kebechet

Beware the Ides of March! -- THE IDES OF MARCH 2009 The Ides marked an auspicious time in the Roman calendar. Depending on the month in question, the Ides fell on the thirteenth or fifteenth, and usually marked the Full Moon. As we all know, it was not an auspicious day for Julius Caesar, nor was it fortuitous for H.P. Lovecraft, who also met his maker on this infamous day. Tu quoque, Brute, fili mi! A mixture of Italian greenery, gleaming metal, and classical Roman cologne: rosemary, bergamot, lemon rind and vervain with costus, balsam, benzoin, gray amber, dittany, white narcissus and iris. Irish bards were members of a hereditary caste of learned poets. They were officials of the courts of their chieftains and kings, and served as historians, storytellers, and satirists. They were immersed in the rich history of their clan and country, and learned the intricacies of their craft from birth. Their words held so much power that it was believed that a glam dicing, or satirical incantation, spoken by a bard held the magic of a curse. This series is celebration of great Irish poets and storytellers. Through these poems, we touch the glory, beauty, and grief that permeates the soul of Ireland. ++ BARDS OF IRELAND THE DESERTED VILLAGE OLIVER GOLDSMITH … Good heaven! What sorrows gloomed that parting day, That called them from their native walks away; When the poor exiles, every pleasure past, Hung round their bowers and fondly looked their last, And took a long farewell, and wished in vain For seats like these beyond the western main; And shuddering still to face the distant deep, Returned and wept, and still returned to weep. The good old sire the first prepared to go To new-found worlds, and wept for others' woe; But for himself, in conscious virtue brave, He only wished for worlds beyond the grave. His lovely daughter, lovelier in her years, Silent went next, neglectful of her charms, And left a lover's for a father's arms. With louder plaints the mother spoke her woes, And blessed the cot where every pleasure rose; And kissed her thoughtless babes with many a tear, And clasped them close, in sorrow doubly dear; Whilst her fond husband strove to lend relief In all the silent manliness of grief. O luxury! thou cursed by heaven's decree, How ill exchanged are things like these for thee! How do thy potions with insidious joy Diffuse their pleasures only to destroy! Kingdoms, by thee to sickly greatness grown Boast of a florid vigour not their own. At every draught more large and large they grow, A bloated mass of rank unwieldy woe; Till sapped their strength and every part unsound, Down, down they sink and spread a ruin round. Even now the devastation has begun, And half the business of destruction done; Even now, methinks, as pondering here I stand, I see the rural virtues leave the land. Down where yon anchoring vessel spreads the sail, That idly waiting flaps with every gale, Downward they move, a melancholy band, Pass from the shore and darken all the strand. Contented toil and hospitable care, And kind connubial tenderness are there; And piety, with wishes placed above, And steady loyalty and faithful love. And thou, sweet Poetry, thou loveliest maid Still first to fly where sensual joys invade; Unfit, in these degenerate times of shame, To catch the heart or strike for honest fame; Dear charming nymph, neglected and decried, My shame in crowds, my solitary pride; Thou source of all my bliss and all my woe, That found'st me poor at first and keep'st me so; Thou guide by which the nobler arts excel, Thou nurse of every virtue, fare thee well! Farewell, and oh, where'er thy voice be tried, On Torno's cliffs or Pambamarca's side, Whether where equinoctial fervours glow, Or winter wraps the polar world in snow, Still let thy voice, prevailing over time, Redress the rigours of the inclement clime; Aid slighted truth; with thy persuasive strain Teach erring man to spurn the rage of gain; Teach him that states of native strength possessed, Though very poor, may still be very blest; That trade's proud empire hastes to swift decay, As ocean sweeps the laboured mole away; While self-dependent power can time defy, As rocks resist the billows and the sky. Where wealth accumulates and men decay. A scent of opulence, luxury, depredation, and dissolusion: velvety orris root and glittering bergamot, ambergris, red currant, honey, and neroli, with red oakmoss, patchouli, labdanum, and black musk. THE DOLE OF THE KING’S DAUGHTER OSCAR WILDE Even stars in the still water, And seven in the sky; Seven sins on the King's daughter, Deep in her soul to lie. Red roses at her feet, (Roses are red in her red-gold hair) And O where her bosom and girdle meet Red roses are hidden there. Fair is the knight who lieth slain Amid the rush and reed, See the lean fishes that are fain Upon dead men to feed. Sweet is the page that lieth there, (Cloth of gold is goodly prey,) See the black ravens in the air, Black, O black as the night are they. What do they there so stark and dead? (There is blood upon her hand) Why are the lilies flecked with red? (There is blood on the river sand.) There are two that ride from the south to the east, And two from the north and west, For the black raven a goodly feast, For the King's daughter to rest. There is one man who loves her true, (Red, O red, is the stain of gore!) He hath duggen a grave by the darksome yew, (One grave will do for four.) No moon in the still heaven, In the black water none, The sins on her soul are seven, The sin upon his is one. Red roses, blood-flecked lilies, upturned earth, yew branches, and blood mingled with river sand. EANACH DHÚIN ANTOINE Ó RAIFTEIRI If my health is spared I'll be long relating Of that boat that sailed out of Anach Cuain. And the keening after of mother and father And child by the harbour, the mournful croon! King of Graces, who died to save us, T'were a small affair but for one or two, But a boat-load bravely in calm day sailing Without storm or rain to be swept to doom. What wild despair was on all the faces To see them there in the light of day, In every place there was lamentation, And tearing of hair as the wreck was shared. And boys there lying when crops were ripening, From the strength of life they were borne to clay In their wedding clothes for their wake they robed them O King of Glory, man's hope is in vain. Unutterable grief expressed through the scent of balsam, frankincense, blackberry leaf, oud, white rose, driftwood, zdravetz, and bitter clove, beneath the cold waters of the River Corrib. THE HOST OF THE AIR WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS O'Driscoll drove with a song The wild duck and the drake From the tall and the tufted reeds Of the drear Hart Lake. And he saw how the reeds grew dark At the coming of night-tide, And dreamed of the long dim hair Of Bridget his bride. He heard while he sang and dreamed A piper piping away, And never was piping so sad, And never was piping so gay. And he saw young men and young girls Who danced on a level place, And Bridget his bride among them, With a sad and a gay face. The dancers crowded about him And many a sweet thing said, And a young man brought him red wine And a young girl white bread. But Bridget drew him by the sleeve Away from the merry bands, To old men playing at cards With a twinkling of ancient hands. The bread and the wine had a doom, For these were the host of the air; He sat and played in a dream Of her long dim hair. He played with the merry old men And thought not of evil chance, Until one bore Bridget his bride Away from the merry dance. He bore her away in his arms, The handsomest young man there, And his neck and his breast and his arms Were drowned in her long dim hair. O'Driscoll scattered the cards And out of his dream awoke: Old men and young men and young girls Were gone like a drifting smoke; But he heard high up in the air A piper piping away, And never was piping so sad, And never was piping so gay. Peat and rolling grass-covered hills, with wine-dappled heather, white clover, cloudberry, juniper berry, bluebell, dandelion, and cross-leaved heath. The Ides of March and the Bards of Ireland will be with us until 15 April 2009!

