’s disobedience, he imprisoned the priest. The emperor chose to interrogate the priest himself, and despite his fury at his orders being flagrantly disobeyed, he was impressed with the priest’s intelligence, wisdom, and passion. He attempted to convert the priest to the Roman faith, and was furious when he failed. While incarcerated, Valentine fell in love with his jailor’s blind daughter. Through God’s grace and the power of Valentine’s pure and true love for this woman, he was able to cure her blindness with a touch. Before he was beaten and beheaded, he sent her a letter expressing his feelings for her, signed ‘From Your Valentine’. Ecclesiastical incense, Roman flora, and the fruits of martyrdom: cypress, olive blossom, frankincense, myrrh, and blood accord. ++ LUPERCALIA: LOVE POEMS A FAREWELL TO FALSE LOVE Sir Walter Raleigh Farewell, false love, the oracle of lies, A mortal foe and enemy to rest, An envious boy, from whom all cares arise, A bastard vile, a beast with rage possessed, A way of error, a temple full of treason, In all effects contrary unto reason. A poisoned serpent covered all with flowers, Mother of sighs, and murderer of repose, A sea of sorrows whence are drawn such showers As moisture lend to every grief that grows; A school of guile, a net of deep deceit, A gilded hook that holds a poisoned bait. A fortress foiled, which reason did defend, A siren song, a fever of the mind, A maze wherein affection finds no end, A raging cloud that runs before the wind, A substance like the shadow of the sun, A goal of grief for which the wisest run. A quenchless fire, a nurse of trembling fear, A path that leads to peril and mishap, A true retreat of sorrow and despair, An idle boy that sleeps in pleasure's lap, A deep mistrust of that which certain seems, A hope of that which reason doubtful deems. Sith then thy trains my younger years betrayed, And for my faith ingratitude I find; And sith repentance hath my wrongs bewrayed, Whose course was ever contrary to kind: False love, desire, and beauty frail, adieu. Dead is the root whence all these fancies grew. Pale lavender, sweet violet, balsam of Peru, and paperwhite narcissus. THE CLOD AND THE PEBBLE William Blake Love seeketh not Itself to please, Nor for itself hath any care; But for another gives its ease, And builds a Heaven in Hells despair. So sang a little Clod of Clay, Trodden with the cattle's feet; But a Pebble of the brook, Warbled out these metres meet. Love seeketh only Self to please, To bind another to Its delight: Joys in anothers loss of ease, And builds a Hell in Heavens despite. Rose otto, clove, patchouli, Indian sandalwood, nutmeg, and cedar. THE FLOWER SONG Unknown, Written during Egypt's New Kingdom To hear your voice is pomegranate wine to me: I draw life from hearing it. Could I see you with every glance, It would be better for me Than to eat or to drink. Pomegranate wine, lotus root, river reeds, hyssop, and barley. HER VOICE Oscar Wilde The wild bee reels from bough to bough With his furry coat and his gauzy wing. Now in a lily-cup, and now Setting a jacinth bell a-swing, In his wandering; Sit closer love: it was here I trow I made that vow, Swore that two lives should be like one As long as the sea-gull loved the sea, As long as the sunflower sought the sun -- It shall be, I said, for eternity ’Twixt you and me! Dear friend, those times are over and done, Love’s web is spun. Look upward where the poplar trees Sway and sway in the summer air, Here in the valley never a breeze Scatters the thistledowns, but there Great winds blow fair From the mighty murmuring mystical seas, And the wave-lashed leas. Look upward where the white gull screams What does it see that we do not see? Is that a star? or the lamp that gleams On some outward voyaging argosy, -- Ah! can it be We have lived our lives in land of dreams! How sad it seems. Sweet, there is nothing left to say But this, that love is never lost. Keen winter stabs the breasts of May Whose crimson roses burst his frost, Ships tempest-tossed Will find a harbour in some bay, And so we may. And there is nothing left to do But to kiss once again, and part, Nay, there is nothing we should rue, I have my beauty, -- you your Art. Nay, do not start, One world was not enough for two Like me and you. Hyacinth, beeswax, wild roses, vanilla amber, lily of the valley, tiger lily, honeysuckle, carnation, and heliotrope. LA VITA NUOVA Dante Alighieri In that book which is My memory . . . On the first page That is the chapter when I first met you Appear the words . . . Here begins a new life Apple blossom, white rose, lemon balm, and champagne grape. LONGING Matthew Arnold Come to me in my dreams, and then By day I shall be well again. For then the night will more than pay The hopeless longing of the day. Come, as thou cam'st a thousand times, A messenger from radiant climes, And smile on thy new world, and be As kind to others as to me. Or, as thou never cam'st in sooth, Come now, and let me dream it truth. And part my hair, and kiss my brow, And say My love! why sufferest thou? Come to me in my dreams, and then By day I shall be well again. For then the night will more than pay The hopeless longing of the day. Rose geranium, frankincense, Ceylon cinnamon, golden musk, bay rum, and bois du rose. LOVE’S PHILOSOPHY Percy Bysshe Shelley The fountains mingle with the river, And the rivers with the ocean; The winds of heaven mix forever, With a sweet emotion; Nothing in the world is single; All things by a law divine In one another's being mingle;-- Why not I with thine? See! the mountains kiss high heaven, And the waves clasp one another; No sister flower would be forgiven, If it disdained it's brother; And the sunlight clasps the earth, And the moonbeams kiss the sea;-- What are all these kissings worth, If thou kiss not me? Vanilla, saffron, and cream. NIGHT THOUGHTS Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Stars, you are unfortunate, I pity you, Beautiful as you are, shining in your glory, Who guide seafaring men through stress and peril And have no recompense from gods or mortals, Love you do not, nor do you know what love is. Hours that are aeons urgently conducting Your figures in a dance through the vast heaven, What journey have you ended in this moment, Since lingering in the arms of my beloved I lost all memory of you and midnight. Lilac, blue musk, dianthus, cedar, neroli, ozone, and luminous Eastern herbs. THE PASSIONATE SHEPHERD TO HIS LOVE Christopher Marlowe Come live with me and be my love, And we will all the pleasures prove, That valleys, groves, hills and fields, Woods or steepy mountains yields. And we will sit upon the rocks, Seeing the shepherds feed their flocks By shallow rivers, to whose falls Melodious birds sing madrigals. And I will make thee beds of roses, And a thousand fragrant posies, A cap of flowers and a kirtle Embroidered all with leaves of myrtle; A gown made of the finest wool, Which from our pretty lambs we pull; Fair-lined slippers for the cold, With buckles of the purest gold; A belt of straw and ivy buds, With coral clasps and amber studs; And if these pleasures may thee move, Come live with me and be my love. The shepherd swains shall dance and sing For thy delight each May morning; If these delights thy mind may move, Then live with me and be my love. Heather, clover, Irish moss, English ivy, tea rose, and carnation. THE PRESENCE OF LOVE Samuel Taylor Coleridge And in Life's noisiest hour, There whispers still the ceaseless Love of Thee, The heart's Self-solace and soliloquy. ______________________ You mould my Hopes, you fashion me within; And to the leading Love-throb in the Heart Thro' all my Being, thro' my pulses beat; You lie in all my many Thoughts, like Light, Like the fair light of Dawn, or summer Eve On rippling Stream, or cloud-reflecting Lake. And looking to the Heaven, that bends above you, How oft ! I bless the Lot, that made me love you. White musk, rose-swirled amber, pink grapefruit, and jasmine. SAPPHICS Algernon Charles Swinburne All the night sleep came not upon my eyelids, Shed not dew, nor shook nor unclosed a feather, Yet with lips shut close and with eyes of iron Stood and beheld me. Then to me so lying awake a vision Came without sleep over the seas and touched me, Softly touched mine eyelids and lips; and I too, Full of the vision, Saw the white implacable Aphrodite, Saw the hair unbound and the feet unsandalled Shine as fire of sunset on western waters; Saw the reluctant Feet, the straining plumes of the doves that drew her, Looking always, looking with necks reverted, Back to Lesbos, back to the hills whereunder Shone Mitylene; Heard the flying feet of the Loves behind her Make a sudden thunder upon the waters, As the thunder flung from the strong unclosing Wings of a great wind. So the goddess fled from her place, with awful Sound of feet and thunder of wings around her; While behind a clamour of singing women Severed the twilight. Ah the singing, ah the delight, the passion! All the Loves wept, listening; sick with anguish, Stood the crowned nine Muses about Apollo; Fear was upon them, While the tenth sang wonderful things they knew not. Ah the tenth, the Lesbian! the nine were silent, None endured the sound of her song for weeping; Laurel by laurel, Faded all their crowns; but about her forehead, Round her woven tresses and ashen temples White as dead snow, paler than grass in summer, Ravaged with kisses, Shone a light of fire as a crown for ever. Yea, almost the implacable Aphrodite Paused, and almost wept; such a song was that song. Yea, by her name too Called her, saying, “Turn to me, O my Sappho;” Yet she turned her face from the Loves, she saw not Tears for laughter darken immortal eyelids, Heard not about her Fearful fitful wings of the doves departing, Saw not how the bosom of Aphrodite Shook with weeping, saw not her shaken raiment, Saw not her hands wrung; Saw the Lesbians kissing across their smitten Lutes with lips more sweet than the sound of lute-strings, Mouth to mouth and hand upon hand, her chosen, Fairer than all men; Only saw the beautiful lips and fingers, Full of songs and kisses and little whispers, Full of music; only beheld among them Soar, as a bird soars Newly fledged, her visible song, a marvel, Made of perfect sound and exceeding passion, Sweetly shapen, terrible, full of thunders, Clothed with the wind’s wings. Then rejoiced she, laughing with love, and scattered Roses, awful roses of holy blossom; Then the Loves thronged sadly with hidden faces Round Aphrodite, Then the Muses, stricken at heart, were silent; Yea, the gods waxed pale; such a song was that song. All reluctant, all with a fresh repulsion, Fled from before her. All withdrew long since, and the land was barren, Full of fruitless women and music only. Now perchance, when winds are assuaged at sunset, Lulled at the dewfall, By the grey sea-side, unassuaged, unheard of, Unbeloved, unseen in the ebb of twilight, Ghosts of outcast women return lamenting, Purged not in Lethe, Clothed about with flame and with tears, and singing Songs that move the heart of the shaken heaven, Songs that break the heart of the earth with pity, Hearing, to hear them. Tonka, oakmoss, tolu balsam, grey amber, myrrh, and muguet. THE RAGGED WOOD William Butler Yeats O, hurry, where by water, among the trees, The delicate-stepping stag and his lady sigh, When they have looked upon their images Would none had ever loved but you and I! Or have you heard that sliding silver-shoed Pale silver-proud queen-woman of the sky, When the sun looked out of his golden hood? O, that none ever loved but you and I! O hurry to the ragged wood, for there I will drive all those lovers out and cry O, my share of the world, O, yellow hair! No one has ever loved but you and I. Lily of the Valley, star jasmine, benzoin, vanilla, plumeria, bergamot, Terebinth pine, juniper berry, and tea rose. TO HELEN Edgar Allan Poe I saw thee once - once only - years ago: I must not say how many - but not many. It was a July midnight; and from out A full-orbed moon, that, like thine own soul, soaring, Sought a precipitate pathway up through heaven, There fell a silvery-silken veil of light, With quietude, and sultriness, and slumber, Upon the upturned faces of a thousand Roses that grew in an enchanted garden, Where no wind dared to stir, unless on tiptoe Fell on the upturn'd faces of these roses That gave out, in return for the love-light, Their odorous souls in an ecstatic death Fell on the upturn'd faces of these roses That smiled and died in this parterre, enchanted By thee, and by the poetry of thy presence. Clad all in white, upon a violet bank I saw thee half reclining; while the moon Fell on the upturn'd faces of the roses, And on thine own, upturn'd - alas, in sorrow! Was it not Fate, that, on this July midnight Was it not Fate, (whose name is also Sorrow,) That bade me pause before that garden-gate, To breathe the incense of those slumbering roses? No footstep stirred: the hated world an slept, Save only thee and me. (Oh, Heaven! oh, God! How my heart beats in coupling those two words!) Save only thee and me. I paused - I looked And in an instant all things disappeared. (Ah, bear in mind this garden was enchanted!) The pearly lustre of the moon went out: The mossy banks and the meandering paths, The happy flowers and the repining trees, Were seen no more: the very roses' odors Died in the arms of the adoring airs. All - all expired save thee - save less than thou: Save only the divine light in thine eyes Save but the soul in thine uplifted eyes. I saw but them - they were the world to me! I saw but them - saw only them for hours, Saw only them until the moon went down. What wild heart-histories seemed to he enwritten Upon those crystalline, celestial spheres! How dark a woe, yet how sublime a hope! How silently serene a sea of pride! How daring an ambition; yet how deep How fathomless a capacity for love! But now, at length, dear Dian sank from sight, Into a western couch of thunder-cloud; And thou, a ghost, amid the entombing trees Didst glide away. Only thine eyes remained; They would not go - they never yet have gone; Lighting my lonely pathway home that night, They have not left me (as my hopes have) since; They follow me - they lead me through the years. They are my ministers - yet I their slave. Their office is to illumine and enkindle My duty, to be saved by their bright light, And purified in their electric fire, And sanctified in their elysian fire. They fill my soul with Beauty (which is Hope), And are far up in Heaven - the stars I kneel to In the sad, silent watches of my night; While even in the meridian glare of day I see them still - two sweetly scintillant Venuses, unextinguished by the sun! Electric ozone, opaline notes, moonflower, white amber, beeswax, and three roses. And last, but not least, a temporary wing has been added to the Salon. Novel Ideas For Secret Amusements is a Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab Salon Limited Edition series celebrating the joy, humor, playfulness, and thrill of sexual intercourse through scent interpretations of Edo era Japanese erotic art. This exhibit contains explicit depictions of sexual acts and nudity, and viewer discretion is advised. Earth Rat, Parentalia, and all of our Lupercalia blends are $17.50, with the exception of the Salon Limited Edition series, Novel Ideas For Secret Amusements, which are $27.50 each. The Yule, Anniversary, and Resurrected blends will be available until January 15, 2008. The Lupercalia blends, Earth Rat, and Parentalia, will be available until March 23, 2008. The Black Phoenix Trading Post update will be live soon, and we’ll be back for Lunacy!

