Happy Friday the 13th! Is it Halloween yet?

[kebechet]

Happy Friday the 13th, all!

 

13

13 is significant, whether you consider it lucky, unlucky or just plain odd. Many believe it to be unfortunate…

 

…because there were 13 present at the Last Supper.

…Loki crashed a party of 12 at Valhalla, which ended in Baldur's death.

…Oinomaos killed 13 of Hippodamia's suitors before Pelops finally, in his own shady way, defeated the jealous king.

…In ancient Rome, Hecate's witches gathered in groups of 12, the Goddess herself being the 13th in the coven.

 

Concern over the number thirteen echoes back beyond the Christian era. Line 13 was omitted form the Code of Hammurabi.

 

The shivers over Friday the 13th also have some interesting origins:

 

…Christ was allegedly crucified on Friday the 13th.

…On Friday, October 13, 1307, King Philip IV of France ordered the arrests of Jaques de Molay, Grand Master of the Knights Templar, and sixty of his senior knights.

…In British custom, hangings were held on Fridays, and there were 13 steps on the gallows leading to the noose.

 

To combat the superstition, Robert Ingersoll and the Thirteen Club held thirteen-men dinners during the 19th Century. Successful? Hardly. The number still invokes trepidation to this day. A recent whimsical little serial killer study showed that the following murderers all have names that total thirteen letters:

 

Theodore Bundy

Jeffrey Dahmer

Albert De Salvo

John Wayne Gacy

 

And, with a little stretch of the imagination, you can also fit "Jack the Ripper" and "Charles Manson" into that equation.

 

More current-era paranoia: modern schoolchildren stop their memorization of the multiplication tables at 12. There were 13 Plutonium slugs in the atomic bomb that was dropped on Nagasaki. Apollo 13 wasn't exactly the most successful space mission. All of these are things that modern triskaidekaphobes point to when justifying their fears.

 

For some, 13 is an extremely fortuitous and auspicious number…

 

…In Jewish tradition, God has 13 Attributes of Mercy. Also, there were 13 tribes of Israel, 13 principles of Jewish faith, and 13 is considered the age of maturity.

…The ancient Egyptians believed that there were 12 stages of spiritual achievement in this lifetime, and a 13th beyond death.

…The word for thirteen, in Chinese, sounds much like the word which means “must be alive”?.

 

Thirteen, whether you love it or loathe it, is a pretty cool number all around.

 

…In some theories of relativity, there are 13 dimensions.

…It is a prime number, lucky number, star number, Wilson Prime, and Fibonacci number.

…There are 13 Archimedean solids.

 

AND…

…There were 13 original colonies when the United States were founded.

 

Says a lot about the US, doesn't it?

 

A fortune’s wheel of thirteen lucky and unlucky herbs, spun around a rich, dark core of pure cacao: allspice berries, cascara sagrada, ladybug beans, cinnamon, catnip, sweet clove, cumin, huckleberry leaves and fruit, master root, copal negro, sarsaparilla, nutmeg, and green rice.

 

 

And lookit! There are two new Friday the 13th tees over at Black Phoenix Trading Post!

 

The Black Cat Friday the 13th Tee by Abigail Larson!

 

The Unlucky Day Friday the 13th Tee by Aiden Casserly!

 

 

13, the fragrance, will be live until Saturday the 14th, and the tees will be live til Halloween!

 

 

Also new at the ‘Post…

 

++ ALCHEMICAL SKULL WALL PLAQUE

This alchemical skull wall plaque was created by wonderfully talented Michael Locascio. It is based on one of his original designs, which he modified so that it could hold and added two 5ml bottle holders just for Black Phoenix!

 

These miniplaques are 5 3/4 inches tall and 4 ½ wide.

 

Each plaque was cast in high quality resin and is hand-painted by the artist!

 

 

And two new general catalogue soy candles! Crafted, as always, by Sara Robey! -

 

ABSINTHE

Fall under the spell of our Green Fairy! An intoxicating blend containing wormwood essence, light mints, cardamom, anise, hyssop, and the barest hint of lemon.