Hey Southern Cali peeps! A member of the Lab family, Stephen Glickman, who you know as the inspiration for Wulric the Wolfman, is hosting two comedy fundraisers for his little sister, Natalie London, who is suffering from Lyme Disease. If you live in San Diego or Los Angeles, please consider attending one of his shows! - - - Stephen Glickman (aka Wulric the Wolfman) is putting on a benefit for his younger sister, singer/songwriter Natalie London, who is very ill with advanced Lyme Disease. There will be a benefit in San Diego at the La Jolla Comedy Store on March 3rd 2009 at 8pm with performances by Jeff Richards (cast member of Saturday Night Live), TJ Miller (star of Cloverfield and Carpoolers), Kyle Kinane (Last Call with Carson Daly and Adam Sandler's Funny People) and will be hosted by Stephen Glickman (Broadway, Last Comic Standing, and Comedy Central). There will also be special surprise guests from The Howard Stern show and The Conan O'Brien show. There will also be a benefit at the Comedy Store in Hollywood on March 22nd in the Main Room at 8pm with performances by Andy Dick, Jeffrey Ross, Mo Collins, Bobby Lee and many more. Donations at the door. The benefit is for Natalie London who is suffering with advanced Lyme Disease. We are hoping to raise enough money to get her the treatments she badly needs. For those of you that are not familiar with her music check her out at http://natalielondon.com/ http://www.myspace.com/natalielondonmusic or read about her in Curve Magazine here! The Comedy Store South 916 Pearl St La Jolla, CA 92037 (858) 454-9176 March 3rd 8pm The Comedy Store Hollywood 8433 W Sunset Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90069 (323) 650-6268 March 22nd 8pm - - - Thanks, everyone!

Snake Charmer and Lupanar will start going out again this week! Thank you for your patience!

Happy Friday the 13th!

We're currently backordered on Snake Charmer (at BPAL) and Lupanar (at BPTP) due to a crisis with a specific vanilla. At this time, these are the only scents that are affected. I will keep everyone posted on the status of these blends, and will let y'all know if anything else stalls out. Thanks for understanding. =/

Hee! This tee will be live until 13 February 2009!