Well, actually, I'm the one that's pregnant, but he did have something to do with it. - - - In other news, the Lupercalia update will be going live later this month, so keep yer eyes peeled. What a gross phrase. "Peeled eyes" sounds like something gruesome out of an episode of CSI.

Updated: Midwinter 2007. Happy Yuletide, boys and girls! We have two offerings for this month's Lunacy: OLD MOON The cold earth slept below; Above the cold sky shone; And all around, With a chilling sound, From caves of ice and fields of snow The breath of night like death did flow Beneath the sinking moon. The wintry hedge was black; The green grass was not seen; The birds did rest On the bare thorn's breast, Whose roots, beside the pathway track, Had bound their folds o'er many a crack Which the frost had made between. Thine eyes glow'd in the glare Of the moon's dying light; As a fen-fire's beam On a sluggish stream Gleams dimly-so the moon shone there, And it yellow'd the strings of thy tangled hair, That shook in the wind of night. The moon made thy lips pale, belov'd; The wind made thy bosom chill; The night did shed On thy dear head Its frozen dew, and thou didst lie Where the bitter breath of the naked sky Might visit thee at will. A dark, still winter's night. The cold, white moon shines on frozen ground dusted with silent snow: evergreen, juniper, winterberry holly, bayberry, Viking black chokeberry, hemlock, and yew, ice-rimed, gilded by traditional lunar herbs and flowers. AQUARIUS 2007 Fixed air: the essence of idealism. Wisteria, myrrh, anise, galbanum, bryony, and pomegranate. The Wheel of the Julian/Gregorian Year is completed, and with 2007's passing went the last of our shapeshifter LE's. And new at Black Phoenix Trading Post: Both the Lunacy scents and the Lunacy tee will be live until December 26, 2007.

The following blends are being discontinued. They will be offline when the January Lunacy comes down on January 24, 2008. Asphodel Calliope Clio Erato Euterpe Goneril Hamadryad Kostnice Melpomene Penthus Phantom Polyhymnia Rage Shroud Terpsichore Thaleia Urania Vinland Yerevan LVRH: Ahathoor LVRH: Khephra LVRH: Ra LVRH: Tum Thank you for understanding! =)

The Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab and Black Phoenix Trading Post updates are live! * BLACK PHOENIX ALCHEMY LAB SEA OF TESTICLES UPDATE Blue Moon threw us for a loop this year, so this month we are doing something a little different for Lunacy. Old skool Lunacies will resume, as scheduled, next month. SEA OF TRANQUILITY Look how the pale Queen of the silent night doth cause the ocean to attend upon her, and he, as long as she is in sight, with his full tide is ready here to honor; But when the silver waggon of the Moon is mounted up so high he cannot follow, the sea calls home his crystal waves to morn, and with low ebb doth manifest his sorrow. Silver-dusted lotus, white amber, rose otto, passion flower, white sandalwood, buttonweed, and white poppy. TANUKI Tan Tan Tanuki no kintama wa, Kaze mo nai no ni, Bura bura! The mischievous sake-swigging, debt-riddled shapeshifting raccoon dog. These creatures carry a fistfuls of counterfeit cash and wear leaves from Buddha’s sacred lotus atop their heads. Their kin-tama -- golden balls -- are so large that they can swing them over their shoulders like backpacks, and are so taut that they can play them like drums. They are masters at the art of transformation, and live to overindulge in wine and women. A scent of hedonistic, uninhibited joy: bamboo reed, plum blossom, persimmon, magnolia, black pine, sweet osmanthus, flowering cherry, mandarin orange, wisteria, and yuzu. CAPRICORN 2007 Cardinal earth: the essence of control. Solomon’s Seal, pine, amaranth, ambrette, cypress, wild tobacco, and hemp. Sea of Tranquility and Tanuki are $17.50 each, and Capricorn 2007 is $20.00. The Lunacy (both BPAL and BPTP) will be live until approximately 9pm PST on Monday, November 26, 2007. Hey bpal.org peeps! There’s a new forum-only blend. =) http://www.blackphoenixalchemylab.com/forumscents.html - - - * BLACK PHOENIX TRADING POST BIG OL' WHOA UPDATE PLEASE NOTE: Black Phoenix Trading Post will be closed from November 27, 2007 til December 2, 2007. Shipments and emails correspondence will resume on December 3, 2007. Thank you for understanding! There’s a whole heap of new stuff at the Post! First, the Sea of Tranqulity tee: This elegant design was created by our beloved Jennifer Williamson. Shimmering white ink on black tee. Two new nail polishes have been added to the Claws page: Blood Countess and Morgause. Blood Countess is a ghoulish maroon gloss, and Morgause is a regal plum metallic pearl. We have two new massage oils, created in harmony with two oils from the Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab Panacea collection: TKO MASSAGE OIL Many things -- such as loving, going to sleep, or behaving unaffectedly -- are done worst when we try hardest to do them. Soothing lavender in a blend of skin-softening almond oil, rice bran, and vitamin E. UGH MASSAGE OIL Muscle ache relief. The combination of arnica, rosehip, evening primrose, almond oil, and apricot kernel oil is high in vitamin C and gamma-linolenic acid, and coupled with analgesic eucalyputs, invigorating orange, and refreshing rosemary, this blend is said to help heal bruises, reduce swelling, and soothe strained muscles and aching tendons. Also new at Black Phoenix Trading Post: Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab Bath Oils. Soak in your sins, or wash away all traces of your vices. Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab offers you the best of both worlds, the heavenly and the diabolical, in your bathing experience. Whatever your predilection may, our blend of softening and replenishing oils, with rosehip, shea, evening primrose, fractionated coconut, and vitamin E, will ensure that you experience the utmost in sublime (or fiendish!) pleasure. Paraben & formaldehyde free. No sodium lauryl or sodium laureth sulfate. VICES: GULA BATH OIL It is the just doom of laziness and gluttony to be inactive without ease and drowsy without tranquility. -- Samuel Johnson Cocoa absolute, sugar cane, honey, black currant, vanilla, and caramel. VIRTUES: FRENUM BATH OIL Moderation is a fatal thing. Nothing succeeds like excess. -- Oscar Wilde Wild lettuce, white tea, cucumber, and cherry blossom. For the holiday season, we present a series of limited run products: ++ WINTER BATH OILS ICE PRINCE BATH OIL As beautiful and cold as a December storm. Crystalline musk, winter lily, bergamot, plum, and frozen pine boughs. WINTER MAIDEN BATH OIL Ice-rimed innocence. The blush of youth, frozen for eternity. Snow-laden woods, iced blackberry and bergamot, white rose, and crystallized amber. ++ YULE SUDS In cahoots with Silk Road Trading Company. EGG NOG SOAP Sweet brandy, dark rum, heavy cream, sugar, and a dash of nutmeg. EL DIA DE REYES SOAP Hot cocoa with cinnamon, coffee, and brown sugar. LICK IT SOAP Peppermint candy cane with a flash of vanilla and an extra jolt of sugar! ROSE RED SOAP The perfected winter rose, dew covered and freshly cut. SLEET SOAP Eucalyptus, menthol, two mints, and sparkling white citrus blast you with a bracing, enlivening chill! SNOW WHITE SOAP A chilly, bright scent: flurries of virgin snow, crisp winter wind and the faintest breath of night-blooming flowers. ++ HANDMADE SATIN POUCHES Lovely handmade grey satin pouches with plum fringe and a silkscreened BPAL patch. Fully lined with plum cotton fabric. Roomy enough to carry a fistful of imps, a gaggle of perfume oil bottles, a tarot deck, and a shrunken head. Alright, a shrunken head might not fit all that well, but it's the thought that counts. ++ ++ HANDMADE SILK TOTES A gruesomely gorgeous handmade tote: luxurious plum-brown 100% silk with a hand-silkscreened center patch framed in tea-stained and maroon striped fabric and black lace, accented by black ribbon. Fully-lined with deep plum fabric. This tote has a button closure and an interior pocket. The centerpiece of the tote is a hand-silkscreened patch featuring the BPAL brimstone symbol laid on top of an 18th century engraving of a human chest cavity. Approximately 10” tall in the center, 18” wide at its widest point, with an 11” opening. The strap measures approximately 14”. Only 13 of the satin pouches have been made, and only 15 of the totes. Both of these fine bags were created by the inimitable Slipshod Sally for Black Phoenix. ++ SILVER BOTTLE TOPS Aes Ustum Symbolic of the process of cleansing, and drawing out. Each piece was hand-crafted individually, and every bottle top is unique. A glass wand dips into the oil from the inside of the bottle top, and they will fit either 5 or 10ml bottles. Twenty of these silver bottle tops have been made, and due to the time and effort expended in their construction, we regret to announce that they will never be recreated. These perfume oil bottle tops are exclusive to the Trading Post, and were created by and for Black Phoenix. They cannot be found anywhere else in all of Heaven and Earth. Each bottle top is $70.00US. More Trading Post items will be going live soon. We were hoping to have them all up at once, but due to holiday insanity and the handmade nature of our products, we have to split up the updates this season. Have a safe and joyous weekend, people!

As of November 25, 2007, the Poe Collection will be available at Dark Delicacies in Burbank, CA. We will be kick-starting it with them at the Dark Delicacies shop from 2-5pm on that day. Dark Delicacies 4213 W. Burbank Blvd Burbank, CA 91505 818-556-6660 888-DARKDEL This month marks DD’s 13th Anniversary, and to commemorate it, we have created Black Lace: the embodiment of Victorian funereal elegance. A delicate sugar-spun vanilla cream cotton, stained by tobacco and incense smoke, Indian musk, and drops of cognac. Black Lace will be available through Dark Delicacies as of November 25th, and will be on sale during our trunk show that day. The Salon: Traveling Exhibition is available at the following fine shops: Le Pink & Co. 3820 W. Sunset Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90026 323-661-PINK Nail Polish Etc. 1140 Cocoa Ave Hershey, PA 17033 717-312-0444 Whole Foods Market aka Harry's Farmer's Market 1180 Upper Hembree Rd. Roswell, GA 770-664-6300 Our links page is in a constant state of flux. Check it out, if you have some spare time. There’s some pretty nifty stuff there. =) Aaaaaaaand… Happy friggin’ birthday, BPAL! To celebrate five glorious years of depravity, debauch, and decadence, we present our anniversary scents: two chromatic phoenixes, Blood Phoenix, Mechanical Phoenix, and one resurrected blend! The four phoenixes represent some of what we strive for at Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab. ++ 5TH ANNIVERSARY BLOOD PHOENIX Blood: expressing passion, will, and a sensual aesthetic. Dragon’s blood resin, helichrysum, burgundy wine grape, red musk, opoponax, red poppy, myrrh, carnation, tonka, almond, mimosa, jonquil, and neroli. GREEN PHOENIX Green, for growth, expansion, prosperity, and stability. Sage, white mint, grey amber, papaya pulp, crushed grass, cucumber, green musk, green tea, and lime rind. MECHANICAL PHOENIX A mechanical construct: illustrating strong work ethic, determination, creativity, and innovation. Copper gears, brass cogs, fused wiring, scorched iron, and motor oil. WHITE PHOENIX White, for acting in good conscience and doing our best to give back to the community. Frangipani, magnolia, cotton flower, osmanthus, crystal musk, ambrette, white orchid, sugar cane, davana, white sandalwood, petitgrain, lavender, and lotus root. ++ RESURRECTED MIDWAY RESURRECTED From our dead and buried 2005 / 2006 Carnaval Noir line. A bombardment of edible carnival indulgences. Funnel cake, caramel apple, cotton candy, salt water taffy and sugar tart. All of our Anniversary blends are $20.00 each, and Midway: Resurrected is $17.50. They will be live until January 15, 2008. Five years? Holy crap! A million thanks to our beloved customers for making this possible. We look forward to the opportunity to share our dreams, nightmares, and desires with you until Kingdom Come!

