Halloween update now live.

[kebechet]

Due to brain-death, this is copied verbatim from our Shiny & New page --

 

 

Surprise! The Halloween update is live!

 

First things first. Introducing this year's Halloween scents:

 

 

LIMITED EDITION: HALLOWEEN

ALL SAINT'S -- Based on a venerable French pontifical incense blend: monastic frankincense and myrrh, Damascus rose, Russian gardenia, cassia, and lily of the valley wafting on a chill Autumn wind. A celebration of the glory and suffering of the saints and matryrs of the Church.

 

DIA DE LOS MUERTOS -- 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.

 

SAMHAIN -- Revisited! 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.

 

SUGAR SKULL -- Vibrant with the joy and sweetness of life in death! A blend of five sugars, lightly dusted with candied fruits.

 

 

We have made 313 5ml bottles of each scent, and when they're gone, they're gone. Supply updates will be available on the BPAL forum and the BPAL LJ community. On October 1st, Black Broom in North Hollywood, CA will be carrying a very limited amount of these Halloween blends. Information will be posted as it becomes available.

 

FOR EVERY ORDER TOTALLING $150 OR MORE THAT CONTAINS A PURCHASE OF A 5ML OF SAMHAIN, THE SAMHAIN WILL BE AUTOMATICALLY UPGRADED TO A 10ML BOTTLE. That is, the total must be $150 before shipping, the order must contain at least one 5ml of Samhain, and only one bottle per order will be upgraded. Vouchers cannot be used to redeem this 10ml offer. It's our way of saying thanks!

 

This does not apply to purchases made at Black Broom: only orders placed directly through BPAL.

 

Did that last bit make sense? Loopy!

 

 

More new stuff...

 

The first of the Great Alchemists Collection, Saint-Germain, is now live in Bewitching Brews:

 

SAINT-GERMAIN -- "A man who knows everything and who never dies." Said to have lived for centuries, the Comte de Saint-Germain is truly a man of legend and mystery. He was an aristocrat, master alchemist, adventurer, magician, artist, and seer with a lust for exquisite jewels, and was reputed to have attained knowledge of the Elixer of Life. His knowledge was so vast and all-encompassing that his claim to have lived hundreds of years - he allegedly knew Jesus and was present at the Council of Nicea - was widely accepted as true. He is a Hermetic Magician's hero for the ages, and his scent is an elegant, timeless, truly refined cologne, bold yet classic: gilded amber, hypnotic lavender, brash carnation and deep mosses.

 

 

And in Diabolus, the first of the Hags of Winter, Black Annis:

 

BLACK ANNIS --

Vast talons, foul with human flesh, there grew

In place of hands, and features livid blue

Glar'd in her visage; while the obscene waist

Warm skins of human victims close embraced.

 

The blue faced hag of the British Hills. She lives in the Dane Hills, Leicestershire, in a cave called Black Annis' Bower Close, which she dug out of rock with her own iron-strong claws. Dozens of huge cats prowl the Bower with her, and it is guarded by a great pollarded oak in which she hides so that she may catch lambs and small children to eat. She carries her victims back to her cave, where she flays them alive before devouring them. She drapes their skins on her guardian oak to dry. Her skirt is fashioned from the skins of her prey, and her bed is a high-piled bed of their bones. Black Annis' perfume is a mixture of damp cave lichen and oak leaf with a hint of vetiver, civet and anise.

 

 

Liber Somnium: the Dream Collection is now part of Bewitching Brews. The first five are being introduced now, and the remaining Dreams will be added over the next few months. Oneiroi, now Dream Formula I, has been recategorized into this Collection, but the formula remains the same.

 

 

BEWITCHING BREWS: LIBER SOMNIUM: THE DREAM COLLECTION

 

DREAM FORMULA II: BAKU -- Our Nightmarebane. Named after the Baku, benevolent Japanese spirits that eat nightmares. In Japanese tradition, nightmares are gifts from malevolent spirits; when you wake up from one, you may call, "Baku, please eat my dreams!", and if you are virtuous and merciful in spirit, the Baku will devour the evil, transforming it into a blessing of good fortune.

 

DREAM FORMULA III: TEMPLE OF DREAMS -- For use when working with the many Gods of Sleep, Dreams, and Nightmares.

 

DREAM FORMULA IV: NANSHE -- The Babylonian Goddess of Dreams, who bestows the power of Oneiromancy onto her priests. This blend opens up psychic sensitivity during sleep and aids in the understanding and correct interpretation of portents and symbols.