 

PERVERSION

Smoky rum and black tobacco with a whisper of steamy leather with a splash of crystalline chardonnay, layered over a sensual, sweet, and deceptively magnetic base of tonka.

 

 

And a scent that Ted composed for Lilith --

 

CAPAX INFINITI

Limited Edition (Lilith’s Birthday!) Scent

 

Dear Lilith,

Your giggle makes me smile.

Your tears touch my heart.

Your hugs give me strength.

I love seeing the world through your eyes.

Thank you for letting me hold your hand

as we walk along your path of life.

I love you infinity.

Dad

 

A scent warmed by a whole lot of love: honey-snuggled skin musk, sweet vanilla ice cream residue, and lavender oil (Lilith’s favorite!), with a gentle hint of Dorian.

 

 

What’s that I smell in the air? Pumpkins, dry leaves, and candy corn? Must be Halloween at Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab…

 

++ HALLOWEEN 2013

A WORLD WHERE THERE ARE OCTOBERS

October was a beautiful month at Green Gables, when the birches in the hollow turned as golden as sunshine and the maples behind the orchard were royal crimson and the wild cherry trees along the lane put on the loveliest shades of dark red and bronzy green, while the fields sunned themselves in aftermaths.

 

Anne reveled in the world of color about her.

 

"Oh, Marilla," she exclaimed one Saturday morning, coming dancing in with her arms full of gorgeous boughs" 'I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers. It would be terrible if we just skipped from September to November, wouldn't it? Look at these maple branches. Don't they give you a thrill--several thrills? I'm going to decorate my room with them."

 

An armload of maple boughs and a swirl of autumn leaves.

 

 

ALL SOULS 2013

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.

 

 

AUTUMN FANCIES

Faded the clover now ;-- sere and withered the grasses:

What dreams the matsumushi in the desolate autumn-fields?

 

Strangely sad, I thought, sounded the bell of evening;--

Haply that tone proclaimed the night in which autumn dies!

 

Viewing this autumn-moon, I dream of my native village

Under the same soft light,--and the shadows about thy home.

 

Dry grasses bathed in amber light, muted by gentle shadows.

 

 

DAY OF SKULLS 2013

In Bolivia, many people hold to the tradition of keeping the skulls of their ancestors with them in their homes, caring for their remains. It is believed that each person has seven souls, and one of those souls stays with the skull after death, enabling a spirit to grant protection and prophetic dreams to their descendants, and to bless their families with good health and prosperity.

 

The Bolivian Fiesta de las Natitas, or Dia de los Natitas, is a day of honor for these ancestors. Their skulls are dressed with fragrant blossoms, and offerings of cocoa leaves, alcohol, and cigarettes are made.

 

White sandalwood, beeswax, and frankincense crowned by hydrangea, rose, and kantuta blossoms, dressed with tobacco, cocoa leaves and flowers from the sacred Cactus of the Four Winds.

 

 

DARK PUMPKIN MEAD

Thick, heady pumpkin mead sweetened with clover honey and a hint of maple.

 

 

DIA DE LOS MUERTOS 2013

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.

 

 

FLOR DE MUERTO 2013

The orange marigold, or zempasúchitl, has been one of Death's symbols since the pre-Columbian era. The yellow and orange petals are believed to represent the rays of the sun, bringing joy and light to the souls dwelling in the realm of the dead. These flowers surround Day of the Dead altars to guide the spirits to their offerings.

 

 

GHOSTS IN LOVE 2013

"Tell me, where do ghosts in love

Find their bridal veils?"

 

"If you and I were ghosts in love

We'd climb the cliffs of Mystery,

Above the sea of Wails.

I'd trim your gray and streaming hair

With veils of Fantasy

From the tree of Memory.

'Tis there the ghosts that fall in love

Find their bridal veils."

 

- Vachel Lindsay

 

White sandalwood, tobacco flower, lily of the valley, white carnation, and magnolia blossom with tea rose, labdanum, and oudh.