There are a few problems that we run into with third party orders at our warehouse events. Basically, we can no longer accept payments made directly to us for in-house pickup if the purchaser is not physically picking up the product themselves. If Harry places and order *directly with Black Phoenix* that he wants Jim to pick up (sending us the money with a note saying that someone else will be receiving the item(s) on his behalf), and Jim picks it up but doesn’t send it to Harry, the burden of the problem becomes Black Phoenix’s, as well as PayPal / CcNow. We lose the product, we lose the money, and Harry is not a happy guy. If Jim picks it up and does send it to Harry, but Harry says Jim never sent it, again… the burden falls on BPAL and the payment processor used. We lose the product, we lose the money, and Jim is not a happy guy. In both scenarios, the purchasers, as well as BPAL, are completely unprotected from any potential funnybusiness. Though we can no longer accept third party payments in that fashion, we will still be able to honor orders placed in the same way decant circle orders are placed. If Greg wants to do a group pickup for a bunch of people, Greg has to collect the money on his end (again, in the vein of a decant circle), and place the single order for pickup himself. Once the product is in his hands, he is responsible for fulfilling his obligations. We cannot accept pre-orders for discontinued scents that we will be offering at the Dark Delicacies event because they are being sold on a first-come basis. I hope I’ve explained this well, and thank you for understanding. =) It is our responsibility to ensure that our customers are happy and insulated from as many potential problems as possible.

Just to let you guys know… as of tomorrow, Ted, Brian, and I are pretty much on radio silence til the wedding is over. Kathy and Bill will be on radio silence as of Monday night. Many of the guys at BPAL will still be there, so your orders will still be packed and shipped. However, BPAL customer service will be on a brief hiatus, and BPTP is completely closed until the weekend of the 3rd / 4th. Thank you very, very much for understanding!

Praise to the Neil! Praise to the Terry! We are thrilled to present five new Good Omens scents, and two new Stardust scents! ++ GOOD OMENS FAMINE It was not surprising that she had recognized him, for his dark grey eyes stared out from his photo on the foil-embossed cover. Foodless Dieting: Slim Yourself Beautiful, the book was called; The Diet Book of the Century! Sleek black tea, tobacco leaf, frankincense, lilac, and white musk. MADAME TRACY Newt had been amazed to find that Madam Tracy was a middle-aged, motherly soul, whose gentleman callers called as much for a cup of tea and a nice chat as for what little discipline she was still able to exact. A coquettish blend of tea rose, ume blossom, geranium, lily of the valley, violet, and heliotrope. POLLUTION "Excuse me," barked Tyler. "Is that your crisp packet?" "Oh, it's not just mine," said the boy. "It's everybody's." R.P. Tyler drew himself up to his full height. "Young man,' he said, "how would you feel if I came over to your house and dropped litter everywhere?" Pollution smiled, wistfully. 'Very, very pleased,' he breathed. "Oh, that would be wonderful." Beneath his bike an oil slick puddled a rainbow on the wet road. A toxic chypre: radioactive green musk, davana, and oozing white amber. It wasn’t a dark and stormy night, It should have been, but that’s the weather for you. For every mad scientist who’s had a convienient thunderstorm just on the night his Great Work is finished and lying on the slab, there have been dozens who’ve sat around aimlessly under the peaceful stars while Igor racks up the overtime. But don’t let the fog (with rain later, temperatures dropping to around forty-five degrees) give anyone a false sense of security. Just because it’s a mild night doesn’t mean that dark forces aren’t abroad. They’re abroad all the time. They’re everywhere. They always are. That’s the whole point. Two of them lurked in a ruined graveyard. Two shadowy figures, one hunched and squat, the other lean and menacing, both of them Olympic-grade lurkers. If Bruce Springsteen had ever recorded “Born to Lurk,” these two would have been on the album cover. They had been lurking in the fog for over an hour now, but they had been pacing themselves and could lurk for the rest of the night if necessary, with still enough sullen menace left for a final burst of lurking around dawn. Finally, after another twenty minutes, one of them said: “Bugger this for a lark. He should have been here hours ago.” The speaker’s name was Hastur. He was a Duke of Hell. HASTUR Smoky-sour labdanum, black patchouli, wet tobacco, and brimstone. “What’s this Crowley like?” said Ligur. Hastur spat. “He’s been up here too long,” he said. “Right from the Start. Gone native, if you ask me. Drives a car with a telephone in it.” Ligur pondered this. Like most demons, he had a very limited grasp of technology, and so he was just about to say something like, I bet it needs a lot of wire, when the Bentley rolled to a halt at the cemetery gate. LIGUR Dry olibanum, black moss, soggy ti, khus, and opoponax. ++ STARDUST FAIRY WINE Mr. Bromios had set up a wine-tent and was selling wines and pasties to the village folk, who were often tempted by the foods being sold by the folk from Beyond the Wall but had been told by their grandparents, who had got it from their grandparents, that it was deeply, utterly wrong to eat fairy food, to drink fairy water and sip fairy wine. An ethereal vintage, steeped with dandelion, honey, and red currants. LADY UNA “Why, you are crying.” She said nothing. Dunstan pulled her toward him, wiping ineffectually at her face with his big hand; and then he leaned into her sobbing face, and, tentatively, uncertain of whether or not he was doing the correct thing given the circumstances, he kissed her, full upon the burning lips. There was a moment of hesitation, and then her mouth opened against his, and her tongue slid into his mouth, and he was, under the strange stars, utterly, irrevocably, lost Honey musk, green tea leaf, blackberry leaf, vanilla bean, and fae spices. As always, these are not-for-profit scents. The proceeds from the Stardust series benefit the noble Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, and the proceeds from the Good Omens series are split between the CBLDF and the Orangutan Foundation UK. The Lunacies and Suspiciendo Despicio blends are live, and will be up until October 27, 2007. ++ LIMITED EDITION LONG NIGHT MOON The nights are at their longest, the sky is at its darkest. The air is still with reflective silence. A bouquet of night-blooming flowers, petals dusted with frost. Cereus, moonflower accord, night phlox, honeysuckle, silver thyme, white mint, and blue musk. SAGITTARIUS Mutable Fire: the essence of striving. Sage, clove, dandelion, balm of gilead, fig, and chamomile. IVANUSHKA Ivanushka took his little sister, Alenushka, by the hand, and whispered to her, “Since our dear mother and father have died, we have had no joy. Our wicked stepmother beats us every morning and every evening. Our stepsister is cruel, and she laughs as stepmother beats us with switches. Our meals are dry, moldy crusts of bread. May the Lord have mercy on us! Come, little sister, we will set forth together into the great, wide world, for surely there can be nothing worse for us than we have in this house.” They walked and walked through meadows and fields, past sagging, abandoned cottages, and through barren, stony plains. Rain began to fall upon their tiny brows. “Heaven weeps with our hearts”, Little Alenushka sighed. At nightfall, they came to a large, dark forest. Though the forest was frightening, the children were so weary with fear, hunger, and fatigue that they crawled into a hollow tree and fell asleep together. The children’s wicked stepmother was a black-hearted woman, and a witch, to boot. When she discovered that the children had run away, she crept behind them, using her magic for stealth, and watched them as they walked, and watched them as they slept. They awoke as the noon sun beat hot and bright upon the hollow tree. Ivanushka said, “Sister, I am terribly thirsty. I think I hear a brook; please, let us find it!” Laughing to herself, the witch sped to all the brooks in the forest, ensorcelling them. The children came across the first brook, and Brother Ivanushka rushed towards it. Alenushka, though, heard the voice of the water as it skipped over the slippery stones: Whoever drinks of me will be a tiger. Alenushka cried, “Oh Brother, please, please do not drink, or you will become a wild beast and will tear me to pieces!” Ivanushka ignored his thirst, and did not drink. “Sister, I will wait,” he said, and the children continued through the forest. When they came across the next brook, Alenushka heard it whisper: Whoever drinks of me will be a wolf. “Dear Brother!” she cried. “Please do not drink from this brook, or you will transform into a wolf, and you will eat me!” Ivanushka did not drink, but he was truly suffering. “Sister, I will wait.” When they came to the third brook, he could take the pain no longer, and he rushed forward, plunging his hands into the water even as his sister wailed, “Oh Brother! This brook speaks as well! You will become a roebuck, and you will run away from me!” But Ivanushka could not resist, and as soon as the first droplets of water touched his lips, he became a deer. Alenushka wept, and collapsed to the ground. In his heart, the roe wept with her. The roe moved slowly and sorrowfully closer to his sister. Alenushka dried her tears and whispered, “Dear Brother, I will never, ever leave you. This, I promise.” She untied her golden garters and put them around the deer’s neck. She plucked pliable rushes and wove them into a simple cord. She tied the cord to the garters, and led her brother deeper into the forest. They walked on and on, for hours and hours, deeper and deeper into the forest. At last, they came to a small cottage. Alenushka peeked into one of the windows, and the cottage seemed be empty. She thought to herself, “We can stay here together; we will live here.” Every morning she gathered berries to eat, and brought grasses for her brother. Ivanushka’s voice whispered to her heart, and she found that though he had changed to a deer, her brother still retained a boy’s voice. They walked together through the forest, and played what games they could. At night, she said her prayers, and laid her head upon the roebuck’s back as she drifted off to sleep. One day, hunting horns sounded in the distance. The howl and bark of dogs and the raucous shouts of the huntsmen echoed through the forest, and the siblings knew that the King’s Great Hunt had begun. “Please, Sister! Let me be off to the Hunt!” the roebuck cried. She hesitated, worried for his safety. “Sister, I am wild, and this is now my nature. Please, I cannot bear it. Let me run with the hunt! I am fleet of foot, and I am young; I will outrun them!” He begged and pleaded, and her resolve crumbled. She agreed, but said, “Come back to me in the evening. I must shut the door to the cottage, as I fear the rough huntsmen. So when you return to me, you must knock and say, ‘My Little Sister, let me in!’ I will then know it is you. If you do not say this, I will not open the door.” The little deer kissed his sister’s hand, and leapt merrily into the forest. The King and his huntsmen saw the graceful roebuck with the golden collar and started after him, but he was swift and spry, and they could not catch their prey. When it was dark, the roebuck sped to the cottage. He knocked upon the door with his hoof and said, “My Little Sister, let me in!” Alenushka opened the door, and her brother leapt into the tiny house. They whispered and sang until they both grew tired, and slept the night through on the soft bed of grass. The next day, the Hunt began anew. When the roebuck heard the trumpets and bugles in the distance, his blood stirred. “Sister, please let me out! It is time, and I must run!” She opened the door for him and said, “Remember: you must come back to me in the evening, knock, and say the password.” When the King and his men saw the roebuck again, they gave chase. The creature was so swift and nimble that the chase ran on the whole day. At twilight, one of the hunter’s arrows found the roe’s foot. The roe was forced to slow his run, and as he limped back to the cottage, one of the hunters tracked him. As the hunter hid behind the large and shadowy trees, he heard the roe knock on the cottage door and he heard the roe whisper, “My Little Sister, let me in.” The hunter saw a flash of pale skin and gleaming russet hair as Alenushka opened the door for her injured brother. The huntsman raced back to his King, and told him all that he had seen and heard. Intrigued, the King said, “Tomorrow, friends, we will hunt once more.” Alenushka was terrified when she saw that her brother was hurt. She cleaned his wound, and washed the blood from his fur. She laid herbs on his foot, and bound it with fresh cloth. The wound was so slight that, after a night of rest and with the aid of his sister’s gentle ministrations, he did not feel the injury at all. When he heard the calls of the huntsmen and the howl of the dogs, his blood stirred again, and he said, “I must run, Little Sister! Let me out!” “I shall not!” Alenushka cried. “You are injured, and they will catch you. They will catch and kill you, and I will be alone in the forest. I will not let you out.” “Sister, I am wild. This is now my nature. If you do not set me free, I will perish from grief.” Alenushka had no choice, so she opened the door with a heavy heart. “I am weak with fear for you, Brother.” “You have nothing to fear, Little Sister. I am fleet of foot, and I am young; I will outrun them!” With that, he bounded joyfully into the forest. Soon, the King spotted the roebuck with the golden collar. He said to his men, “Chase him all day long; he will tire. But take care, and none of you shall do him any harm. We will track the beast.” At twilight, the King said to his men, “The roe is still giving chase. Now you will show me the cottage in the woods.” The King crept to the door, knocked, and whispered, “Dearest Little Sister, let me in.” The door opened, and the King entered the tiny house. Before him stood a young maiden, the loveliest he had ever seen. Her ivory skin shone like moonlight, and her auburn hair hung in long, thick waves around a perfect, beautiful face made wise by sadness and despair. The maiden was frightened when she saw, not her beloved brother, but a tall and dark-haired man with a golden crown upon his head. But the King’s face was handsome and his eyes were kind, and he said to her, softly, “You have won my heart, fairest of ladies. Will you go with me to my palace and be my wife? I will love you all of my days.” His voice struck her heart, and she said, “Yes, sir, I will. But the little roebuck must come with us. I cannot leave him.” The King took her tiny hand in his, and said, “The deer shall stay with you for as long as you live, and you both shall want nothing.” At that moment, the roe came running into the cottage. He stopped, startled. His sister stroked his fur gently, and looped the cord of rushes through his collar. The three, together, left the tiny cottage in the woods. The King set the maiden upon his horse, and carried her to his castle. A splendid, joyful wedding was held with great pageantry, and courtiers from across the land came to pay their respects to their liege. Alenushka was now Queen, and they lived together in happiness in peace. The roebuck was cared for and cherished, and ran happily through the castle gardens. The King and Queen basked in the joy of true love. The wicked stepmother, whose cruelty had forced the siblings out into the world, believed that Alenushka had been torn to shreds by wild beasts in the forest, and that Ivanushka, as a roebuck, had been slain as a trophy by huntsmen. One day, while the crone was purchasing herbs in the marketplace, she heard that the King had married. She heard tales of the kindness and beauty of the new Queen, and her curiosity was piqued. She traveled to the castle, huddled under the rags of a beggar woman. The Queen was outside the castle giving alms to the poor. Her pale face was lit with joy, and her auburn hair was set aflame by the light of the sun and her golden, bejeweled crown. The wicked stepmother saw that this Queen was the child she had scorned. When she saw the happiness in Alenushka’s eyes, her black heart clenched with poisonous envy. She fled back to her home, seething with hatred. The crone had no peace, and thought of nothing else over the next few days except how to bring the Queen misfortune. Her own wretched daughter, one-eyed and ugly and bent as sin, groused, “A Queen, indeed! That ought to have been my luck. You should have killed those children yourself. You should have slashed them with a knife, or beaten them with a cudgel. Then I would now be Queen.” “Be quiet,” hissed the old woman. She turned to her daughter and cooed, “When the time comes, we shall be ready.” After a time, the Queen gave birth to a beautiful boy. One day, the King went hunting, and the wicked stepmother seized upon the opportunity. The old crone used her magic to take the form of a chamber maid, and went into the room where the Queen lay. She said to the Queen, “Come, my dear, your bath is ready. It will do you good, and will renew your strength. Make haste, or the water shall go cold!” The crone’s daughter was also nearby, and the two of them carried the birth-weak Queen to the bath room. Gently, they lowered her into the bath, then they crept out, and shut the door. Using her magic, the crone set a huge, ferocious fire blazing within the bath room, and the Queen died from suffocation. When this evil deed was done, the witch took her daughter and laid a glamour upon her wretched daughter’s countenance so she would take the shape of the dead Queen. Her magic could not replace her daughter’s missing eye, so she bade her daughter lie down in bed in a way that the King could not see it. In the evening, the King went to the bedchamber to see his wife and infant son. But the crone called out, “My King! Keep the bedcurtains closed. The Queen should not see light yet, and she must have rest.” The King left, and did not see that an imposter lay in his bed. At midnight, while all in the castle slept, the nurse, who was sitting by the Prince’s cradle, saw a ghostly form approach the baby. Shocked, she saw that this phantom was her Queen. The Ghost Queen took the child out of the cradle and held it. She crooned a soft lullaby to the child, and set him back down in his cradle. She tucked a blanket around the infant, and caressed his tiny face. In the corner of the nursery, the roe lay on a bed of velvet. The Ghost Queen stopped and stroked the roe’s fur lovingly, then glided silently through the door. The nurse did not believe her eyes, and thought the shadows within the castle and the lateness of the hour were creating strange fancies. The next morning the nurse, shaken, asked the guards whether anyone had come into the palace during the night, but they answered, "No, we have seen no one." The Ghost Queen visited the nursery many nights in silence. The nurse always saw her, but she did not dare to tell anyone about it, though she feared that she might be losing her mind. Meanwhile, the King tried to visit his Queen every evening, and each time, the crone waved him away. “My King! Keep the bedcurtains closed. The Queen should not see light yet, and she must have rest.” The King left, and still did not see that an imposter lay in his bed. After many days, the Ghost Queen finally spoke to the nurse as she left the Prince’s bedchamber -- "How fares my child, how fares my roe? Twice shall I come, then never more." In terror, the nurse did not answer, but when the Queen had vanished, the nurse could bear it no longer. She ran to the King and told him all she had seen and heard. The King said, "What phantom is this that stalks my son’s bed? Tomorrow night I will watch by the child." In the evening he went into the nursery, and sat hidden in the shadows. At midnight, the Ghost Queen appeared and said – "How fares my child, how fares my roe? Once more will I come, then never more." The King did not dare to speak to the ghost, but on the next night he returned to the shadows of the Prince’s bedchamber. At midnight, the Ghost Queen returned, and said -- "How fares my child, how fares my roe? This time I come, then never more." The King leapt forward, and stared deep into the ghost’s unearthly eyes. He saw the maiden that he had fallen in love with, and cried, “You can be none other than my beloved Queen!” The ghost whispered, “Yes, my Lord, I am your wife.” The King rose to embrace her, and as the King’s tears fell upon her ghostly form, the Queen was filled with life. Her body became solid, her cheeks flushed with love. Weeping, Alenushka told her husband the tale of her murder. The King and his guard stormed into the Queen’s bedchamber and arrested the witch and her daughter. They were dragged before the judge, and were sentenced. The daughter was taken to the forest, where she was bound and left to be shredded by wild animals. The crone was cast into a fire with stones tied to her throat, and died a terrible death. At the moment of the crone’s demise, the roebuck was transformed back into a young man, and thus the sister and brother lived the rest of their lives, happily ever after. Soft, velvety fur and warm musk, brushed by forest woods and dusted by dry leaves. At BPTP, the Long Night Moon tee is live: The tee will be up until October 27, 2007. Because of many factors – not the least of which is the upcoming nuptials – the bulk of what was going to go live at BPTP is on hold for a few weeks. Thank you for understanding! I know I’m usually more loquacious than this, but the Z-pack is giving me a bellyache, so I’m off to drool a bit on the couch while I watch everything that’s been building up on my tivo for the past month! By next update, your faithful narrator will be a married woman. Eek! Cheers!