 

DREAM FORMULA V: SOMNUS -- Named after the Roman God of Sleep. This blend helps bring on deep, restful, natural sleep.

Also in Bewitching Brews, the Stations of the Sun, scents that evoke the God-essence of Egyptian solar deities as they mark the passage of the Sun through the Heavens.

 

 

BEWITCHING BREWS: THE STATIONS OF THE SUN

RA: THE RISING SUN

AHATHOOR: THE MIDDAY SUN

TUM: THE SETTING SUN

KHEPHRA: THE MIDNIGHT SUN

 

A full set of the Stations of the Sun [the Solar Collection] is available for $40.00.

 

 

Also new throughout the site:

 

BEWITCHING BREWS

BLACK PEARL -- Evocative of the sea's unplumbed mysteries. Gentle and lovely, but menacing and profound. Coconut, Florentine iris, hazelnut and opalescent white musk.

 

BLOOD AMBER -- Slivers of warm, pulsating blood forever crystallized in golden amber resin.

 

BLOOD KISS -- Lush, creamy vanilla and the honey of the sweetest kiss smeared with the vital throb of husky clove, swollen red cherries, but darkened with the vampiric sensuality of vetiver, soporific poppy and blood red wine, and a skin-light pulse of feral musk.

 

THE COILED SERPENT -- A potent yogic oil that stimulates the kundalini, provokes spiritual awakening, and releases the energy seated in your root chakra.

 

MORGAUSE -- Earth sorceress and mother of Mordred, she is, in essence, the harbinger of King Arthur's doom and the downfall of Camelot. She is a sister, or sister-self, to Morgan Le Fay. A bouquet of five night-blooming flowers deepened by dusky violet, purple fruits and the barest breath of medieval incenses.

 

 

FUNEREAL OILS

PENTHUS -- The Greek God of Tears, Patron of Mourners, who dictates and accepts honors paid to the dead. He is the personification of grief and the sorrow and emptiness that comes from loss. Weeping is his hymnal, and this is his perfume. Salt tears over white roses, the fumes of thin funereal incense and the hollowness of calamus.

 

 

SIN AND SALVATION

LEX TALIONIS -- The law of retaliation and perfect reciprocity: an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, an arm for an arm, a life for a life. The essence of blunt justice: dark myrrh, vetiver, cardamom, violet, black pepper, sage, cedarwood and black patchouli with a clarion note of sharp white grapefruit.

 

NEMESIS -- The whip-wielding Goddess of Divine Retribution, Justice and Vengeance, and is the force that balances the scales of Tyche's fortune. She is also called Adrasteia, 'she whom none can escape', and Erinys, 'implacable'. Nemesis is the executrix of Olympian justice, and her primary duty is to punish hubris and mankind's offenses against the natural order with inflexible, remorseless and raging fury. Her symbols are a sword and scourge, a measuring rod and scales. Cypress, ginger, fig, dried rose, red patchouli, tonka bean and cyclamen.

 

SEA OF GLASS -- Upon the Sea of Glass, glowing with the perfection of spiritual union and the radiance of true wisdom, rests the throne of God. A scent of inimitable purity, crystalline grace, and limitless light.

 

 

LOVE POTIONS

THE LADY OF SHALLOT --

Heard a carol, mournful, holy,

Chanted loudly, chanted lowly,

Till her blood was frozen slowly,

And her eyes were darkened wholly,

Turn'd to tower'd Camelot.

For ere she reach'd upon the tide

The first house by the water-side,

Singing in her song she died,

The Lady of Shalott.

 

The scent of calm waters just before a raging storm, limned with achingly-beautiful blooms, an icy scent, but somehow warm, and mirror-bright: bold gardenia, crystalline musk, muguet, water blossoms, clear, slightly tart aquatic notes and a crush of white ginger.

 

LIBERTINE --

Like a puffed and reckless libertine,

Himself the primrose path of dalliance treads.

Rosewood and chamomile with bergamot, violet, red sandalwood, primrose and Arabian musk.

 

SALOME --

And when a convenient day was come, that Herod on his birthday made a supper to his lords, high captains, and chief estates of Galilee; And when the daughter of the said Herodias came in, and danced, and pleased Herod and them that sat with him, the king said unto the damsel, Ask of me whatsoever thou wilt, and I will give it thee. And he sware unto her, Whatsoever thou shalt ask of me, I will give it thee, unto the half of my kingdom. And she went forth, and said unto her mother, What shall I ask? And she said, The head of John the Baptist.