Just a wee lil' update. =) WINDY MOON Stinging wind whips past the trees, stripping the dead and decaying bark from their trunks. This is a time of renewal, both earthly and spiritual. The scent of wind and wood, and the smoke of council fires burning in the distance. Windy Moon will be live until February 11, 2009. The Windy Moon tee will be live at Black Phoenix Trading Post tomorrow. =)

Dark Delicacies will have some Coraline swag available for everyone that makes an in-house purchase with them at the Trunk Show! First come, and all that, while supplies last. =)

++ GREAT DUETS IN HORROR Some of us spend our lives searching for a soulmate, someone that we believe will be the answer to our heart’s desire. We yearn for completion, and long for someone that would make us whole. Sometimes, this longing is fulfilled through romantic love, and sometimes… well, sometimes completion is attained in unexpected ways. With this in mind, we, in conjunction with Dark Delicacies, are thrilled to present the Great Duets in Horror Series! "Then he hissed at me. 'Ah, I frighten you, do I? ... I dare say! ... Perhaps you think that I have another mask, eh, and that this ... this ... my head is a mask? Well,' he roared, 'tear it off as you did the other! Come! Come along! I insist! Your hands! Your hands! Give me your hands!' And he seized my hands and dug them into his awful face. He tore his flesh with my nails, tore his terrible dead flesh with my nails! ... 'Know,' he shouted, while his throat throbbed and panted like a furnace, 'know that I am built up of death from head to foot and that it is a corpse that loves you and adores you and will never, never leave you! ... Look, I am not laughing now, I am crying, crying for you, Christine, who have torn off my mask and who therefore can never leave me again! ... As long as you thought me handsome, you could have come back, I know you would have come back ... but, now that you know my hideousness, you would run away for good... So I shall keep you here! ... Why did you want to see me? Oh, mad Christine, who wanted to see me! ... When my own father never saw me and when my mother, so as not to see me, made me a present of my first mask!' "He had let go of me at last and was dragging himself about on the floor, uttering terrible sobs. And then he crawled away like a snake, went into his room, closed the door and left me alone to my reflections. Presently I heard the sound of the organ; and then I began to understand Erik's contemptuous phrase when he spoke about Opera music. What I now heard was utterly different from what I had heard up to then. His Don Juan Triumphant (for I had not a doubt but that he had rushed to his masterpiece to forget the horror of the moment) seemed to me at first one long, awful, magnificent sob. But, little by little, it expressed every emotion, every suffering of which mankind is capable. It intoxicated me; and I opened the door that separated us. Erik rose, as I entered, BUT DARED NOT TURN IN MY DIRECTION. 'Erik,' I cried, 'show me your face without fear! I swear that you are the most unhappy and sublime of men; and, if ever again I shiver when I look at you, it will be because I am thinking of the splendor of your genius!' Then Erik turned round, for he believed me, and I also had faith in myself. He fell at my feet, with words of love ... with words of love in his dead mouth ... and the music had ceased ... He kissed the hem of my dress and did not see that I closed my eyes. CHRISTINE A bouquet of Swedish blossoms -- linnea borealis, hoya, and Phyteuma nigra -- with frankincense and pale vanilla orchid. ERIK Resin-coated wood, kerosene, oil, leather, musty velvet, and dust from the Grand Drape. - - - Hence it came about that I concealed my pleasures; and that when I reached years of reflection, and began to look round me, and take stock of my progress and position in the world, I stood already committed to a profound duplicity