The weather is getting blissfully gloomy, and to help usher in the delightful chill, we are thrilled to present the Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab Yuletide scents! ANGERONALIA Angeronalia, also called Divalia, is a Roman festival that takes place at the Winter Solstice. This celebration honors the Goddess Angerona. The Lady of Silence and Secrets is also She Who Stands As the Protector of Rome, and she is represented with her mouth bound, or with her index finger held over her mouth, commanding silence. On this day, the Goddess was implored to grant her children strength and protection. And, as it was believed that Angerona and Voluptia, the Goddess of Joy and Pleasure, were one and the same, sacrifices were made at the temple to Voluptia in order to drive sorrow, regret, and pain from the hearts of the people. Strength, passion, and the cleansing fire of joy: olive blossom, white nectarine, vibrant blood orange, honey absolute, lemongrass, elemi, sensual patchouli, and the quiet purity of gardenia. ARCHANGEL WINTER In the dread circle hemmed by glaciers, Pallid waste where no radiant fathomers, Columbuses or Gamas, ever pass, In realms of dingy gloom and deep crevasse Seized from creation by nonentity, Beyond ice floe and berg and ice-bound sea, Deep in the fog that quenches every ray, In stone waves and rock waters, far from day, Amid the gloom, there, on the pole, stands black Archangel Winter, darkness on his back And trumpet at his lips; nor does he cast One flash of eye, or blow one clarion-blast; He never even dreams, being sheer snow; The winged winds, captives of that age-old foe Silence, are in his hand-birds in a snare; His sightless eyes horribly watch the air; Hoarfrost is in his bones and on his head, And he is swathed in ever-petrified dread; He terrifies the Vast, he seems so wild; He is harsh, dismal, ice-that is, exiled; The earth beneath his feet, in its dark cape, Is dumb; he is the mute white stony shape Set on that tomb in the eternal night; Never does any motion, sound, or light Brush the lone giant in that somber pall. But when, on the timepieces that we call Stars, the last day, endless and centerless, Will sound, then the Lord's face will luminesce And melt the spirit; his mouth will distend Suddenly, in a savage, dreadful bend, And the worlds-skiffs rudderless, rolling on -- Will hear the storm-blast of his clarion. Crystalline, glassy ice whipped by a snowstorm. Piercing ozone, winter darkness. CHANUKKIYAH Baruch ata Ado-nai, Elo-heinu Melech ha'olam, Asher kid'shanu b'mitzvosav v'tzivanu l'hadlik ner shel Chanukah. Baruch ata Ado-nai, Elo-heinu Melech ha'olam, She'asah nisim la'avoseinu, bayamim ha'hem baz'man hazeh. Baruch ata Ado-nai, Elo-heinu Melech ha'olam, She'hecheyanu, vekiyemanu vehigi'anu laz'man hazeh. Olive oil, beeswax, glowing amber, sweet sufganiyot, pomegranate, and fig. Ha'Neiros halalu anachnu madlikin al hanisim ve'al hanifla'os, ve'al hat'shu'os ve'al hamilchamos, sh'asisa la'avoseinu bayamim hahem baz'man hazeh, al yedei kohaneicha hakedoshim. Vechol sh'monas yemei Chanukah, haneiros halalu kodesh hem. Ve'ein lanu reshus le'hishtamesh ba'hem, eh'la lir'osam bilvad, ke'dei le'hodos u'lehalel leshimcha hagadol al nisecha ve'al nifle'osecha ve'al yeshu'oshecha. Ma'oz tzur yeshu'asi Lecha na'eh leshabe'ach Tikone bais tefilasi Ve'sham todah nezabe'ach Le'es Tachin Mabe'ach Mitzar ham'nabe'ach Az egmor beshir mizmor Chanukas hamizbe'ach. CHRISTMAS ROSE Bruise-tinted hellebore blossoms pushing through snowdrifts. DIWALI The Festival of Lights, a celebration of life, prosperity, and the triumph of good over evil, light over darkness, and knowledge over ignorance. The first day, Dhanvantari Triodasi, honors Lakshmi, the Goddess of Wealth, Good Fortune, and Splendor, and Yama, Lord of Death and the Keeper of the Book of Destiny. The second day, Narak-Chaturdashi, celebrates Lord Krishna's victory over the demon lord, Narkasur. On this day, fierce Kali, the Great and Terrible Mother, is venerated, and she is entreated to grant her children strength. Narak-Chaturdashi also commemorates the birth of Hanuman, the vanara who helped Lord Rama rescue Sita from Ravana, the Rakshasa king. The third day, called Diwali, is wholly devoted to the worship and propitiation of Lakshmi, She Who is as Beautiful as a Lotus. The fourth day, Annakut, is the first day of the lunar New Year. Old accounts are settled, new ventures begin. On the fifth and final day of Diwali, Bhayiduj, sibling love is celebrated. It is a time to banish ignorance and hate, and to dissolve jealousy. It is a time to renew our spirits through light and understanding, and to ask for blessings of prosperity and joy for the upcoming year. It is a time where we embrace our friends and forgive our enemies. Lotus root, mango, tamarind, cardamom, clove, almond milk, cashew, rice flower, coconut, supari, raisins, and incense crafted from aloeswood, red sandalwood, cedar, and spikenard. EGG NOG 2007 Sweet brandy, dark rum, heavy cream, sugar, and a dash of nutmeg. EL DIA DE REYES The Day of Kings, the Celebration of the Magi. In Mexico, on January 6th, children place their shoes by their windows. If they have been good during the previous year, the Wise Men tuck gifts into their shoes during the night. Hot cocoa with cinnamon, coffee, and brown sugar. THE FRUIT OF PARADISE While Persephone visited the realm of Hades, she tasted one single pomegranate seed, an act which compelled her to remain connected to the Land of the Dead for all eternity. Demeter's grief over her beloved daughter's absence that brings on the bleakness and barrenness of the winter months. The Fruit of Paradise, the Nectar of Death: bittersweet pomegranate, nurtured and cultivated in the hollow darkness of the Underworld. GINGERBREAD POPPET 2007 Warm, cozy gingerbread spiced with nutmeg, clove and cinnamon. HALOA 2007 Sacred to both Demeter and Dionysus, this is a celebration of the of the pruning of the vines, the first fermentation of the year's wine, and of the consecration of the next year's planting. The service was lead by the heterai and the Eleusinian Arkhontes, and began with the preparation of a banquet that honors Demeter's bounty and the fertility aspect of Dionysus with pudenda- and phallus-shaped cakes. After the preliminary feast, the magistrates departed, and the heterai held a second rite that consisted of copious wine consumption, ritual symbolic fornication, and formal offerings of incense, grain, and cakes to sacred statues of the deities and to clay images of genitalia. Finally, the magistrates and priests were permitted to rejoin the ritual. A Priest and Priestess bore torches that symbolize Demeter and her daughter Persephone presided over the final ceremony, which culminated in the ultimate celebration of fertility: an orgy that lasted til dawn. Wine grapes, myrrh, frankincense and olive leaf, and the warm scent of offertory cakes. JOLASVEINAR 2007 The Jólasveinar are the seventy-some offspring of Grýla and Leppalúði, an ogre couple with a taste for chomping naughty children. This impish brood delights in causing discomfort, sowing confusion, and all-out raising hell during the Yule season. Their names are indicative of their malicious intentions -- Strap Loosener, Door Slammer, Window Peeper, Sausage Snatcher, Doorway Sniffer, Icebreaker -- and their creepy natures -- Lamp Shadow, Smoke Gulper, Crevice Imp. The devillish Jólasveinar finally cease their mischief and head for home at Þrettándinn. Their scent is a mishmash of snow, dirt, Icelandic moss, marsh felwort, and the smushed petals of buttercups and moorland spotted orchids, with the barest hint of the scent of pilfered Christmas pastries. KRAMPUS 2007 Anything BUT jolly! Draped with chains and bells, wielding both whip and rod, this rag-clad, horned, red-skinned, soot-covered leering creature is both the companion and the antithesis of rosy-cheeked and ebullient Kris Kringle. He is called by many names, and, in a myriad of cultures, he is seen with different robes and faces, but he is nevertheless always a sinister and fearsome instrument of Santa's wrath: he wields a switch on all irredeemably naughty children before tossing them into his large black sack and whisking them away. Be good, or Krampus will toss you in a river! Sinister red musk, black leather, dusty rags, and wooden switches. LA BEFANA On the night of the Epiphany, a joyful, broomstick-riding hag clad in a tattered shawl drops into chimneys all over Italy, bestowing gifts to good children, and dropping coal into the stockings of naughty kiddies. La Befana vien di notte Con le scarpe tutte rotte Col vestito alla Romana Viva, Viva La Befana! As the Three Wise Men searched for the house of the Christ child, they found themselves lost. Eventually, they stopped at a small house and knocked on the door. A small, wizened woman opened the door, holding a broom in her hand. The Astrologers asked the woman if she knew the location of the child, but, unfortunately, she did not know who these men were looking for, and could not aid them in their search. It was deep into the night, and the air was chilly, so the kindly woman offered the three men her hospitality. They spent the night in her warm, comfortable home, and shared bread and stories with one another. The Astrologers explained to the woman why they were looking for this blessed infant, and invited her to join them in their search come morning. Though she was touched by their tale, she declined, as she had a great deal of housework to do. At daybreak, the Astrologers awoke. They thanked the woman for her generosity, gathered their things, and prepared to leave. Before they departed, they, again, asked the old woman if she would like to join them on their journey. Again, she declined, and sent them on their way. After they had left, she regretted her decision, and she set off to find the Three Wise Men. After many long and frustrating hours of searching, she still could not find them. Saddened, yet still filled with hope, she stopped to give a gift to every good child she passed. La Befana comes by night With her shoes old and broken She comes dressed in the Roman way Long life to the Befana! Candy charcoal, winter lilies, parma violet, a sprig of cypress, a poof of chimney dust, and holiday sweets. LICK IT ONE MORE TIME Every holiday season should be full of lewd suggestions and filthy double entendres, right? This is a new take on Lick It and Lick It Again -- a peppermint candy cane with a flash of vanilla and an extra jolt of sugar. (As always, we have to state: don't lick perfume. Don't eat it, drink it, cook with it, or use it in any strange and unforeseen way. Black Phoenix is not responsible for that sort of irresponsible funnybusiness.) MIDWINTER'S EVE 2007 A melancholy, deep scent, poignant and brimming with nostalgia. The perfume of sugared plums over a breeze of winter flowers. MISTLETOE 2007 The plant of peace in Norse tradition. If enemies met in the forest and came upon a sprig, they laid down their arms and observed a truce until the next sunrise. NOCHE BUENA A celebration of the Nativity: the light, uplifting incense of the Misa de Noche Buena, purple sage, and a vibrant bouquet of plumeria, chrysanthemum, tuberose, Angel's Trumpet, Mexican tiger lily, dahlia, and azucenas. NOVEMBER Yet one smile more, departing, distant sun! One mellow smile through the soft vapoury air, Ere, o'er the frozen earth, the loud winds ran, Or snows are sifted o'er the meadows bare. One smile on the brown hills and naked trees, And the dark rocks whose summer wreaths are cast, And the blue Gentian flower, that, in the breeze, Nods lonely, of her beauteous race the last. Yet a few sunny days, in which the bee Shall murmur by the hedge that skim the way, The cricket chirp upon the russet lea, And man delight to linger in thy ray. Yet one rich smile, and we will try to bear The piercing winter frost, and winds, and darkened air. Autumn leaves damp beneath the first snowfall. PEACOCK QUEEN 2007 In dramatic contrast to the soft innocence of Snow White and the dew-kissed freshness of her sister, Rose Red, this is a blood red, voluptuous rose, velvet-petaled, at the height of bloom. Haughty and imperious, vain, yet incomparably lovely to the eye, but thick with thorns of jealousy, pride and hatred. ROSE RED 2007 The perfected winter rose, dew covered and freshly cut. THE SHIVERING BOY Cold, cold forever more. A winter storm roaring through empty stone halls, bearing echoes of despair, desolation, and death on its winds. The scent of frozen, dormant vineyards, bitter sleet, and piercing ozone, hurled through labdanum, benzoin, and olibanum. THE SNOW STORM Announced by all the trumpets of the sky Arrives the snow, and, driving o'er the fields, Seems nowhere to alight: the whited air Hides hills and woods, the river and the heaven, And veils the farm-house at the garden's end. The steed and traveller stopped, the courier's feet Delayed, all friends shut out, the housemates sit Around the radiant fireplace, enclosed In a tumultuous privacy of storm. Come, see the north wind's masonry. Out of an unseen quarry evermore Furnished with tile, the fierce artificer Curves his white bastions with projected roof Round every windward stake, or tree, or door. Speeding, the myriad-handed, his wild work So fanciful, so savage, naught cares he For number or proportion. Mockingly On coop or kennel he hangs Parian wreaths; A swan-like form invests the hidden thorn; Fills up the farmer's lane from wall to wall, Maugre the farmer's sighs, and at the gate A tapering turret overtops the work. And when his hours are numbered, and the world Is all his own, retiring, as he were not, Leaves, when the sun appears, astonished Art To mimic in slow structures, stone by stone Built in an age, the mad wind's night-work, The frolic architecture of the snow. Winter aconite, balsam fir, cedar leaf, and white mint. SNOW WHITE 2007 A chilly, bright perfume: flurries of virgin snow, crisp winter wind and the faintest breath of night-blooming flowers. All of our Yule seasonal blends are $18.00 each. Rose Red, Snow White, and the Peacock Queen can be purchased together for $52.00US. The Halloween blends will be available until November 15, 2007, and the Yule blends will be available until January 15, 2007. A portion of every sale of our Yule holiday perfumes will benefit AIDS Project Los Angeles. AIDS Project Los Angeles is dedicated to improving the lives of people affected by HIV disease, reducing the incidence of HIV infection, and advocating for fair and effective HIV-related public policy. On the topic of charitable causes, on October 25th, the next Lunacy set will be live, along with Sagittarius and the newest Gaiman and Gaiman / Pratchett scents! As you know, the Neil Gaiman series and the Stardust series are a not-for-profit project whose proceeds go to the CBLDF, and the Good Omens series is a not-for-profit project that benefits the Orangutan Foundation UK. To date, we have raised over $22,000 for the CBLDF and over $3000 for the orangutans! HOLIDAY SHIPPING INFORMATION Orders placed after November 15, 2007 are not guaranteed to arrive before Christmas. Please understand that the mention of Christmas, as opposed to Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Diwali, or any other winter holiday is in now way a slam on faiths other than Christianity or a snub of the winter holidays of other cultures. For the sake of retail sanity, we simply have to mention ship-times during this season with relation to Christmas. Please do not tar and feather us. SOUTHERN BELLES AND GENTLEMEN! Please visit our newest retailer, Whole Foods in Roswell, GA. Whole Foods Market aka Harry's Farmer's Market 1180 Upper Hembree Rd. Roswell, GA 770.664.6300 Located in the Whole Body Department At this time, they are currently they are carrying 12 of our general catalog scents. If you get the chance, please pay them a visit. We love the guys at Whole Foods. They’re wonderful people, a joy to work with, and we are proud to work with a company that espouses such a high ethical standards and gives so much back to the community. We will be working with them to try and accommodate BPAL and BPTP special orders, so stop by WF, say hello, and sniff some BPAL in person! A quick shout out before I collapse and / or start playing WOW: love and adoration for Julia at Arcana Soaps from Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab! She is a wonderful woman with a hell of a kick-ass product line. Between Arcana and Black Phoenix, no little kid will go without coal and candy in their stockings this year!

