Shadows of What May Be

[Gwydion]

SHADOWS OF WHAT MAY BE
The Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come conveyed him, as before—though at a different time, he thought: indeed, there seemed no order in these latter visions, save that they were in the Future—into the resorts of business men, but showed him not himself. Indeed, the Spirit 82did not stay for anything, but went straight on, as to the end just now desired, until besought by Scrooge to tarry for a moment.

“This court,” said Scrooge, “through which we hurry now, is where my place of occupation is, and has been for a length of time. I see the house. Let me behold what I shall be, in days to come!”

The Spirit stopped; the hand was pointed elsewhere.

“The house is yonder,” Scrooge exclaimed. “Why do you point away?”

The inexorable finger underwent no change.

Scrooge hastened to the window of his office, and looked in. It was an office still, but not his. The furniture was not the same, and the figure in the chair was not himself. The Phantom pointed as before.

He joined it once again, and wondering why and whither he had gone, accompanied it until they reached an iron gate. He paused to look round before entering.

A churchyard. Here, then; the wretched man whose name he had now to learn, lay underneath the ground. It was a worthy place. Walled in by houses; overrun by grass and weeds, the growth of vegetation’s death, not life; choked up with too much burying; fat with repleted appetite. A worthy place!

The Spirit stood among the graves, and pointed down to One. He advanced towards it trembling. The Phantom was exactly as it had been, but he dreaded that he saw new meaning in its solemn shape.

“Before I draw nearer to that stone to which you point,” said Scrooge, “answer me one question. Are these the shadows of the things that Will be, or are they shadows of things that May be, only?”

Still the Ghost pointed downward to the grave by which it stood.

“Men’s courses will foreshadow certain ends, to which, if persevered in, they must lead,” said Scrooge. “But if the courses be departed from, the ends will change. Say it is thus with what you show me!”

The Spirit was immovable as ever.

Scrooge crept towards it, trembling as he went; and following the finger, read upon the stone of the neglected grave his own name, Ebenezer Scrooge.

A deserted, dismal grave: upturned earth, overgrown grass, and dead weeds.

In bottle: They aren’t kidding. Rich, damp loam with a mix of grass and weeds. It’s exactly as promised strong, sharp, viscous. I love this. Wet: The weeds get more interesting and complex, while the loam comes fully into it’s own. If you like dirt note scents, this would be a must have. There is a hint of something smokey in the greenery that emerges as it warms. Dry: Dirst and dried greenery. Mmmmm…. Nice.

[cfrancesca]

Lots of grass and damp dirt! I'm also getting a little bit of smoke in the background. It literally smells like I've been rolling around in the grass and dirt. I was expecting this to be darker scent, but it's actually very fresh-smelling to me, especially the grass, which has a light lemony edge on my skin. I might look for a partial bottle of this one.

[Little Bird]

I'm fond of earthy scents, and I really like this one and find it different from all of the bpal earth blends that I already own. This is darker, heavier, and more intense, I think. It smells like clawing your way up under an overturned tree and getting covered in all sorts of dirt, rocks, and roots, with a little hint of dying grass in there somewhere. There's also a hint of something dry in here that smells like dust-incense and stone (and reminds me of Villainess's Cobwebs perfume). It smells deliciously dark and creepy. I feel sort of intense and dangerous wearing this, which is awesome, lol.

 

I wasn't expecting too much of this (was just expecting to like it and enjoy my decant), but this might actually be my favorite of this year's Yules, and I'll probably get a full bottle or two at some point.

[bheansidhe]

This is amazing! It smells like the bastard love child of Graveyard Dirt and Ouija - one of my favorite GCs. Ouija always smells like very strong brewed black tea and polished wood furniture to me, and Graveyard Dirt has all that pillowy black loam. I get both of those in Shadows. The "weeds" smell more like bouquets of dried aromatic herbs hanging way in the background, with nothing directly identifiable.

 

Also, amazing when layered next to Christmas Eve in the Counting House - the hearth and loam blend so well. I smell like an earth elemental.

[Schmoozy]

Grass, soil and air. It's kinda on the sweet side and I attribute that to the airy feel. It's not bad, just not for me.

[strahlend]

I love earthy scents.

That said, some of the earthy blends I come across end up smelling like soapy dirt (off the top of my head I'm thinking of Worm Moon & Planting Moon). To my nose Shadows of What May Be fits into the "clean dirt" category. Like someone spilled a mountain air scented laundry soap on a mound of freshly turned earth. I really want to like this scent, but it's not working for me.

[SophieCedar]

Mmmm.. This is unsavory gravediggers minus the booze. aka: SFW unsavory gravediggers! I love the combination of dry green and wet earth. Has a lovely morbid bitterness.

[dronzeka]

Oh, wow. I've never really tried earth scents before, but thought this might be a good chance to do so, so threw one into my Yules decant circle order. And, um, well, I've discovered that my instinct warning me away from earth scents was probably a good one...

 

Actually, this starts out awful on me, but gets a lot better. In the vial and wet, I find this incredibly[/] dank and sour. (You know, I'd figured "dead weeds" in the description were one of those things where Beth makes it sound really horrible, but in fact it smells wonderful. Actually? It smells like dead weeds...)

 

As it dries, though, it really does smell like dirt and (less noxious) weeds. The dirt is still slightly sour for my tastes, and I guess I'm not sure that I, personally, will ever quite feel like smelling like this. But that's more about my tastes than about this scent. If you like BPAL's dirt scents, I think you will like this. (I can't compare it to others in terms of lightness/heaviniess - it's just straight up dirt to me.)