of life. DR. HENRY JEKYLL A discreet men’s cologne of juniper, cumin, verbena, bergamot, mint, and basil splattered with dregs from apothecary bottles. MR. EDWARD HYDE That selfsame gentlemen’s cologne corrupted by base, dissolute musk, bitter tobacco, sour bourbon, sweat, and a splatter of blood. - - - How marvellously lie our anxieties, in filmy layers, one over the other! Take away that which has lain on the upper surface for so long—the care of cares—the only one, as it seemed to you, between your soul and the radiance of Heaven—and straight you find a new stratum there. MAUD RUTHYN Fresh wheat, honeycomb, rosehips, nectarine, climbing roses, and myrrh. SILAS RUTHYN Opium smoke, opium tar, mandarin, dark musk, patchouli, tonka, vetiver, and frankincense. These scents will go live at Dark Delicacies on Sunday, February 8th during our Clearing Out the Cobwebs trunk show, and will be live on their web site after that! ++ CLEARING OUT THE COBWEBS We are up to our naughty bits in bottles of ancient LEs, prototypes, and smellies that never went live. The wonderful Sue and Del are helping us keep the bottles from overtaking the building by hosting a trunk show! The following scents will be available: VINTAGE A Bachelor’s Dog 2007 A Bold Bluff 2007 Ace of Hearts 2005 Buck Moon 2005 Chrysanthemum Moon 2006 The Cracked Bell 2005 Crow Moon 2007 Dead Man’s Hand 2005 Despair 2004 Eidolon 2004 Enraged Groundhog Musk 2007 Enraged Orangutan Musk 2006 Flower Moon 2005 Frost Moon 2004 Harvest Moon 2005 Harvest Moon 2006 Hearth 2004 Honey Moon 2005 Ice Queen 2004 Kelly Pool 2007 Kostnice 2004 Lady Luck Blues 2007 Litha 2006 MB: Bloody Mary 2007 MB: Closet 2006 MB: Ventriloquist Dummy 2007 Melpomene 2004 Midwinter’s Eve 2005 Minotaur 2007 Nahemoth 2006 Neptune 2004 NYE in Dogville 2007 Pink Moon 2005 Pink Phoenix 2005 Pluto 2004 Puck 2004 Purple Phoenix 2006 Rage 2004 Red Phoenix 2005 Riding the Goat 2007 Salamander 2005 Samhain 2004 Sitting Up With a Sick Friend 2007 Sleepy Moon 2006 Strawberry Moon 2005 Sylph 2005 Taurus 2007 Thamiel 2006 PROTOTYPES Android v2 Baba Yaga v7 Black Orchid v5 Blue Phoenix v2 Burial v2 Dunwich v2 Eight Actors v4 Empyreal Mist v3 Gossamer v3 Holly King v6 Iron Phoenix v2 Jingo-Kogo v6 Medb v4 Montressor v9 Mouse’s Long and Sad Tale v5 Nahemoth v7 Nihil v2 Nine Mysteries v2 Oak King v4 Orange Phoenix v6 PP32005 PP42005 PP52005 PPEL6 PPGC456 PPGC580 PPGC767 PPGC92 PPGC92 PPH07 PPH08 PPV662 PX23 Snow Maiden 2006 v2 St. Lucia v8 Sturgeon Moon 2008 v5 There’s a Certain Slant of Light v9 Val Sans Retour v3 Vishpala v2 Yog-Sothoth v2 The prototypes are earlier versions of a scent that did not go live because of component issues or because they, in my opinion, missed the conceptual mark. Black Phoenix Trading Post will be offering bottles of five of its prototype, unreleased room sprays: Jonathan’s Coffee-House v1 Le Café du Rat-Mort v3 Rappaccini’s Greenhouse v2 Thousand Pillar v5 Villa Diodati v2 Each bottle of BPAL oil is $20, and each 4oz room spray is $25. A portion of all of the proceeds will go to help the Wildlife Waystation. No preorders will be accepted for the perfumes and room sprays at the Cobwebs event. Bottles will be sold on a first-come basis, and there is a limit of three bottles per person. However, BPTP will be offering Lunacies Past tees (list forthcoming), and those will be preorder only. Please stay tuned for a follow-up post regarding the tees. Please note: the Vintage scents will be sportin’ a new label that was created for this event. You will not be getting the original label used for this scent. Where and when is this happening? Dark Delicacies 4213 W. Burbank Burbank, CA 91505 U.S.A. Sunday, February 8th 12pm - 5pm 1-888-DARKDEL 1-818-556-6660 darkdel *at* darkdel *.* com Thank you for helping us clean out the warehouse while contributing to a worthy cause! We will be doing another housecleaning sometime this summer. Happy Valentine’s Day, everyone!