The Beaver Moon update is live! BLACK PHOENIX TRADING POST BLACK PHOENIX ALCHEMY LAB ++ LIMITED EDITION BEAVER MOON Traditionally, Beaver Moon is named thus for a very obvious reason: during this time of year, beavers are hard at work building their dams and preparing for the onset of winter. However, we at BPAL rarely let an opportunity for sleazy campiness pass us by! For your pleasure and amusement, we present this year’s incarnation of Beaver Moon: wild cherry with vanilla cream accord, and a hint of strawberry. SWAN MAIDEN Silent, 0 Moyle, be the roar of thy water; Break not, ye breezes, your chain of repose, While, murmuring mournfully, Lir's lovely daughter Tells to the night-star the tale of her woes. When shall the swan, her death-note singing, Sleep with wings in darkness furl'd? When will heaven, its sweet bells ringing, Call my spirit from this stormy world? Sadly, 0 Moyle, to thy winter-wave weeping, Fate bids me languish long ages away; Yet still in her darkness doth Erin lie sleeping, Still doth the pure light its dawning delay. When will that day-star, mildly springing, Warm our isle with peace and love? Call my spirit to the fields above? White gardenia, white iris, sandalwood, calla lily, French magnolia, muguet, jonquil, and orchid. SCORPIO 2007 Suspiciendo Despicio: Scorpio 2007 - 5ml Fixed Water: the essence of passion. Dark musk, wormwood, basil, dragon’s blood resin, galangal, and opoponax. Also live this month, Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab scents inspired by Shojo Beat! http://www.blackphoenixalchemylab.com/shojobeat.html The Shojo Beat scents, Midnight Kiss and Vampire Tears, will be available while supplies last. Four new pirate-themed scents have been added to the general catalogue: ++ WANDERLUST ÎLE DE LA TORTUE Home to the Brethren of the Coast and a notorious safe-haven for pirates, this island was once described as the common place of refuge for all sorts of wickedness, the seminary of pirates and thieves. Damp air trapped in limestone caverns, heady greenery, hothouse orchids, nicotiana blossoms, bois de chandel, elemi, palm wine, garambullo, pega-pega, flame of the forest, and a swirl of Haitian vetiver. WINDWARD PASSAGE Breezes blowing off of the waters of the Caribbean: marine accord, seaweed, and bladderwrack. ++ BEWITCHING BREWS KILL-DEVIL “Rum punch is not improperly called Kill-Devil; for thousands lose their lives by its means. When newcomers use it to the least excess, they expose themselves to imminent peril, for it heats the blood and brings on fevers, which in a very few hours send them to their graves.” Sugar cane, molasses, oak wood, and honey. PLUNDER The scent of a pirate’s bumboat, overflowing with stolen wares: tea leaf, cassia, cinnamon bark, clove, allspice, sandalwood, tobacco, peppercorn, and nutmeg. There will be an update in early October that will feature the Yuletide scents, new scents for the Neil Gaiman collections, new products at Black Phoenix Trading Post, and a little more this and that. - - - Oh, and whatddya know? We’ve got some forum-only scents and forum-only tees! http://www.blackphoenixtradingpost.com/forumtee.html http://www.blackphoenixalchemylab.com/forumscents.html

Ok, guys… here’s the deal. Trick or Treat will begin to ship at the beginning of next week. Because of numerous factors, the BPTP Trick or Treat orders will not be shipping in chronological order based on when they were received. Ted is going to do the best he can to keep it as close to that order as possible, but he will likely have to jump around a little to ensure that the flow of outgoing orders moves smoothly. Please do not fret if, for example, you placed your order on the 29th, and someone who ordered on the 30th gets a C&S before you do. All ToT’s will go out as quickly as possible. The corrected massage oil labels have arrived, and those orders will also start being packed this weekend. Thanks! =D

Shipping was rescaled as of the Halloween update. We rescaled shipping again as of the Halloween update; basically, we incorporated flat rate priority for midrange orders. This was supposed to take effect with the update, but there was a glitch in the system. When the USPS price hike occurred, we had to make a lot of changes on shipping that we were not happy with -- we felt the agony of the shipping price hike as much as our customers did. Since that hike, we have done our best to rescale shipping, for both domestic and international customers, as options became available. We had to change things around many, many times in our attempts to make things as reasonable and fair to our customers as possible without losing our shirt the way we did when the shipping hike first occurred. I know its been confusing -- it has been confusing for us, too -- but it was in the interest of keeping costs as low as possible. The update’s shipping change is the best we can do. The cost of our materials to ship hasn’t gone down any, we absorb much of the insurance costs and all the costs of reshipping lost packages that the USPS won’t cover despite insurance. Its been rough on our end, and I apologize if there have been any problems with our shopping cart during the period in which we implemented the changes. If you placed an order after the Halloween update went live, and the CcNow cart did not charge you correctly, please let us know via the customer service email address and we will work to rectify the situation. Please note: this is not retroactive. This was a rescale that occurred less than 24 hours ago. Thank you for your patience and understanding while we continue to work towards making this as low-priced and painless as possible.