 

And she came in straightway with haste unto the king, and asked, saying, I will that thou give me by and by in a charger the head of John the Baptist. And the king was exceeding sorry; yet for his oath's sake, and for their sakes which sat with him, he would not reject her. And immediately the king sent an executioner, and commanded his head to be brought: and he went and beheaded him in the prison, and brought his head in a charger, and gave it to the damsel: and the damsel gave it to her mother. And when his disciples heard of it, they came and took up his corpse, and laid it in a tomb.

 

A scent that is both coquettish and sinister. Exotic and lush, brimming with grace and viciousness: almond with star jasmine, oakmoss, red sandalwood and Egyptian musk.

 

 

DIABOLUS

DRACUL -- Named in honor of Vlad III, Tepes, of the Order of the Dragon. Black musk, tobacco, fir, balsam of peru, cumin, bitter clove, crushed mint, and orange blossom.

 

GAUEKO -- The Basque God of Night and all the perils of the darkness. Though he is the God of the Danger that Lurks in the Gloom, he is kind to men and warns them against the nighttime hazards and sets rules of conduct for both the living and the dead as they travel through his domain. It is said that since the warm, vibrant daylight is for the living, the abodes of night are reserved for the dead. All who heed his counsel are protected, but woe be to any man that disobeys the laws of Gaueko: he is swift to punish those that would scorn his advice. Blackened sandalwood and misty lavender, with curling wisps of smoky tobacco, nag champa, and labdanum.

 

HELL'S BELLE -- Sweet, smoky and sensually wicked. A thick, steamy scent, truly sinister in its voluptuous sexuality. The perfume of a demon's favored consort, or of the devil herself. Oleander with wet, sweet mandarin, lush magnolia, a rush of deep musk and a touch of spice.

 

MEDEA -- Granddaughter of Helios, Hecate's chosen: Medea was one of the greatest sorceresses of the ancient world. She is the embodiment of ruthless power, indomitable will and furious vengeance. Night-blooming cereus, black orchid, black currant and myrtle leaf enshrouded in the incense of Hecate's cypress and myrrh, and the dark rage of magickal labdanum and intoxicating poppy.

 

NOSFERATU -- We've finally caved in to years of requests for vampiric scents. As soft as grave dust and as dry as a breath drawn within a long forgotten crypt, this is Nosferatu: desiccated herbs and gritty earth brought to life with a swell of robust and sanguineous red wines.

 

NYARLATHOTEP -- And it was then that Nyarlathotep came out of Egypt. Who he was, none could tell, but he was of the old native blood and looked like a Pharaoh. The fellahin knelt when they saw him, yet could not say why. He said he had risen up out of the blackness of twenty-seven centuries, and that he had heard messages from places not on this planet. Into the lands of civilisation came Nyarlathotep, swarthy, slender, and sinister, always buying strange instruments of glass and metal and combining them into instruments yet stranger. He spoke much of the sciences - of electricity and psychology - and gave exhibitions of power which sent his spectators away speechless, yet which swelled his fame to exceeding magnitude. Men advised one another to see Nyarlathotep, and shuddered. And where Nyarlathotep went, rest vanished; for the small hours were rent with the screams of a nightmare.

 

Brooding, yet electric: the scent of buried secrets, roiling nightmares, the essence of the Crawling Chaos, the Father of Knives and Locusts, the Hunter in the Dark. This is the blackest of ritual incenses charged with flashes of ozone.

RAGE -- Black amber erupting with a dark volcanic surge of fiery dragon's blood and a burst of melati, rose geranium, mandarin and black currant.

 

 

WANDERLUST

OLD DUBLIN -- The scent of misty forests, damp alder leaf, and the gentlest touch of white rose.

 

OLD YEREVAN -- Brimming with native fruits and flowers, but also imbued with the power of native earth magicks: apricot and pomegranate with deep plum, wild roses, two Middle Eastern pale musks, white orchid, iris and sweet roots.

 

R'LYEH -- Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn. The sunken city of the Great God Cthulhu. A hellishly dark aquatic scent, evocative of fathomless oceanic deeps, the mysteries of madness buried under crushing black waters, and the brooding eternal evil that lies beneath the waves.

 

VINLAND -- The legendary site of the Viking colony in Newfoundland founded circa 985 BC. Crisp northern wind blowing over loganberry, wild roses, prairie crocus, iris versicolor Linné, mountain avens, yellow birch bark, mayflower and maple leaf.

 

 

CELESTIALS

URANUS

NEPTUNE

PLUTO

 

A few more scents will go live with the September 28th Full Moon update, links will be added, bios will be updated, and a heap more will be accomplished, but for now, I need to collapse!