Perfer et Obdura

[zankoku_zen]

Be patient and tough: clary sage essential oil, rue essential oil, steam-distilled vetiver root, white oak bark, and white sage from the TAL garden.

I grabbed this out of instinct and didn't realize what it was until I dabbed it on. I get oak, sage, and vetiver from it as a smell. But more importantly, I get this nice earthy feel. It reminds me to both Aegis and Silva actually. It's like an Old Spice commercial.

Look down.

Back up, where are you? You're a mighty oak, planted firmly in the ground, and despite the slashing rain and the howling winds, you bear the brunt of the fury. You have weathered worst storms. You will weather this.

What do you smell like? Back at me. It's a mix of sage, which you know drives those dark negative forces away, rue, which has been used in magical rituals since antiquity. It does wonders for your resilience, knowing you can count on yourself.

Look again. The sage is now white oak bark which the mighty Jupiter himself has gifted you as protection.

You have weathered worst storms. You will weather this. You will endure.

[Lucchesa]

I was gifted this in the recent blind bottle swap.  It is so beautiful.  I know it was created for surviving constant stress of the Trump presidency, but we are still slogging through its aftermath, and there is much in my life I have to endure with patience and toughness, neither of which comes naturally to me.  As a bonus, unlike many TALs, Perfer et Obdura comprises notes that are ones I enjoy wearing as perfume.  That's how I applied this today, no ritual, and I'm finding it a grounding sage and vetiver scent.  It's as stable as an oak tree with a soft carpet of leaves at its base. Sage to me smells like righteousness, in the most positive sense of the word, so Perfer is upright and strong and earthy, and it's helping me just keep putting one foot in front of the other, which is what I need to do today.  Thank you, @aphrodisms!!!

Edited October 24, 2021 by Lucchesa