Happy Halloween, ladies and gents! New, for the holiday season... ++ LUNACY HUNTER MOON As the winter encroaches, the time comes to embark on the last Great Hunts of the year. The deer are fattened, the fields have been reaped, and the light of the full moon illuminates the wild creatures that have come out to glean. This scent is redolent of night skies, falling leaves, and the high-pitched tension and release associated with the Hunt. Dry leaves, autumn bonfires, blood red wine, feral, animalistic notes and the chill of approaching winter. AEAEA This is her island squared in cypress lines; With cedar ranks about her alley walks Set frequent, and the faces of the boles Are crimson, deep as sunset stains of cloud. The floor between them, rank and overgrown, Is tangled with luxuriant heads of bloom, All in a mat together, mixed with sedge. There are bells of some wide wine-deep flowers, Great apple fruits and tawny orange globes; And bunchy cactus tipped in fire-bright buds. Grey aloe spikes and heavy curling vines, And speckled poison berries intertwined. Her groves lead down upon the light free waves; Her foam-heads dance and ripple into sound. The laughter of many birds is in her elms Jays, owls, sea-crows, larks, lapwings, nightingales, As jumbled as the flowers beneath their notes. The isle-grove ends abruptly on the sea, A stranded star-fish neighbors by the sward, Where the snail toils beneath his painted walls. Small seaward gust irresolute breathe near; And sweeter waftings, sent from the middle brine, Stir the deep grasses at her perfect feet, Where Circe, shining down the gaudy flowers, Leans centre-light of all this paradise. One ankle gleams against the margin turf, Just beyond where the wave-teeth cease to bite. And the sea-pinks grow less rosy at her feet. But this enchantress, island-queen, herself Bears on her head a bright tire marvelous, And for a girdle one of many dyes Woven and traced with curious pattern-spells. Her face is not at first so beautiful, That one should say ”˜Fear her, she will slay men And draw them into deaths by her strange ways, And some soft snare hid under all of her.' We must consider well upon her face, And the silent beauty of it all Begins upon us, grows and greatens on, Like sweet increasing music, chord on chord, Till all our being falters overthrown; And she lures out our soul into her hands, As faint and helpless as a new-born babe, To have her will and way with all of it. O, she, this Circe mage, is strange and great, And deadlier than those terrible bright forms, That beam out on us with their grace. Her love eats deeper to the core of men, Scathing and killing, fierce and unappeased; Until not only the divine in us, But all the human also (which indeed Are one, tho' this less perfect) fade and change, And fall corrupted into alien forms. Till we resemble those strange-headed things, Herded away behind her island throne, Chimaeras, tiger-apes, and wolfish swine. A dark ocean breeze, electric with adrenaline, magic, and fear, clashing with the thick scent of poisoned berries and spiny aloe, against a backdrop of snowdrop, cedar, and cypress. LIBRA 2007 Cardinal air: the essence of balance. Rose, black cherry, carnation, fig, honey, plum, and black currant. ++ HALLOWEEN BLENDS ALL SOULS 2007 A day of remembrance and intercession. Without the prayers and sacrifices of their families and loved ones, the faithful departed may not be cleansed of their venal sins, and thereby cannot attain beatific vision. On November 2nd, prayers are sung and offerings are made to aid lost souls in transcending purgatory. An incense blend that invokes the higher qualities of mercy and compassion, mingled with the soft, sugared currant scent of offertory soul cakes. BONFIRE NIGHT Guy Fawkes, Guy; Stick him up on high! Hang him on a lamp post And there let him die! Guy, Guy, Guy! Poke Him in the eye! Put him on the fire, And there let him die! Burn his body from his head: Then you'll say Guy Fawkes is dead! Hip, Hip, Hooray! Beer, woodsmoke, tar, and treacle. THE DEATH OF AUTUMN When reeds are dead and a straw to thatch the marshes, And feathered pampas-grass rides into the wind Like aged warriors westward, tragic, thinned Of half their tribe, and over the flattened rushes, Stripped of its secret, open, stark and bleak, Blackens afar the half-forgotten creek, -- Then leans on me the weight of the year, and crushes My heart. I know that Beauty must ail and die, And will be born again, -- but ah, to see Beauty stiffened, staring up at the sky! Oh, Autumn! Autumn! -- What is the Spring to me? Dark amber, dead leaves, khus, saffron, bitter clove, chrysanthemum, camellia, galangal, and a drop of oud. DIA DE LOS MUERTOS 2007 A joyous celebration of La Catarina, La Flaca, La Muerte... Glorious, Beautiful Death. In Mexico, death is not something to be feared or hated; She is embraced, loved, and adored. La Muerte is fêted, as the celebrant "...chases after it, mocks it, courts it, hugs it, sleeps with it; it is his favorite plaything and his most lasting love." This is a Mexican paean to La Huesuda: dry, crackling leaves, the incense smoke of altars honoring Death and the Dead, funeral bouquets, the candies, chocolates, foods and tobacco of the ofrenda, amaranth, sweet cactus blossom and desert cereus. OCTOBER AY, thou art welcome, heaven's delicious breath! When woods begin to wear the crimson leaf, And suns grow meek, and the meek suns grow brief And the year smiles as it draws near its death. Wind of the sunny south! oh, still delay In the gay woods and in the golden air, Like to a good old age released from care, Journeying, in long serenity, away. In such a bright, late quiet, would that I Might wear out life like thee, 'mid bowers and brooks And dearer yet, the sunshine of kind looks, And music of kind voices ever nigh; And when my last sand twinkled in the glass, Pass silently from men, as thou dost pass. Dry, cold autumn wind. A rustle of red leaves, a touch of smoke and sap in the air. SAMHAIN 2007 Truly the scent of autumn itself -- damp woods, fir needle, and black patchouli with the gentlest touches of warm pumpkin, clove, nutmeg, allspice, sweet red apple and mullein. SAMHAINOPHOBIA 2007 The fear of Halloween. Menacing Haitian vetiver, patchouli, and clove with a shock of bourbon geranium, grim oakmoss, and dread-inspiring balsams pierce the innocuous scent of autumn leaves. SUGAR SKULL 2007 Vibrant with the joy and sweetness of life in death! A blend of five sugars, lightly dusted with candied fruits. ++ HALLOWEEN: the HAUNTED HOUSE We're going back to our campy, spooky roots with the Haunted House Collection! Seven Guignolesque, chilling atmospheric blends are being offered for your pleasure and amusement. THE ATROCIOUS ATTIC A shadowy shrine filled with forgotten toys, broken dolls. The altar: a collapsing trunk distended by a rotted wedding gown. The air of the room is dusty, laced with the scent of a child's perfume and the remnants of a dried, crumbling bridal bouquet: tea rose, violet, white sandalwood, French lavender, and Calla lily. THE CHILLING CELLAR Wine just turning to vinegar, crumbling mortar, red clay, and the coppery tang of old blood. THE FORBIDDING FOYER Thick shadows hang heavy across fungus-smeared, dilapidated wainscoting, cobwebs hang like fine lace across sagging mouldings, rats scuttle past gaping doorways. The faint scent of brimstone, ghostly breath laced with cognac, neglected mahogany panels, and rot. THE GHASTLY GARDEN Overgrown oleander, marshy water hemlock, the sugared nectar of carnivorous blooms, putrefying wet greenery, oozing sap, crushed rosary peas, withered climbing roses, and nightshade berries. THE LURID LIBRARY The incense-tinged scent of forbidden tomes and the musk-laden remnants of infernal servants. THE PERILOUS PARLOR A memory of pleasure passed. A ghostly rendezvous, delight beyond death. Faint echoes of laughter and the distorted music of a harp drift by, along with the scent of soft white pear and sweet vanilla. THE TWISTED OAK TREE Blackened, rotted oak wood blanketed in moss and choked by a cloak of grasping ivy. ++ HALLOWEEN: the PUMPKIN PATCH The 'Patch is back, with five new pumpkin blends to choose from. Pick individual pumpkins from the field, or snatch up the whole bushel! PUMPKIN I Pumpkin with pear, white wine grapes, and jasmine-laced tea. PUMPKIN II Pumpkin with tobacco, champaca flower, carnation, and tonka. PUMPKIN III Pumpkin with white chocolate, caramel, pomegranate, and cream. PUMPKIN IV Pumpkin with cactus blossom, sage, and sweetgrass. PUMPKIN V Pumpkin with benzoin, bourbon vanilla, lemon peel, neroli, blood orange, and red ginger. PUMPKIN PLUNDER SET If you purchase Pumpkin Plunder, you will receive an imp of a Murder of Crows: a scent created to compliment and complete the collection. What is a pumpkin field without crows? A Murder of Crows Sleek iris and verbena, grey amber, benzoin, davana, and glossy herbs. The general catalogue also has a few new additions: ++ BEWITCHING BREWS EVENT HORIZON A disconcerting scent, heavy and oppressive, through which no light, no matter, and no spirit can escape. Black opium, labdanum, opoponax, black orchid, and benzoin. MARY READ Salt air, ocean mist, aged patchouli, sarsaparilla, watered-down rum, leather-tinged musk, and a spray of gunpowder. SCHRODINGER'S CAT One can even set up quite ridiculous cases. A cat is penned up in a steel chamber, along with the following diabolical device (which must be secured against direct interference by the cat): in a Geiger counter there is a tiny bit of radioactive substance, so small that perhaps in the course of one hour one of the atoms decays, but also, with equal probability, perhaps none; if it happens, the counter tube discharges and through a relay releases a hammer which shatters a small flask of hydrocyanic acid. If one has left this entire system to itself for an hour, one would say that the cat still lives if meanwhile no atom has decayed. The first atomic decay would have poisoned it. The Psi function for the entire system would express this by having in it the living and the dead cat (pardon the expression) mixed or smeared out in equal parts. It is typical of these cases that an indeterminacy originally restricted to the atomic domain becomes transformed into macroscopic indeterminacy, which can then be resolved by direct observation. That prevents us from so naively accepting as valid a "blurred model" for representing reality. In itself it would not embody anything unclear or contradictory. There is a difference between a shaky or out-of-focus photograph and a snapshot of clouds and fog banks. A paradoxical scent experiment! -- tangerine, sugared lime, pink grapefruit, oakmoss, lavender, zdravetz, and chocolate peppermint. No cats were mistreated during the formulation of this paradox, or in the process of creating this perfume. KUBLA KHAN In Xanadu did Kubla Khan A stately pleasure-dome decree: Where Alph, the sacred river, ran Through caverns measureless to man Down to a sunless sea. So twice five miles of fertile ground With walls and towers were girdled round: And there were gardens bright with sinuous rills, Where blossomed many an incense-bearing tree; And here were forests ancient as the hills, Enfolding sunny spots of greenery. But oh! that deep romantic chasm which slanted Down the green hill athwart a cedarn cover! A savage place! as holy and enchanted As e'er beneath a waning moon was haunted By woman wailing for her demon-lover! And from this chasm, with ceaseless turmoil seething, As if this earth in fast thick pants were breathing, A mighty fountain momently was forced: Amid whose swift half-intermitted burst Huge fragments vaulted like rebounding hail, Or chaffy grain beneath the thresher's flail: And 'mid these dancing rocks at once and ever It flung up momently the sacred river. Five miles meandering with a mazy motion Through wood and dale the sacred river ran, Then reached the caverns measureless to man, And sank in tumult to a lifeless ocean: And 'mid this tumult Kubla heard from far Ancestral voices prophesying war! The shadow of the dome of pleasure Floated midway on the waves; Where was heard the mingled measure From the fountain and the caves. It was a miracle of rare device, A sunny pleasure-dome with caves of ice! A damsel with a dulcimer In a vision once I saw: It was an Abyssinian maid, And on her dulcimer she played, Singing of Mount Abora. Could I revive within me Her symphony and song, To such a deep delight 'twould win me That with music loud and long I would build that dome in air, That sunny dome! those caves of ice! And all who heard should see them there, And all should cry, Beware! Beware! His flashing eyes, his floating hair! Weave a circle round him thrice, And close your eyes with holy dread, For he on honey-dew hath fed And drunk the milk of Paradise. Through sunlit caves of ice, roses unfurl amidst dancing waves of serpentine opium smoke and amber tobacco, golden sandalwood, champaca, tea leaf, sugared lily, ginger, rich hay absolute, leather, dark vanilla, mandarin, peru balsam, and Moroccan jasmine. ++ ARS MORIENDI EPITAPH Heap not on this mound Roses that she loved so well: Why bewilder her with roses, That she cannot see or smell? She is happy where she lies With the dust upon her eyes. Roses and funeral lilies perceived, faintly, through an indistinct, ghostly mist. THE PHANTOM WOOER A ghost, that loved a lady fair, Ever in the starry air Of midnight at her pillow stood; And, with a sweetness skies above The luring words of human love, Her soul the phantom wooed. Sweet and sweet is their poisoned note, The little snakes' of silver throat, In mossy skulls that nest and lie, Ever singing "die, oh! die." Young soul, put off your flesh, and come With me into the quiet tomb, Our bed is lovely, dark, and sweet; The earth will swing us, as she goes, Beneath our coverlid of snows, And the warm leaden sheet. Dear and dear is their poisoned note, The little snakes' of silver throat, In mossy skulls that nest and lie, Ever singing "die, oh! die." A lifeless love song: stargazer lily, bone dust, tomb mosses, buttonweed, moonflower, and honey myrtle. ++ DIABOLUS A COUNTENANCE FORBODING EVIL Thy gloomy features, like a midnight dial, Scowl the dark index of a fearful hour. Patchouli, ylang ylang, blood orange, and vetiver. GOBLIN Dab a bit behind each ear, and you'll be instantly inspired to alter street signs, shake fruit from your neighbor's trees, and hide your roommate's car keys. Black coconut, gnarly patchouli, and sweet benzoin. INCUBUS As if, with beasts' eyes, angels led The way, I slip back to your bed, Quiet as a hooded light, Hushed by the shadows of the night. And then, my dark one, you shall soon Embrace the cold beams of the moon, Around a fresh grave, the chilling hiss Of serpent coiled shall be my kiss. When morning shows his livid face Your bed shall feel my empty place, As cold as death, till fall of night. Others take tenderness to wife: Dread gives away your youth and life To me, to be bride of fright. Spectral white musk and the heart-stopping chill of sheared mint, fanned by caramel-touched body heat, and the diabolical sensuality of black musk, nicotiana, and sage. TROLL They call me Troll; Gnawer of the Moon, Giant of the Gale-blasts, Curse of the rain-hall, Companion of the Sibyl, Nightroaming hag, Swallower of the loaf of heaven. What is a Troll but that? A lurching, hateful, bitter scent. This is a gruesome blend of ghastly greens and blacks: vetiver, pine pitch, troll musk, black basil, clove smoke, and scorched cumin. ++ RAPPACCINI'S GARDEN HAIRY TOAD LILY Spotty, hairy, purple, sweet! ++ WANDERLUST HAVANA Date palm, dried tobacco, snakeroot, and leather. ++ EXCOLO HI'IAKA Sister to Pele, Patroness of Hula Dancers, she is a Lady of Hawa'ii, and is caretaker, mother, and beloved of the land itself. The heart of the forest beats along with Her dance, and the air is suffused with Her scent: mai'a, hibiscus, white ginger, akala, na'u, Hawaiian moon flower, yellow ilima, pink lokelani, jewel orchid, and fringed orchid. As I mentioned before, over the next few months, there is going to be a lot of movement on the Black Phoenix site. This month, the Voodoo Blends section was been assimilated into Bewitching Brews to make some room for an upcoming category: Märchen. Sometimes I think BB should be subcategorized completely, but I still haven't made my mind up about it. The pirates really should get their own subsection. Or section. Its hard being a Pisces sometimes. I think to myself.. is it weird that Mata Hari is hanging out with the Jersey Devil? Some additional information... Hunter Moon and Aeaea are $17.50, and Libra 2007 is $20.00. Hunter Moon, Aeaea, and Libra 2007 will be live until Wednesday, August 29, 2007. All of our Halloween seasonal blends, including the Haunted House scents and the Pumpkins are $17.50 each. The Haunted House can be purchased in a full set for $120, and the Pumpkin Patch can be purchased in a full set for $86. Purchase of a Pumpkin Plunder set (the complete collection of Pumpkins) comes with an imp's ear of Murder of Crows. The Halloween blends will be available until November 15, 2007. Orders placed after October 7, 2007 are not guaranteed to arrive before Halloween. And here's what's new at Black Phoenix Trading Post! -- + LUNACY First things first! For your pleasure, we are offering this month's Lunacy tee in three styles: chocolate brown crew neck, chocolate brown babydoll v-neck, and heather green babydoll ringer. Hunter Moon will be available until Thursday, August 30. + HALLOWEEN: TRICK OR TREAT It may be August, but here at the Trading Post, the Halloween season is starting! This means, of course, that the Trick or Treat Inquisition is back! What'll it be this year, kids? Will you be gorging yourself on candy or cleaning egg off of your front door? Let the Alchemy Lab Imps and Trading Post Goblins decide! + HALLOWEEN: LIMITED EDITION SOAPS Silk Road Trading Company and Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab have come together to create a miniseries of gleefully creepy soaps just in time for Halloween! Soaps have been created with two of Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab's most popular Halloween blends: Samhain and Sugar Skull. The scents Cauldron Gunk and Pumpkin were formulated specifically for this project. Your skin will be silky, you will smell spooky'riffic, and your conscience will be clean, too! 100 bars have been made of each scent, and once they're gone, they're gone. + HALLOWEEN: LIMITED EDITION CRYPT QUEEN PERFUME AND COFFIN SET The oil is presented in a sturdy gold-gilded resin coffin unique to Black Phoenix Trading Post. The coffin is 2 3/4" wide x 5 1/2" long x 2" deep, and can hold at least 45 imp's ears laid out in repose. CRYPT QUEEN As sweet as death, as deep as the grave: pomegranate, raspberry, gardenia, plum, and rose with patchouli, black pepper, rose musk, and a hint of blood accord. Available while supplies last. Also new at Black Phoenix Trading Post... ++ BLACK PHOENIX MASSAGE OILS These gentle, balancing massage oils were created with the finest environmentally-responsible and body-friendly ingredients. They are vegan, and are blissfully lacking in harsh chemicals or unwholesome fillers. Our massage oils are paraben and formaldehyde free, and do not contain sodium lauryl or sodium laureth sulfate. Our labels are printed on an Earth-friendly corn biopolymer. These luxurious oils absorb well, granting you the power of the aromatherapeutic properties of the essential oils, as well as the healing and soothing aspects of the base oils' health-affirming properties. ... and the smooth, even texture of the blends are easy on your masseuse's hands! Handmade by Black Phoenix. As always, no animals were harmed during the creation of this product, and all products were tested on friends and family. ++ BLACK PHOENIX NAIL POLISH Synesthesia! These are our interpretations of Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab perfumes, expressed through color. Black Phoenix nail lacquer is quick drying and chip resistant. Our formula is free of toluene, DBP, and formaldehyde, providing you with excellent long-lasting color without sacrificing your health or the environment to do so! And that's that!

