TOMATO
Historically, tomato is not a widely-used note in perfumery, but it is gaining a little traction. Its pungent, spicy scent is evocative of summer gardens, and lends well to fresh, wild, outdoorsy fragrances.

The correspondences of the tomato in magical work is complex. The bisexual flowers of the tomato plant can be used in works of transformation, duality, and the combination of opposing forces. The tomato plant corresponds to Saturn or Venus, depending on your tradition, your intent, and your point of view. In contemporary magick, the fruit is used in love work – their voluptuous shape and piquant-sweet flavor are very much in tune with the Venus aspect. Tomatoes are, however, members of the nightshade family – a clan of plants that relates to death, transformation, invisibility, authority, discipline, and, to the unscrupulous, malefic magick. This firmly thrusts the plant back under the auspices of Saturn. Until the early nineteenth century, many believed that the fruit of the tomato was poisonous. Poison and toxicity, as concepts, are another manifestation of Saturn’s power. In our Twilight Alchemy Lab division, we generally use the fruit of the plant for Venus work, and the leaves and roots for Saturnian operations.

The tomato is much more complicated than it seems, no?

Notable tomato-laden BPAL scent:
JERSEY DEVIL
The scent of the wild, hauntingly beautiful Pine Barrens of New Jersey! Pitch pine with blackberry leaf, cranberry, cedar wood and tomato leaf.

(Photo by m’self of a tomato plant in my garden.)

I received two samples of steam-distilled Palo Santo (Bursera graveolens) last week, one from Peru and one from Ecuador, and I finally had a chance to test them today. The quality of both samples is unsurpassed. The scent of Palo Santo is distinctive, complex, and unique: rich, woody, almost anise-like in a way, with a pungent citrus top due to the high content of limonene present in the oil. It is of the utmost importance to Black Phoenix that none of the components that we utilize in our products negatively impact the environment. Both of the oils that we received have been sustainably harvested, one under the supervision of the Peruvian government, and the other by ecologically minded local distillers that collect the wood from the Parque Nacional Machalilla. The palo santo trees drop their branches, and the oil is harvested from this gathered wood. Oil can be harvested from saplings, but the highest quality oil comes from the heartwood.

Palo Santo belongs to Bursera family, and shares some of the qualities of its cousins, frankincense and myrrh, both spiritually and medicinally. Palo Santo has been widely used in spiritual practices and folk remedies throughout history. The wood is considered a boon of good fortune, and is believed to banish misfortune and negativity. In aromatherapy, Palo Santo is used to induce a meditative state, help control panic attacks and anxiety, and to arouse creativity and spark inspiration. Medicinally, Palo Santo has been utilized for hormone regulation, as a respiratory remedy, to speed the healing of musculoskeletal injuries, and to break fevers and fight infections. Palo Santo oil also possesses tremendously high levels of D-Limonene and Monotropenes, which may prove to be chemopreventive and effective in treating some forms of cancer. Palo Santo is a fascinating, multi-faceted plant, and I look forward to working with it more often in the future.

In other news, I read a nifty article today in my Reuters feed: Victorian-Era pressed flowers are helping scientists study climate change.

(As always, the Disclaimer. Has to be said; we don’t want any drama.)