Baruch's Phoenix

[hexnut]

BARUCH’S PHOENIX
And he took me and led me where the sun goes forth; and he showed me a chariot and four, under which burnt a fire, and in the chariot was sitting a man, wearing a crown of fire, (and) the chariot (was) drawn by forty angels. And behold a bird circling before the sun, about nine cubits away. And I said to the angel, What is this bird?

And he said to me, This is the guardian of the earth. And I said, Lord, how is he the guardian of the earth? Teach me. And the angel said to me, This bird flies alongside of the sun, and expanding his wings receives its fiery rays. For if he were not receiving them, the human race would not be preserved, nor any other living creature. But God appointed this bird thereto. And he expanded his wings, and I saw on his right wing very large letters, as large as the space of a threshing-floor, the size of about four thousand modii; and the letters were of gold. And the angel said to me, Read them. And I read, and they ran thus: Neither earth nor heaven bring me forth, but wings of fire bring me forth. And I said, Lord, what is this bird, and what is his name? And the angel said to me, His name is called Phoenix. (And I said), And what does he eat ? And he said to me, The manna of heaven and the dew of earth. And I said, Does the bird excrete? And he said to me, He excretes a worm, and the excrement of the worm is cinnamon, which kings and princes use. But wait and thou shalt see the glory of God. And while he was conversing with me, there was as a thunder-clap, and the place was shaken on which we were standing. And I asked the angel, My Lord, what is this sound? And the angel said to me, Even now the angels are opening the three hundred and sixty-five gates of heaven, and the light is being separated from the darkness. And a voice came which said, Light giver, give to the world radiance. And when I heard the noise of the bird, I said, Lord, what is this noise? And he said, This is the bird who awakens from slumber the cocks upon earth. For as men do through the mouth, so also does the cock signify to those in the world, in his own speech. For the sun is made ready by the angels, and the cock crows.

And I said, And where does the sun begin its labours, after the cock crows? And the angel said to me, Listen, Baruch: All things whatsoever I showed thee are in the first and second heaven, and in the third heaven the sun passes through and gives light to the world. But wait, and thou shall see the glory of God. And while I was conversing with him, I saw the bird, and he appeared in front, and grew less and less, and at length returned to his full size. And behind him I saw the shining sun, and the angels which draw it, and a crown upon its head, the sight of which we were not able to gaze upon; and behold. And as soon as the sun shone, the Phoenix also stretched out his wings. But I, when I beheld such great glory, was brought low with great fear, and I fled and hid in the wings of the angel. And the angel said to me, Fear not, Baruch, but wait and thou shalt also see their setting.

And he took me and led me towards the west; and when the time of the setting came, I saw again the bird coming before it, and as soon as he came I saw the angels, and they lifted the crown from its head. But the bird stood exhausted and with wings contracted. And beholding these things, I said, Lord, wherefore did they lift the crown from the head of the sun, and wherefore is the bird so exhausted? And the angel said to me, The crown of the sun, when it has run through the day four angels take it, and bear it up to heaven, and renew it, because it and its rays have been defiled upon earth; moreover it is so renewed each day. And I Baruch said, Lord, and wherefore are its beams defiled upon earth? And the angel said to me, Because it beholds the lawlessness and unrighteousness of men, namely fornications, adulteries, thefts, extortions, idolatries, drunkenness, murders, strife, jealousies, evil-speakings, murmurings, whisperings, divinations, and such like, which are not well-pleasing to God. On account of these things is it defiled, and therefore is it renewed. But thou askest concerning the bird, how it is exhausted. Because by restraining the rays of the sun through the fire and burning heat of the whole day, it is exhausted thereby. For, as we said before, unless his wings were screening the rays of the sun, no living, creature would be preserved.
- Greek Apocalypse of Baruch

Born in radiance, defiled, and resplendently renewed: Atlas cedar, white fig, sugared date, sweet orange, golden honey, white sandalwood, benzoin, galbanum, and bitter almond.

In Vitro Sweet, orange-y, and cedar-y.

Wet Sweet orange with cedar wood. After two minutes it was less orange and more wood. Two minutes later it was mildly sweet, non-astringent, non-musty wood, and very nice.

Drying Eight minutes after application this settled into sweet and woody, and a half hour later it was less woody and more of a sweet spice. There was an extremely faint trace on my wrist ten hours later.


With the formal test out of the way, I am delighted to report that Baruch's Phoenix evoked sunshine for me. Yes, I picked out a few notes, but the overall impression was a fair match for the creator's intent, something that I am rarely privileged to experience. Bravo, Beth!