Have you tried Dorian? Sorry; personal favorite.

In limited quantities, the following will be available at our booth at Bat’s Day (in addition to a selection of our current LE’s and General Catalogue)… BPAL LE Door 13 LE The Queen’s Salon BPTP Nail Polishes (Yep! They’re finally going live in the next update!) Massage Oil: Terrae (The first in a series of elemental massage oils.)

Neil Gaiman is a wonderful man, and Stardust is a wonderful movie. The script is both beautiful and clever, the acting is extraordinary, and it is a visually stunning film. The whole experience is a pleasure. The truth is, Stardust is the best damned movie that I have seen in YEARS, and you will be doing yourself a horrible disservice if you don't see it in the theatre.

As you guys may know, many of the Labbies make an annual pilgrimage to the San Diego Comic Con. This one happens to overlap with a full moon, so Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab and Black Phoenix Trading Post are putting up their Lunacy offerings a little early. The scents and shirt will be live on their respective sites from 7/24 til 7/31. The tee: The scents: SINGING MOON Green, in the wizard arms Of the foam-bearded Atlantic, An isle of old enchantment, A melancholy isle, Enchanted and dreaming lies; And there, by Shannon's flowing, In the moonlight, spectre-thin, The spectre Erin sits. An aged desolation, She sits by old Shannon's flowing, A mother of many children, Of children exiled and dead, In her home, with bent head, homeless, Clasping her knees she sits, Keening, keening! And at her keen the fairy-grass Trembles on dun and barrow; Around the foot of her ancient crosses The grave-grass shakes and the nettle swings; In haunted glens the meadow-sweet Flings to the night wind Her mystic mournful perfume; The sad spearmint by holy wells Breathes melancholy balm. Sometimes she lifts her head, With blue eyes tearless, And gazes athwart the reek of night Upon things long past, Upon things to come. And sometimes, when the moon Brings tempest upon the deep, The roused Atlantic thunders from his caverns in the west, The wolfhound at her feet Springs up with a mighty bay, And chords of mystery sound from the wild harp at her side, Strung from the hearts of poets; And she flies on the wings of tempest With grey hair streaming: A meteor of evil omen, The spectre of hope forlorn, Keening, keening! She keens, and the strings of her wild harp shiver On the gusts of night: O'er the four waters she keens—over Moyle she keens, O'er the Sea of Milith, and the Strait of Strongbow, And the Ocean of Columbus. And the Fianna hear, and the ghosts of her cloudy hovering heroes; And the swan, Fianoula, wails o'er the waters of Inisfail, Chanting her song of destiny, The rune of weaving Fates. And the nations hear in the void and quaking time of night, Sad unto dawning, dirges, Solemn dirges, And snatches of bardic song; Their souls quake in the void and quaking time of night, And they dream of the weird of kings, And tyrannies moulting, sick, In the dreadful wind of change. Wail no more, lonely one, mother of exiles, wail no more, Banshee of the world—no more! The sorrows are the world's, though art no more alone; Thy wrongs, the world's. Moonlight over grave grass, meadowsweet, marsh hellebore, rock sea-lavender, Irish Lady's-tresses, melancholy thistle, and wood bitter-vetch, with the scent of autumn fires in the distance, sprayed by wind howling over the Atlantic. THE EMATHIDES The chosen Muse here ends her sacred lays; The nymphs unanimous decree the bays, And give the Heliconian Goddesses the praise. Then, far from vain that we shou'd thus prevail, But much provok'd to hear the vanquish'd rail, Calliope resumes: Too long we've born Your daring taunts, and your affronting scorn; Your challenge justly merited a curse, And this unmanner'd railing makes it worse. Since you refuse us calmly to enjoy Our patience, next our passions we'll employ; The dictates of a mind enrag'd pursue, And, what our just resentment bids us, do. The railers laugh, our threats and wrath despise, And clap their hands, and make a scolding noise: But in the fact they're seiz'd; beneath their nails Feathers they feel, and on their faces scales; Their horny beaks at once each other scare, Their arms are plum'd, and on their backs they bear Py'd wings, and flutter in the fleeting air. Chatt'ring, the scandal of the woods they fly, And there continue still their clam'rous cry: The same their eloquence, as maids, or birds, Now only noise, and nothing then but words. Gleaming eyes, screeching voices, glistening wings: black amber, black orchid, black currant, olive blossom, wood violet, lavender, blue musk, rose attar, and cedar. VIRGO 2007 Mutable earth: the essence of analysis. Fennel, valerian, maidenhair fern, carrot seed, honeysuckle, and myrtle. Tonight, some of our 4oz memorabilia bottles will be going up on eBay. If you’re going to the Con, please stop by the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund charity auction or come by their booth (1831). Your shopping thirst will be slaked, and the money will go to a very, very worthy cause! Fret not: while some of us are at Comic Con, it will still be business as usual at Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab. Emails will be answered, orders will be packed and shipped.