 

 

GOBLIN MARKET

Apples and quinces,

Lemons and oranges,

Plump unpecked cherries,

Melons and raspberries,

Bloom-down-cheeked peaches…

 

Like honey to the throat, but poison in the blood.

 

 

HAUNTED HOUSES

All houses wherein men have lived and died

Are haunted houses. Through the open doors

The harmless phantoms on their errands glide,

With feet that make no sound upon the floors.

 

We meet them at the door-way, on the stair,

Along the passages they come and go,

Impalpable impressions on the air,

A sense of something moving to and fro.

 

There are more guests at table than the hosts

Invited; the illuminated hall

Is thronged with quiet, inoffensive ghosts,

As silent as the pictures on the wall.

 

The stranger at my fireside cannot see

The forms I see, nor hear the sounds I hear;

He but perceives what is; while unto me

All that has been is visible and clear.

 

We have no title-deeds to house or lands;

Owners and occupants of earlier dates

From graves forgotten stretch their dusty hands,

And hold in mortmain still their old estates.

 

The spirit-world around this world of sense

Floats like an atmosphere, and everywhere

Wafts through these earthly mists and vapours dense

A vital breath of more ethereal air.

 

Our little lives are kept in equipoise

By opposite attractions and desires;

The struggle of the instinct that enjoys,

And the more noble instinct that aspires.

 

These perturbations, this perpetual jar

Of earthly wants and aspirations high,

Come from the influence of an unseen star

An undiscovered planet in our sky.

 

And as the moon from some dark gate of cloud

Throws o’er the sea a floating bridge of light,

Across whose trembling planks our fancies crowd

Into the realm of mystery and night,—

 

So from the world of spirits there descends

A bridge of light, connecting it with this,

O’er whose unsteady floor, that sways and bends,

Wander our thoughts above the dark abyss.

- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

 

Quiet, ineffective ghosts haunting the realm of mystery and night, stretching dusty hands back to homes and lifetimes unforgotten: pale gossamer musks swirling in thick, dense otherworldy vapours through cracks in dry wood and old, old stones.

 

 

THE HELL-GATE OF IRELAND 2013

The Cave of Cruachan in Connaught, a province that was given to the Formorians after the Battle of Mag Tuired. On the first of November, a flock of malevolent copper-colored birds bursts forth from the mouth of the cave, ushering a host of restless ghosts and wicked goblins that torment the living by blighting crops, killing livestock, stealing away brides-to-be, and replacing infants with changelings.

 

Smoldering brimstone, bitter labdanum, clove, black musk, and copper-colored feathers.

 

 

JOHN BARLEYCORN 2013

There was three men come out o' the west

their fortunes for to try,

And these three men made a solemn vow,

John Barleycorn must die,

They plowed, they sowed, they harrowed him in,

throwed clods upon his head,

And these three men made a solemn vow,

John Barleycorn was dead.

 

Barley, beer, blood, and whiskey.

 

 

LE REVENANT 2013

Comme les anges à l'oeil fauve,

Je reviendrai dans ton alcôve

Et vers toi glisserai sans bruit

Avec les ombres de la nuit;

 

Et je te donnerai, ma brune,

Des baisers froids comme la lune

Et des caresses de serpent

Autour d'une fosse rampant.

 

Quand viendra le matin livide,

Tu trouveras ma place vide,

Où jusqu'au soir il fera froid.

 

Comme d'autres par la tendresse,

Sur ta vie et sur ta jeunesse,

Moi, je veux régner par l'effroi.

 

- - -

 

Like angels with wild beast's eyes

I shall return to your bedroom

And silently glide toward you

With the shadows of the night;

 

And, dark beauty, I shall give you

Kisses cold as the moon

And the caresses of a snake

That crawls around a grave.

 

When the livid morning comes,

You'll find my place empty,

And it will be cold there till night.

 

I wish to hold sway over

Your life and youth by fear,

As others do by tenderness.

 

-- Charles Baudelaire, translation by William Aggeler.

 

A shroud of gardenia, narcissus, and sandalwood with ambrette seed, white cognac, muguet, davana, and white musk.