We've been switching slowly since mid-December. =)

OMG! Has it really been five years?!

Updated 10 January 2009: Bony Moon and Earth Ox are live at BPAL! BONY MOON In the stark darkness of February, food is so scarce that some are forced to chew bones and make marrow soup for nourishment. It is a time when we honor our ancestors with fasting, solemn ritual, and reflection on the triumphs and accomplishments of those who have passed before us. White sandalwood, dry cedar, and radiant, crisp lunar herbs. EARTH OX A new year's blessing! Peony, China's national flower, with bamboo for flexibility, plum blossom for perseverance, courage, and hope, tangerine for wealth, orange for happiness, lychee for household peace, pine resin for constancy, golden kumquat and quince for prosperity, narcissus and King mandarin for good fortune, peach blossom for longevity, oakmoss, plum, and tobacco for stability, and a splash of blazing red of dragon's blood... to help you scare away the rampaging Nian. Lupercalia is upon us, and the world is suffused with symbols of love and lust. Here at Black Phoenix, that is triply true! Our offerings during this Season of Schtupping contain adult material, and by clicking through to view the images and purchase our products, you are agreeing that you are a dirty bird who is 18 or older, and that you are permitted by law to view suggestive imagery. For your pleasure, we are thrilled to present another whimsical sojourn to the bedrooms of Edo-era Japan -- Novel Ideas For Secret Amusements II: A Shunga Exhibition. And… Ode to Aphrodite, a series inspired by the timeless beauty of vintage nude postcard photography; in our vision, each of these women illustrates a facet of the splendor of the goddess of love. Before we go any further, we present a scent whose proceeds support the work of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund: 413 U.S. 15 / Miller Vs California In 1974, a court ruling established a litmus test for obscenity in the United States. Does the First Amendment protect dirty birds? Yes, and no; it depends on where you are and what your neighbors perceive as naughty. The Court's majority opinion stated that material could only be defined as obscene if "( a ) the average person, applying contemporary community standards, would find that the work, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest; [and] ( b ) the work depicts or describes, in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct specifically defined by the applicable state law; and ( c ) the work, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value" If all three conditions are satisfied, voilà! - your work is obscene. But is it art? Although a work considered to have literary, artistic, political, or scientific value cannot, in theory, constitutionally be found to be obscene regardless of whether it appeals to prurient interest or is patently offensive, the question lies in how we can possibly determine with certainty whether or not a film, photograph, tale, or limerick has social value when philosophical and moral compasses vary so wildly from person to person and community to community. Is a perfume inspired by an 18th Century painting of a dildo obscene? What would your friends and neighbors say? 413 U.S. 15 / MILLER VS CALIFORNIA Leather, cognac, fig, ripe berry, and cream, stuffed into a plain brown paper bag. For traditionalists with a sweet tooth, we present Box of Chocolates! - Dark Chocolate and Cherry Dark Chocolate and Pepper-Smoked Caramel Milk Chocolate Buttercream White Chocolate, Marshmallow, and Coconut White Chocolate and Strawberry White Chocolate and Sugared Violets The whole Box can be purchased as a set for $100. Inspired by the sensuality and smuttiness of the season, we have added two new scents to the general catalogue: ++ EXCOLO EROS And eros again the loosener of limbs makes me tremble A sweet-bitter unmanageable creature. Myrrh, lilac, and honey wine with crimson tea leaf and sweet resins. ++ ARS AMATORIA PRURIENCE An unwholesome scent. A craving, an itch. This scent smoulders with a lust that singes the edge of your nerves and leaves your soul chilled: red amber and scorched musk with voluptuous carnation, charred vetiver, sensuous tonka, and orris. Box of Chocolates, Ode to Aphrodite, Bony Moon, Earth Ox, The Yules, and Wind in the Willows are $17.50 each, the Resurrected and Anniversary scents are $20.00 each, Miller Vs California is $25.00, and the Shunga scents are $23.50 each. The whole Box of Chocolates is available for $100US. The Yules, Resurrected, Anniversary, and Wind in the Willows scents will be live until January 15, 2009, and Miller Vs California, the Box, Ode to Aphrodite, and the Shunga series will be live until March 13, 2009. Bony Moon and Eath Ox will be live until January 13, 2009. Bony Moon is live at the 'Post! Adorable artwork by Jennifer Williamson! It will be live until January 13, 2009. Love is in the air at BPTP, and to celebrate, we're offering a complete Valentine's Day sensory experience: A room spray… LUPANAR Good God, what a night that was, The bed was so soft, and how we clung, Burning together, lying this way and that, Our uncontrollable passions Flowing through our mouths. If I could only die that way, I'd say goodbye to the business of living. Honey, myrrh, ylang ylang, and almond. An exercise in control and release: GLACIES BATH OIL For cooling the libido and soothing the senses. Cucumber mint, sea lettuce, French lavender, geranium bourbon, and lemon balm. INCENDIA For stimulating the libido and arousing the senses. Vanilla, palmarosa, patchouli, jasmine, cocoa absolute, bergamot, sweet orange, nutmeg, ylang ylang, rose otto, and Haitian vetiver. And a set of perfumes designed to illustrate the synergy of love and lust: In alchemy, the white and red roses symbolize the male / female polarity, the active and receptive, the light and the dark. Together, the roses become the alchemical concept of Mercury: perfect unity. Our Red Rose scent is the embodiment of vigorous passion, and our White Rose personifies purity, virtue, and unconditional love. The scents individually are powerful, but layered together - combined - they become their perfected self. RED ROSE Red rose buds, with amber, clove, tonka, Indian musk, fir, and tobacco. WHITE ROSE White rose buds, with vanilla tea, benzoin, orris, coconut meat, and frankincense. The Trading Post Valentine offerings will be available until March 13, 2009.