Sarah Coleman did the artwork for Stardust, and Julie Dillon did the artwork for Good Omens. =)

13, the Gibbous Moon, and the Sportive Sun will be live until July 15, 2007. =)

BLACK PHOENIX TRADING POST Black Phoenix Trading Post has a hell of an update this month! First off, here be Red Moon – August’s Lunacy tee: We have one small addition to the permanent catalogue. It is the third in our LE Commemorative set, and this one is dedicated to the entire A Little Lunacy series: Six new soaps have been added to the suds line, courtesy of the fine folks at Silk Road Trading Company: AL AZIF BORDELLO CHESHIRE CAT MOXIE PERVERSION TKO Due to the cost of the components of the soaps, Moxie and TKO are $10.50 each. All other soaps are $8.50US. Within the next few weeks, several garments are being added, as well as an expansion to our bath and body line and some interesting bits of tchotch! - - - BLACK PHOENIX ALCHEMY LAB This month’s Lunacies: RED MOON August is a month of reflection. It is the month of rest before the harvest, and it holds for us a time between toils, a brief period of relaxation before we take up the burden of our work again. It is the Time of the Phoenix, a season of celebrating health, vitality, warmth and joy, but it is also the time at which the Corn God dies for the sake of the land, his blood soaking the earth to ensure a bountiful harvest in the fall. The Full Red Moon of August was named thus by some Native American tribes because as the moon rises, it dons a reddish veil, visible through the hot, sweltering summer evening haze. Our blend for this Moon mixes traditional lunar oils with the warmth of amber, red musk, and heliotrope, the russet haze of dragon's blood resin, sunflower, and crushed orange peel, with a dusting of summertime herbs: chamomile, rue, elder flower and marigold. ALLISON GROSS O ALLISON GROSS, that lives in yon towr, The ugliest witch i' the north country, Has trysted me ae day up till her bowr, An monny fair speech she made to me. She stroaked my head, an she kembed my hair, An she set me down saftly on her knee; Says, Gin ye will be my lemman so true, Sae monny braw things as I woud you gi. She showd me a mantle o red scarlet, Wi gouden flowrs an fringes fine; Says, Gin ye will be my lemman so true, This goodly gift it sal be thine. ‘Awa, awa, ye ugly witch, Haud far awa, an lat me be; I never will be your lemman sae true, An I wish I were out o your company.’ She neist brought a sark o the saftest silk, Well wrought wi pearles about the ban; Says, Gin you will be my ain true love, This goodly gift you sal comman. She showd me a cup of the good red gold, Well set wi jewls sae fair to see; Says, Gin you will be my lemman sae true, This goodly gift I will you gi. ‘Awa, awa, ye ugly witch, Had far awa, and lat me be; For I woudna ance kiss your ugly mouth For a’ the gifts that ye coud gi.’ She’s turnd her right and roun about, An thrice she blaw on a grass-green horn, An she sware by the meen and the stars abeen, That she’d gar me rue the day I was born. Then out has she taen a silver wand, An she’s turnd her three times roun an roun; She’s mutterd sich words till my strength it faild, An I fell down senceless upon the groun. She’s turnd me into an ugly worm, And gard me toddle about the tree; An ay, on ilka Saturdays night, My sister Maisry came to me, Wi silver bason an silver kemb, To kemb my heady upon her knee; But or I had kissd her ugly mouth, I’d rather a toddled about the tree. But as it fell out on last Hallow-even, When the Seely court was ridin by, The queen lighted down on a gowany bank, Nae far frae the tree where I wont to lye. She took me up in her milk-white han, An she’s stroakd me three times oer her knee; She chang’d me again to my ain proper shape, An I nae mair maun toddle about the tree. Witch-herbs, crushed golden flowers, and a man-made-dragon’s surly musk lightened by the scent of the blossoms and unearthly incense that clings to the Faerie Queen’s hair. Dragon’s blood musk, ambergris, sunflower, chrysanthemum, muguet, and rue, with gingered lily, moonflower, bluebell, peony, nightwort, and white rose. And this month’s astrological blend: LEO Fixed Fire: the essence of pride. Egyptian amber, walnut bark, chamomile, frankincense, and saffron. Red Moon 2007, Allison Gross, and Leo will be live until July 2, 2007. Two other Limited Edition scents are live: Mine are the night and morning, The pits of air, the gulf of space, The sportive sun, the gibbous moon, The innumerable days. I hid in the solar glory, I am dumb in the pealing song, I rest on the pitch of the torrent, In slumber I am strong. THE SPORTIVE SUN Heliotrope, amber, almond flower, frangipani, cedar, and calamus. THE GIBBOUS MOON Moonflower, Madonna lily, orris, white ginger, cucumber, hyacinth, and Irish moss. The Sun and Moon will be live until July 15, 2007. - - - Aaaaaaaaaaaand… two new sections have been added to the site: GOOD OMENS AND STARDUST! ++ GOOD OMENS AGNES NUTTER The mind of Agnes Nutter was so far adrift in Time that she was considered pretty mad even by the standards of seventeenth-century Lancashire, where mad prophetesses were a growth industry. Gunpowder, charred wood, smoke, and rusty nails. AZIRAPHALE Many people, meeting Aziraphale for the first time, formed three impressions: that he was English, that he was intelligent, and that he was gayer than a tree full of monkeys on nitrous oxide. Two of these were wrong; Heaven is not England, whatever certain poets may have thought, and angels are sexless unless they really want to make an effort. Ethereal musk, blonde woods, and dusty Bible accord. CROWLEY Nothing about him looked particularly demonic, at least by classical standards. No horns, no wings. Admittedly he was listening to a Best of Queen tape, but no conclusions should be drawn from this because all tapes left in a car for more than a fortnights metamorphose into Best of Queen albums. No particularly demonic thoughts were going through his head. In fact, he was wondering vaguely who Moey and Chandon were. Crowley had dark hair, and good cheekbones, and he was wearing snakeskin shoes, or at least presumably he was wearing shoes, and he could do really weird things with his tongue. And, whenever he forgot himself, he had a tendency to hiss. Infernal musk, red patchouli, lilac cologne, mahogany, lemon rind, oakmoss, leather, and vanilla husk. SHADWELL Shadwell had turned out to be about five feet high and wore clothes which, no matter what they actually were, always turned up in your short-term memory as an old mackintosh. The old man may have all his own teeth, but only because no-one else could possibly have wanted them; just one of them, placed under the pillow, would have made the Tooth Fairy hand in its wand. He appeared to live entirely on sweet tea, condensed milk, hand-rolled cigarettes, and a sort of sullen internal energy. Shadwell had a Cause, while he followed with the full resources of his soul and his Pensioner's Concessionary Travel Pass. He believed in it. It powered him like a turbine. Roll-ups, mildewed raincoat, sweet tea, and condensed milk. WAR She finished the drink, hefted the sword over one shoulder, and looked around at the puzzled factions, who now encircled her completely. 'Sorry to run out on you, chaps,' she said. 'Would love to stay and get to know you better.' The men in the room suddenly realized they didn't want to know her better. She was beautiful, but she was beautiful in the way a forest fire was beautiful: something to be admired from a distance, but not up close. And she held her sword, and she smiled like a knife. Red ginger, black spices, patchouli, honeysuckle, and three blood-soaked red musks. ++ STARDUST FAIRY MARKET "Eyes, eyes! New eyes for old!" shouted a tiny woman in front of a table covered with bottles and jars filled with eyes of every kind and color. "Instruments of music from a hundred lands!" "Penny whistles! Tuppenny hums! Threepenny choral anthems!" "Try your luck! Step right up! Answer a simple riddle and win a wind-flower!" "Everlasting lavender! Bluebell cloth!" "Bottled dreams, a shilling a bottle!" "Coats of night! Coats of twilight! Coats of dusk!" "Swords of fortune! Wands of power! Rings of eternity! Cards of grace! Roll-up, roll-up, step this way!" "Salves and ointments, philtres and nostrums!" Otherworldy golden incense, blooming wind-flowers, everlasting lavender, bluebell, a faint whiff of exotic sugared candies, and fae mist upon wet green grass. TRISTRAN Tristran put down his wooden cup of tea, and stood up, offended. "What," he asked, in what he was certain were lofty and scornful tones, "would possibly make you imagine that my lady-love would have sent me on some foolish errand?" The little man stared up at him with eyes like beads of jet. "Because that's the only reason a lad like you would be stupid enough to cross the border into Faerie. The only ones who ever come here from your lands are the minstrels, and the lovers, and the mad. And you don't look like much of a minstrel, and you're - pardon me saying so, lad, but it's true - ordinary as cheese-crumbs. So it's love, if you ask me." "Because," announces Tristran, "every lover is in his heart a madman, and in his head a minstrel." Dust on your trousers, mud on your boots, and stars in your eyes: redwood, tonka bean, white sandalwood, lemon peel, patchouli, rosewood, coriander, and crushed mint. VICTORIA Every boy in the village was in love with Victoria Forester. And many a sedate gentleman, quietly married with grey in his beard, would stare at her as she walked down the street, becoming, for a few moments, a boy once more, in the spring of his years with a spring in his step. Graceful vanilla musk, tea rose, and stargazer lily. THE WITCH QUEEN On a rocky mountain pass, on the southernmost slopes of Mount Belly, the witch-queen reined in her goat-drawn chariot and stopped and sniffed the chilly air. The myriad stars hung cold in the sky above her. Her red, red lips curved up into a smile of such beauty, such brilliance, such pure and perfect happiness that it would have frozen your blood in your veins to have seen it. "There," she said. "She is coming to me." And the wind of the mountain pass howled about her triumphantly, as if in answer. Wild plum, red musk, tuberose, calla lily, heliotrope, pimento, ylang ylang and beeswax beneath a dark haze of sinister purple-hued incense smoke. YVAINE She was sprawled, awkwardly, beneath the hazel tree, and she gazed up at Tristran with a scowl of complete unfriendliness. She hefted another clod of mud at him, menacingly, but did not throw it. Her eyes were red and raw. Her hair was so fair it was almost white, her dress was of blue silk which shimmered in the candlelight. She glittered as she sat there. The high, crystalline scent of a star-filled night with blue lavender and lush magnolia. I cannot thank Mr. Gaiman, Mr. Pratchett, or the guys at Paramount enough for the trust they have shown us, and a million, trillion thanks to Messrs Gaiman and Pratchett for the opportunity to translate their stories within our medium! Both the Good Omens and Stardust series are charitable, not-for-profit ventures. Proceeds from every single bottle from the Stardust series go to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, and proceeds from every single bottle from the Good Omens series are split between the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund and the Orangutan Foundation UK. Stardust, the film, will be premiering in the US on August 10, 2007! Artwork on the Good Omens page is by the lovely Julie Dillon, and the artwork on the Stardust page is by our snugglewumpus, Jennifer Williamson. - - - As you have probably noticed, there have been a few changes to the Black Phoenix web site. We’re working on a bit of summertime cleaning – polishing up the old, dolling up the new – so, over the next few updates, some of the oft-neglected areas of the site are going to (finally!) be updated, too. - - - And, as always, there will be more of this, that, and the other (at Alchemy Lab and Trading Post) in the upcoming months!

We’re going to be running a clothing donation drive at both the East Coast and West Coast will calls, benefiting local women’s shelters. If you bring a clean, usable piece of clothing to will call, we will add it to our donation. In return for your generosity, you will receive a small thank you present (in concert with the last update’s theme) from the Lab. The first 25 people that bring a clothing donation will receive an extra-speshul themed package. One gift per customer, regardless of how much you donate. We want to make sure we have enough for everyone!

INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING RESCALE As you know, on May 14, 2007, the USPS shot their international Priority shipping through the roof. At that time, we had to make adjustments to our shipping grid to reflect the spike in shipping cost. After a huge amount of experimentation, pestering postal workers, and talking to USPS reps, we have found a solution for small to medium orders. The rescaled shipping is thus: One 5ml = 1 item Twelve imps = 1 item If you purchase 12 items or less (in any combination of imps and 5mls), these are the shipping rates: $11 to Canada $13 to Western Europe & Australasia If you live outside these areas, or are placing an order larger than 12 items, please email us for rates. We wish we would have been able to implement this sooner, but we couldn’t jump the gun on it. We wanted to test these procedures, as they are not posted on the USPS site – basically, we had to make sure everyone’s orders wouldn’t be shipped back to us. Now that we know it’ll work, and its on the up and up, we can move forward with the adjusted rates.

We will be sponsoring (and vending at) Bat’s Day this year, and will be helpin’ out at Pyrate Con. http://www.batsday.net/ http://www.myspace.com/pyratecon If you can make it, please come hang out. =)

Since the Lunacy (Thunder Moon) went up so early this month, we have a little surprise in store, in lieu of the traditional Loon scents, for the next full moon update. Unfortunately, we have some bad news. In order to keep things manageable at Black Phoenix, and to make room for two new sub-series, we’re going to have to kill off the Tarot and Sephiroth oils. To put it bluntly, those two series simply don’t sell, and we don’t want to keep unloved oils on the shelf. They will be coming down when the next Lunacy update goes live. Thank you for understanding! (To clarify: when the next Lunacy goes live, the Tarots and Sephiroth will no longer be available.)