[Lycanthrope]

Wet, I get the schmear of fig and cedar together. There's a spicy, sugary note mixed with orange and honey, touched with a little sharp resin. It smells kind of like... a cedar fig yogurt with a sharp almond, a hint of spiciness and splintery woods, but other than that it is not a straightforward resin smell. It is very hard to describe. I would say closest to Strangler Fig with the creamy fig family.

[Cactus]

Wet: The sandalwood and cedar combine to create a strong sense of incensy woods. Even though there is no smoke, the woods have a sense of warmth/heat/fire to them. I almost expect to see heat shimmers coming off my hand. In-keeping with the phoenix theme! Behind the sharp, dry woods, there is a mix of figs,dates,and oranges.

 

Drying down: The woods calm down as the oil dries. After a while (maybe an hour or so), the woods and the fruits reach a balance. The fig is there and so is a ripe, sweet-smelling orange. The date is there too, but it's *subtle*. The fruits bring a richness to balance the dryness of the woods.

 

Overall this is on the dry woody side (but with a definite fig, date, orange component). It reminds me of the Middle East/Desert, especially of a desert orchard surrounded by wilderness, and has a warm/hot feel to it. Sensual.

Edited December 10, 2013 by Cactus

[SophieCedar]

You know, I'm reviewing this phoenix last because Baruch's Phoenix is the most complex and morph-y. I needed some time to see the full spectrum.

 

Starts off cedar strong. Like so much it masked all other notes. It bloomed to a thin fig and bitter almond, then turned the corner to resinville. Drydown smells like warm sweet candlewax due to the date and honey mixed with resin and cedar. Honestly? Perplexing and intriguing, I'd regret not buying a bottle.

[zankoku_zen]

Cedar, sandalwood, and a touch of sweetness. It's a really golden WOODY blend on me. I am amping the hell out of the cedar in this one. *sigh*

 

So if wood is your thing, and you can handle cedar (which obviously I can't), give this a try. In it's defense, typically cedar is straight up pencil shavings but in this case it actually smells like a freshly made plank of cedar wood or if you had been chopping into a cedar tree.

[Caper]

Sigh. Another beautiful phoenix.

 

I like cedar, but I only get a mild hint if it with this blend in the beginning stages. That is when I get the almond too, the bitter version, not the marzipan version. There is a touch of orange liqueur maybe? It has a hint of alcohol, but it quickly passes. Damn, this morphs like crazy!

 

BONUS! I have finally found a blend where the fig isn't reminiscent of the Purple Pie Man strawberry shortcake doll from the 80s. I am SO glad that I didn't skip this one out of fear of the fig.

 

It is a sweet, mildly foody, mildly warm blend. I agree with SophieCedar about the candlewax at the end. Something about it is candle like, but not nasty cheap candle, nice BPAL candle. :lol

 

Most definitely a bottle in my next order.

 

:

[Alaeidrel]

I'm slowly learning that I like honey notes at lot more than I thought!

 

I was hoping to get more of my beloved white sandalwood out of this than I do, but it ends up drying from a cloyingly sweet foody honey to a soft, delicious fig spiked with almond and nuts. I can't pick out the rest of the notes but they keep it smelling ethereal instead of foody. Yum! What an unexpected hit.

[Bookgroper]

I want what Alaeidrel got! Instead mine is, wet, all dry woodsiness. Guessing that's the cedar. Eventually it dries down a bit sweet with some hints of the orange, but that's all. Maybe I'll try it again later before consigning it to swaps, it has so many awesome sounding notes in it. Disappointed that all I get is wood.

[Magycmyste]

In the imp: Sharp, like REALLY sharply bitter cedar (ugh!) with some orange and something sweet - maybe fig or almond

 

Wet on skin: Mostly orange with some other notes - I know they're there, but i can't really pick them out very well. This is much better than what I was smelling in the imp, though.

 

Dried down: The cedar is coming out again, mingling with the sandalwood, but not enough to cut through the bitterness.I seem to have lost the sweet notes I was getting earlier.

 

Throw: Not much, which I think is a good thing for me.

 

Verdict: ** 1/* Not a winner for me. Too much bitter, and not enough sweet. Which surprises me, as there were many sweet notes in this that tend to do well on my skin. The cedar won out, though, with the bitterness amped up. ::sigh:: I did have higher hopes for this one. Oh well.

Edited January 3, 2014 by Magycmyste

[mermaidsdream]

In the imp: sharp. I'm not sure how else to describe it. I'm not even sure why I'm testing this right now, because it didn't call to me, didn't give me that instant “love-must wear this all the time” vibe from the sniff.

 

Applied: Woodsy, almost … pine. Reminds me of being in a forest, surrounded by trees I love, wanting to sit down under a giant, branches spread in a leafy canopy. Also, vaguely … Christmas. A little spruce, perhaps?