DD is hitting its final stretch with the B-movie series of scents. There are less than 50 of each in stock, and when they’re gone, they’re gone. In February, Black Phoenix will be returning to Dark Delicacies for our Cleaning Out O’the Cobwebs. Please stay tuned for more information! Meanwhile, a pic of Del with Miss Lilith! –

Happy Holidays, everyone! Blessed Yule and Larentalia, Joyous Midwinter, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Kwanzaa yenu iwe na heri! May your holidays be magnificent and stress-free! With love, and hopes for a beautiful new year for all of us, Your co-conspirators at Black Phoenix

Miss Lilith, attempting to help us ship orders. In order to get as many orders into your hands as possible before Christmas, BPAL has upgraded shipping on all orders placed from December 9th through the December 13th Christmas cutoff date to Express at our cost. We’ll be busting our butts for as long as it takes to get these out!

The Moon of the Terrible is live at Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab! On New Year's Day each thought a loneliness as winter dusk descends Desolation at the last moment in the gloaming on New Year's Day: winter snow with lavender, benzoin, lychee, white resins, and a cluster of melancholy, lachrymose lunar herbs and florals. And… the Moon of the Terrible tee is at Black Phoenix Trading Post! Mauve and slate grey ink on black tee. Artwork by the inimitable Jennifer Williamson. Please note: orders that include the Moon of the Terrible tee will not ship in time for Christmas. Lunacy tees do not go into production until we’re done taking orders for them, and they take a few weeks to be made. Now that Storytime has come down at Black Phoenix Trading Post, the goblins are able to get crackin’ on reading the pleas. Due to the nature of this project, there is a delay in getting these out so we can ensure that every order gets the attention it deserves. Storytime packs will begin to ship after the 15th. The Moon of the Terrible will be live on both sites until 14 December 2008! Happy holidays, everyone!

The USPS site has been crapping out for the past several days, and, consequentially, there has been a hiccup in outgoing packages. At this time, we’re utilizing other methods of processing postage. Your orders will still be going out via USPS, but you may not receive a Click n’Ship notification. Due to all of the redass the USPS site is giving us, we’re going a little slower on the shipping than usual. This applies to both BPAL and BPTP orders. Currently, BPAL and BPTP are shipping orders from the middle through end of November. We are working diligently to find ways to circumvent the problems with the USPS site, and we’ll do everything in our power to get your orders out to you asap. Thanks for your patience, guys!

If you bring a new, unwrapped toy to the West Coast Will Call or East Coast Will Call Toy Drives, you’ll have the satisfaction of knowing that you’re making a child’s Yuletide that much brighter… and you’ll walk out the door with a 5ml bottle of Egg Nog Latte! To ensure that we have enough to go around, we’ve got to limit it to one bottle per customer. - - - A recap of December's will call information... In North Hollywood, we will be open for the Moon of Small Spirits Lunacy Event on Friday, December 12th, from 7 to 10pm pacific time. The theme for this month is ...Ho, Ho, Ho. The address is: 12120 Sherman Way North Hollywood, CA 91605 It may be a little hard to find. We are in the industrial complex, right behind Game Dude. The nearest cross street is Laurel Canyon Blvd. We will accept Mastercard, Visa, American Express and cash. Preorders can still be made with Paypal. Please do not bring any cameras. No photography of any kind will be allowed during this Will Call. Thanks for your cooperation. *** And once again, the fabulous Shelldoo will be hosting an east coast Will Call at Nail Polish, Etc. in Palmyra, PA. Nail Polish Etc is located at 132 E Main St., Palmyra, PA 17078. They will be holding Will Call on Friday, December 12th from 6 to 10pm, eastern time. They will have a full line of Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab products available, and accept Visa, Mastercard, Discover, Cash, or Paypal. *** The blends that will be available for purchase at both Will Calls include those that went live on the Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab website up to and including the Moon of Small Spirits update. This includes the Yules, The Graveyard Book and the Anniversary scents. Forum only scents will not be available at Will Call. No imps will be available for purchase at the Palmyra, PA location. Once again, thanks for understanding. If you would like to place an order for pick-up at the North Hollywood Will Call, please do the following: Email us at willcall@blackphoenixalchemylab.com with your order before 1pm on Thursday, December 11th. Payment may be remitted by PayPal ahead of time to willcall@blackphoenixalchemylab.com, or you can pay at pick up with cash or credit card. Please do not email orders for the Palmyra, PA location to this address! When making your payment, please omit shipping charges. You may purchase any current catalogue oils, as long as we have them in stock. Due to the sheer volume, currently pending orders can not be combined with Will Call orders. Thanks for your understanding. We will no longer be able to accomodate third party orders. If you are placing an order, you must attend Will Call and pick up your order in person. We will do our best to accommodate all orders of 5mls and imps, but sales will be based on availability. Imp Packs will be available at the North Hollywood location, but it’s best to pre-order, so we can make sure we have enough stock, or be able to tell you beforehand if we’re out of stock. You get the gist. Items from Black Phoenix Trading Post will be available at both locations, subject to stock on hand. Twilight Alchemy Lab oils will also be available, only at the North Hollywood location. For Will Call, Twilight Alchemy Lab orders can be combined with Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab orders. If you have any questions, please email us at willcall@blackphoenixalchemylab.com. Thanks everyone for your continued support. Thank you!