 

 

MICTECACIHUATL 2013

Known as the Mistress of Bones and the Lady of the Dead, she is the Queen of Mictlan, the Aztec Underworld, who still presides over today's Day of the Dead rituals. Sometimes known now as La Huesuda, she brings peace and joy to the spirits of the deceased, and blesses the living who do honor to those who have passed before them.

 

Copal, precious woods, South American spices, agave nectar, cigar tobacco, and roses.

 

 

OOKY

2013's Ridiculous Halloweenie! Less spooky than Spooky, and nowhere near as creepy as Creepy, this is the scent of lightly spiced pumpkin candies, decorated with thick marzipan, sweetened with buttercream, an decorated with a touch of lemon zest.

 

 

SAMHAIN 2013

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.

 

 

SEPTEMBER MIDNIGHT

Lyric night of the lingering Indian Summer,

Shadowy fields that are scentless but full of singing,

Never a bird, but the passionless chant of insects,

Ceaseless, insistent.

 

The grasshopper’s horn, and far-off, high in the maples,

The wheel of a locust leisurely grinding the silence

Under a moon waning and worn, broken,

Tired with summer.

 

Let me remember you, voices of little insects,

Weeds in the moonlight, fields that are tangled with asters,

Let me remember, soon will the winter be on us,

Snow-hushed and heavy.

 

Over my soul murmur your mute benediction,

While I gaze, O fields that rest after harvest,

As those who part look long in the eyes they lean to,

Lest they forget them.

- Sara Teasdale

 

A myrrh-darkened amber chypre sweetened by newly-ripened black pomegranate.

 

 

THEME IN YELLOW

I spot the hills

With yellow balls in autumn.

I light the prairie cornfields

Orange and tawny gold clusters

And I am called pumpkins.

On the last of October

When dusk is fallen

Children join hands

And circle round me

Singing ghost songs

And love to the harvest moon;

I am a jack-o'-lantern

With terrible teeth

And the children know I am fooling.

- Carl Sandburg

 

Ghost songs and love to the harvest moon: fresh pumpkins warmed by candlelight and aglow with Halloween joy.

 

 

 

And the Phobos Collection:

...none more skilled than he to insinuate grasping terror and to steal courage from the heart; voices and hands innumerable has the monster, and aspects to assume at will; all-persuasive is he, and his onslaughts drive cities mad with horror.

- Statius

 

++ HALLOWEEN 2013: PHOBOS EDITION

ACHLUOPHOBIA

Fear of darkness. Oppressive, stifling, suffocating, blinding: black patchouli, tobacco absolute, opoponax, and inky black musk.

 

NOCTIPHOBIA

Fear of nighttime. The vast, endless canopy of the night sky, dotted with cold, harsh pinpoints of light under a bulging white moon:

 

PHASMOPHOBIA

Fear of ghosts. Whispers in the darkness and cold breath upon your neck: calla lilies, white sandalwood, snow rose, white amber, and iced wine.

 

PLACOPHOBIA

Fear of tombstones. Jagged claws of crumbling stone thrusting through tear-soaked moss.

 

SAMHAINOPHOBIA 2013

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.

 

 

++ HALLOWEEN 2013: THE PUMPKIN PATCH

There's all manner of shenanigans in this year's pumpkin patch! Pumpkin'ized hybrids of GC BPAL scents abound!

 

ALICE IN THE PUMPKIN PATCH

DORIAN IN THE PUMPKIN PATCH

MOROCCAN PUMPKIN PATCH

SAMHAIN IN THE PUMPKIN PATCH

SIN IN THE PUMPKIN PATCH

SNAKE OIL IN THE PUMPKIN PATCH

 

 

The Black Phoenix Trading Post Halloweenies will be live soon, including a gorgeous pair of Halloween-themed tees, creeptastic atmosphere sprays, gloomy candles, and howlingly lovely bath oils. Also in the works… a trip to the Miskatonic Valley and the Castle of the Crystal, and a complete BPAL site overhaul -- yes, the search feature is coming back at long last!