 

Drydown: Surprisingly, I like this. I'm not sure why, but it's comforting. I think a bottle (or a full imp, at the least) might be called for - which is good, given I haven't had a lot of luck with the phoenixes!

[Aviatrix]

In the vial, this is very cedary!

 

On my skin, it becomes sweeter and I get a lot of the orange now. After a while, the resins make their appearance, too, and I get a whole lot of different notes that I can't quite distinguish, but it might be the almond and the date. It's certainly very sweet, and also still woodsy.

 

It has decent throw, and lasts a fairly long time on me without getting too faint in the process.

 

Overall, a delicious, warm, wood/resin blend that certainly evokes the rebirth of the phoenix in all its splendor.

[JazzieCazzie]

Got through a Phoenix Anniversary decant circle. It just has taken me a long time to get around to testing the multitudes of impies I've had and now I'm back on track.

 

IN THE IMP: Oddly sharp and bitter, though not unpleasantly so.

 

Dabbed on wrist and in crook of arm.

 

WET: This is really fascinating upon application. I like each of the notes listed individually but there were so many I wasn't sure how it would blend on me. I'd say the immediate notes to rise are the almond, honey and, to a lesser degree, the fig and date ... the sweet notes. Also, I get the orange very clearly, though I'm not a big fan of orange (I like the "real orange" smell but very rarely like it as a perfume note). However, the cedar and benzoin and sandalwood offset the sweetness pretty quickly. It's very complex and complicated and within a few minutes it's hard for me to get a read on an individual note.

 

DRYDOWN: The very initial drydown is quite amazing. The notes blend together into something completely different and divine. Then, after a little while, it goes medicinal and dark-fruity (the fig and date), which I LOVE. I am especially a huge fan of fig combined with woods and resins so I'm thinking this will be a keeper until ...

 

LATER DRYDOWN: Sadly, in the end, the honey amps so strongly that it becomes just way too cloyingly sweet and weird for me. I like honey a lot of the time, but every so often it just overamps and this is one of those times.

 

OVERALL: This reminds me SO much of Eden. That's another one where I loved the individual notes, and thought it would be a keeper until the final drydown killed it for me.

 

On a scale of 1-5, it went from an early drydown 4+ to a final 2.

[thekittenkat]

In the decant: Sweet honey, but the bitter almond lurks just underneath.

 

Wet: The cedar and sandalwood make their presence known!

 

The dry-down: Quite the morpher! Now as it really dries, it's all abt the fruits, but not too much orange, thank goodness. Still sweetened nicely by the honey.

Edited January 18, 2014 by thekittenkat

[OctoberGwen]

Well, crap. I really wanted this one to work.

 

This smells nice initially, but ultimately the fig, honey, and sugared date make it too sweet for me. It also smells oddly masculine, which is probably because of the cedar.

 

It is quite woodsy, which I normally like, but something about this particular brand of woodsy mixed with this particular brand of sweet just isn't working for me.

[Ajila]

In the bottle - Pencil shavings from the cedar, touches of sweetness and a hint of almond in the background

 

Wet on me - A green, smoky cedar

 

Dry on me - A light green almost citrusy smoke

 

Overall - Surprisingly light and delicate in the dry down, but it doesn't grab me

[milo]

Strong herbs and slightly less strong resins. Ends up kind of smoky herbs and resins. Not my thing, but nice to try.

[Blood onmy hands]

I can pick out all of the listed notes in this, but they're all very soft, subtle and well blended (maybe that has come with age, since this is three years old now). I like the lab's fig note, because it smells woody and softly chocolatey, and I can pick it out in this blend, with the woody qualities enhanced even more by the cedar and sandalwood. The sweet orange adds a warm glow to the scent. The benzoin and galbanum add in a resinous incense smoke. And the bitter almond, sugared date and golden honey offer up an exotic, but dangerous (almost poisonous) smelling gourmand in the drydown. I'm glad that the almond doesn't smell like cherry here.

 

Baruch's Phoenix is a bunch of exotic desserts set out on a wooden buffet table with incense burning in the background.

 

Gourmand, woody, incense. Exotic, warm, glowing and lovely.

I like this a lot.

[Lucchesa]

Baruch's Phoenix is good-not-great on me. It's mostly cedar, sandalwood and galbanum. I don't get any honey, which is too bad because it would help keep the cedar in check. The fruit notes are there but soft, in the background; no detectable almond. I love the scent descriptions for so many of the anniversary blends, and so few of them are home runs on me. Oh well, I'm happy to have smelled this one, and I keep trying...