Ms. Rodgers did the art for the Graveyard Book labels, dontchaknow. We friggin' LOVE them! =D

I FELL IN LOVE WITH A FLOATING BRAIN Spongy grey and pink cake, with sweet strawberry cream, giddy carnation, and electrical pulses of white grapefruit. MUTANT HOT-RODDERS FROM HELL HIGH Shiny black leather jackets, gleaming silver studs, black pepper, pungent lime, and hellfire. SPAWN OF THE SHE-DEMON Diabolical red and black musk with rooibos and mango tea. THAT! THE TERROR FROM OVER THERE! A swarm of chittering greens, smooshy kiwi, and wasabi. The Christmas Specials: CRIMSON CHRISTMAS Have you been bad or good? Santa has sharpened his candy canes, and he’s got his eye on you! Gore-splattered snow, chimney smoke, and bloody, broken peppermint sweets. INVASION OF THE FLESH-EATING REINDEER FROM URANUS Trampled gingerbread cookies, scattered rum balls, and indestructible, rock-hard fruitcake and a gargantuan squirt of musk. These scents will be available at the November 30 trunk show! =D

Black Friday? No, Black Sunday! Please join us at Dark Delicacies in North Hollywood on Sunday, November 30, from 12pm – 5pm, for a Yuletide trunk show! BPAL perfumes and BPTP products will be available, including BPAL’s Yuletide, Anniversary, and Wind in the Willows scents, Trading Post’s Snow White limited edition room spray and Yuletide LE bath oils, OOAK dolls and stockings, pendants, and Krampus cards! DD will be debuting our new seasonal B-movie-inspired mini-line at this event, created just for Dark Delicacies, including… Spawn of the She-Demon & Mutant Hot-Rodders From Hell High All purchases will be accompanied by a wee little holiday gift from BPAL & BPTP! Dark Delicacies is a fantastic family-owned bookstore that specializes in the horror genre. They have an enormous selection of books, comics, DVDs, original art, toys, and spooky housewares. Chisel away at your holiday shopping list while supporting small businesses! =) Dark Delicacies 4213 W. Burbank Burbank, CA 91505 U.S.A. Tues.-Fri. 10am-7pm Sat.-Sun. 11am-6pm Closed Mondays 1-888-DARKDEL 1-818-556-6660 darkdel *at* darkdel *.* com

The ‘Post has a whole bunch o’new stuff! New to the GC Bath Oils: INVIDIA O, beware, my lord, of jealousy! It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock The meat it feeds on. White grapefruit, tea leaf, white ginger, orange blossom, jasmine, honey myrtle, and lime. PATIENTIA Patience and perseverance have a magical effect before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish. -- John Quincy Adams Sandalwood, benzoin, cardamom, calamus, palmarosa, and sage. And new to the GC Atmosphere Sprays: DOC CONSTANTINE’S MEDICINE SHOW Polished wood, olibanum, questionable medicinal herbs, sarsaparilla, and a splash of bay rum. OKIYA Cherry blossom, green tea, and sake. SALOON #10 Nuttal & Mann's Saloon No. 10, Deadwood, Black Hills, Dakota Territory: sweaty leather, chewing tobacco, and Red Eye. We are phasing out the 8oz room sprays, so only the Queen's Croquet Ground, Cathouse, and Down the Rabbit Hole will be offered in that size. All of the GC sprays are available in 4oz bottles, and in Goblin Squirt form! We are thrilled to present this season’s limited edition offerings: The Bah Humbug tee! ++ WINTER ATMOSPHERE SPRAY SNOW WHITE A chilly, bright perfume: flurries of virgin snow, crisp winter wind and the faintest breath of night-blooming flowers. ++ WINTER BATH OILS ICE PRINCE BATH OIL As beautiful and cold as a December storm. Crystalline musk, winter lily, bergamot, plum, and frozen pine boughs. PROSERPINA BATH OIL For thine came pale and a maiden, and sister to sorrow; but ours, Her deep hair heavily laden with odour and colour of flowers, White rose of the rose-white water, a silver splendour, a flame, Bent down unto us that besought her, and earth grew sweet with her name. The emergence of light in darkness. Frozen pomegranate and a hint of nocturnal blossoms. WINTER MAIDEN BATH OIL Ice-rimed innocence. The blush of youth, frozen for eternity. Snow-laden woods, iced blackberry and bergamot, white rose, and crystallized amber. HOLIDAY STRESS RELIEF BATH OIL Relax, revive, restore. Peppermint, spearmint, geranium bourbon, lavender, clary sage, white amber, juniper berry, laurel leaf, coriander, opoponax, and mandarin. Please note: Snow White Atmosphere Spray is only offered in the 4oz size. The bath oils are all 8oz. Holiday Stress Relief is $40US due to the cost of the components, and Winter Maiden, Ice Prince, and Proserpina are $30US. And… This season’s Inquisition is live! The Goblins of Yuletide Storytime! Tell your tale and receive an atmosphere spray and a perfume oil in a fancy schmancy green velveteen pouch! Storytime and the Bah Humbug tee will be live until December 5, 2008, and the winter room spray and bath oils will be live until December 15, 2008. A quickie public service announcement: Please note that all BPTP orders, including domestic orders, are currently taking an excess of 14 - 21 business days to process, pack and ship out due to a heavy workload. Lunacy and Inquisition items may exceed 21 - 28 days to process. All of our products are handmade, and the tees are hand-screened. Due to the nature of the beast, we cannot guarantee Christmas shipping on orders that contain Storytime, but we will do our very best. Thank you for understanding! Pendants and new scent lockets are coming soon! And that’s it for now!