 

So, yeah, pretty much how it was advertised!

[pandorasmuse]

In the decant: It’s very herbal. It doesn’t smell like grass, exactly. I think I’m getting the dead weeds.

 

Wet: Truly, the scent of digging in the dirt. The earthiness is an interesting thing. This is the first dirt scent I’ve tried.

 

Drydown: Dried grass, and not much else.

 

Later: This is another grass that just isn’t going to be what I hope for. Someday I’ll find my grass scent. I know it’s gotta show up eventually. I'll have to try something where the dirt doesn't peek out and then disappear--it was interesting, and I wish I'd had more time to make up my mind how I feel about that note.

[hkhm]

bottle: rich dirt. just like zombi but without the dried rose.

 

wet: gorgeous, fresh dirt. oddly, i would describe this as a "bright" dirt scent. it smells freshly turned and moist as though a spring rain and some gentle sunshine have touched it.

 

dry: a bit more grassy as it dries, this is so cheerful to me! this is the scent of rooting around in the the garden in spring, pulling out weeds and readying for planting. this will be a multiple bottle purchase.

[ofthegood]

Oh, this... this is absolutely fascinating! I haven't had much experience with dirt scents, and if this is any indication, I need more! It's unmistakably earthy, but in a really rich and sweet way. Though it doesn't make any sense, smelling like this dirt makes me feel really clean - it's airy and fresh, maybe due to the grass/weeds component. But it's not at all green, thank goodness, because I tend to dislike really grassy green scents.

 

All in all, wow. My favorite of the 2010 Yules I've tried so far, and a total surprise winner. I expected this one to be a novelty, not a must-have.

[rayvn1]

This was the Yule I was most looking forward to Why does it hate me?!? If only I could have gotten everybody's reaction with a lovely dirt smell. I get pretty much a single scent with this one and it's that of dry, sharp plant very similar to some vetiver blends on me. Not sure how that happened but it's heartbreaking! So far my closest go-to graveyard scent is Potter's Field and with this I was hoping for more mud and dirt. Alas I'll hold onto it and try again, but I don't have much hope for this guy.

[zankoku_zen]

Dirt and weeds. One of which I think is dandelion. Sadly, this veers into soapy territory for me.

[GhillieDhu]

Mostly wet, black, squishy earth with a bit of fungusy edge, very like the dirt note from Zombi. Dead brown grass trodden into the mud and crushed green stems, along with a hint of what's probably an aquatic note but is making me think of rotting cucumber vines. This isn't a frosty cold scent, just chilly and damp.

 

I don't know whether this is more like turning over the ground for your spring garden, or like tromping through an overgrown field in late fall on the first clear day after a week of rain.

 

Beautifully done. Not the sort of thing I'd wear as a perfume, but I'd like to have a room spray of this to use in hot, dry summer weather. I know Mom will love this one!

 

Try if you like: Planting Moon, Graveyard Dirt, Zombi, Destroying Angel.

[thekittenkat]

In the decant: Lots of grass and weeds, a little dirt.

 

Wet: Again mostly weeds and grass, and just a little soil.

 

The dry-down: This scent does not really change from first sniff to the dry-down. I love Graveyard Dirt, and dirt notes in general, but this is mostly plants on me. Colour me disappointed. However, it does evoke a untended cementary in the coolness of night rather well.

[surf-tormented]

This is my favorite of the Yules this year. It's very watery and earthy and reminds me a lot of Ulalume. The two are very close, I did a sampling by putting one on my right wrist and one on my left. If I didn't already have Ulalume, I would snag a bottle of this. I think my decant is more than enough since it has a scent sister.

[melange]

For realism, Beth hit this one out of the park. Wet on my skin, it's really strong. As it dries, it's dirtier on my left wrist, grassier on my right. I keep wanting to lift my wrists and smell it, which is distracting!

 

Christmas Eve on the Moor includes grass and mud in its notes too, but it's subtle and Shadows of What May Be isn't, though eventually SoWMB does quiet down (maybe the grass is growing back over the disturbed earth?). I really like this.

[milo]

Wet, grasses and weeds. Dry, a bit more subdued grasses, but there is the dirt thrown in. I like the grassy part of this blend, it kind of reminds me of Traipsing Through Crop Circles, but I've never been a dirt fan, and the dirt is definitely there. Fun to try!

[Eschezhivet]

Also not a very strong scent. Starts out with the dirt -- a dry, loose sort of dirt -- then gets grassier? And there's this wisp of incongruous creamy sweetness in the background, hmm. Not sure what that is, and it's not very obtrusive, but it's weird.

[VagueInnuendo]

Goddamn, this is artistry. Not the pretty commercial kind of art, either; but truly evocative, discomfiting art. It smells like standing over a freshly dug grave on a barren, icy winter's day. I had to wash it off because it was making me feel cold and deeply sad, even on this stinking hot weekend afternoon.

 

10/10 for capturing the theme.

0/10 for being something I actually want to smell like.

 

But if you're into loam and sadness, you need this in your life.

Edited February 7, 2015 by VagueInnuendo

[filigree_shadow]

I don't like dirt scents, grass scents, or weed scents. At all. Not really sure why I tried this, but I did, because somehow I got a tester of it. Guess whether I like it.

Smells like sweet pungent dirt with a bitter weedy smell. I understand that some people like this, but it's really not my thing.