Virtus v45

[VioletChaos]

Sometimes when were constantly under assault, be it by destructive legislation or online trolls, the cruelty we endure or bear witness to can start to wear on our souls. This oil is used when you feel your spirit flagging, and the temptation to capitulate to anger, bitterness, resentment, or cruelty looms on your horizon. Purge and protect yourself from the hate, and rekindle the fires of your own compassion.

When they go low, we go high: ambrette seed, frankincense essential oil and tears, steam-distilled bay laurel, saffron-infused myrrh essential oil, palo santo, steam-distilled styrax, and angelica.

This oil on a conceptual level, is basically the inverse of Honey Rose 45. Where that one is to gain a sense that we are not alone in this, that there are still people that are creating daily mitzvahs in the midst of oppression, this is about our own compassion and resiliency. I see them as two sides ultimately of the same coin, and the feelings I experience from each of them when engaging bears that out, as does the scents they happen to transmit.

If Honey Rose points to the port in the storm, Virtus reminds us that *we* are the fucking port. From Honey Rose I experienced almost a melancholy, a weepiness of feeling others connect and hold me in their invisible net. Virtus instead galvanizes me, makes to want to spin nets of my own, protect those that are spent and despairing and to do so with a level of integrity that is well-neigh untouchable. The weepiness is replaced with the kinds of tears that spring up when I'm enraged at the levels of injustice I witness daily and motivates me to fight back and fight HARD.

Normally, I can't wear oils with myrrh, I amp it, it becomes baby powder on me and is generally unpleasant. But the myrrh here mixes with the woods and the other resins to create something rich and earthy without being dirt-like. It's grounding and grounded and reminds me that ultimately the truth will set us free.

When they go low we go high, indeed.

[velvet]

I've been saving this for a particularly rainy day. After the events of yesterday, it felt like a perfect time to give this a try.

 

Holy moly, something is extremely sweet and I am amping it. It is probably the myrrh and or ambrette seed - maybe the frankincense? It's very rich and deep, but almost repellent in sweetness. As it is drying down, there is more of an earthy/woody edge.

 

When I first put it on, despite being put off by the smell, there was something comforting and grounding. It feels (and smells) medicinal and ancient. I just feel better. Perhaps there is a placebo effect mixed with intention... but I believe it is more.

[zankoku_zen]

Today, of all days, I busted out my Virtus partial.

I get bay leaf, palo santo, and frankincense and myrrh. I'd consider this a 'manly' sort of smell, but there's part of me that loves it. 

It's grounding, and made me feel more upbeat when I went to the polls this morning.

[patina]

I get Coke like resins (myrrh and ambrette) and orange peel maybe? Though now that it's pointed out I can find bay leaf.