OMFG, happy sixth anniversary to Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab! We are overjoyed to present six phoenixes that represent what we strive for, and two Resurrected blends: METAL PHOENIX Tenacity, force, strength, stability, and determination: Chinese musk and gleaming white metal with honeysuckle, rose mallow, verbena, and carnation. WOOD PHOENIX Flexibility, cooperation, expansiveness, and altruism: Chinese musk and five woods with newly budding bamboo shoots, hyssop, chamomile, pink clove, magnolia, walnut, and fig. WATER PHOENIX Compassion, eloquence, introspection: Chinese musk and rain, with salty oceanic notes, frankincense, juniper berry, lily of the valley, lavender, cinquefoil, and sweet pea. FIRE PHOENIX Enterprise, adventure, restlessness, impulsiveness, and dynamism: Chinese musk and red musk with hyacinth, cactus flower, cubeb berry, galangal, tobacco, pink pepper, and sarsaparilla. EARTH PHOENIX Hard work, patience, and harmony: Chinese musk, dark musk, and moist soil with black cherry, opoponax, night-blooming jasmine, plum, woodland tobacco, snakeweed, and cypress. And because its just plain silly to take yourself too seriously… CANDY PHOENIX A dusky, yet effervescent mix of pomegranate and black currant candies, with a dusting of sugared pear and white apple. 2008’s Resurrected scents are: BEAVER’VERSARY Cheesecake and cupcakes, yo! This is Beaver Moon 2005 resurrected! SNAKE CHARMER: RESURRECTED Sensual, sibilant, sexual and hypnotic: Arabian musk and exotic spices slinking through Egyptian amber, enticing vanilla, and a serpentine blend of black plum, labdanum, ambrette, benzoin and black coconut. The Anniversary and Resurrected scents are $20 each, and will be live until January 15, 2009. Moon of Small Spirits (BPAL, not BPTP) and the Halloweenies have been extended til November 19, 2008. The BPTP update will be live this week. Keep those eyes peeled! (Ew. Peeled eyes.) A little bit of biz’ness schtuff… In order to receive your package by Christmas Eve... Internationals! Please place your order by December 6th. Domestics! Please place your order by December 13th. Please bear in mind that we are not responsible for USPS shenanigans. We do promise that we will bust our asses to get you your orders asap. Holy. Moly. SIX FRIGGIN’ YEARS! A million thanks to our beloved customers for being our friends and our extended family, for helping us make our dreams a reality, and for celebrating anniversaries, births, and unions with us! A million thanks to the administrators and moderators of the bpal.org forum for their love, support, and crazyhard work! And a million thanks to our wonderful staff for helping us stink up the world!

Moon of Small Spirits is live at Black Phoenix Trading Post! Artwork by Jennifer Williamson! Moon of Small Spirits will be live until 15 November 2008! The Inquisition, pendants, and winter LEs are coming soon!

In order to receive your package by Christmas Eve... Internationals! Please place your order by December 6th. Domestics! Please place your order by December 13th. Thankee! =) (This only applies to BPAL orders. Ted will be posting BPTP cutoff info at a later date.)