C. W.

Leadbeater on Fragrance-Essences

Index

Mastic
CWL on Fragrance-Essences Storax
Angels of Incense Olibanum
Fragrances in Individual Life Cinnamon Wood
Purifying Incense Juniper Oil
Stimulating And Inspiring Incense Indian Jatamansi
Rose Attar, petals, etc. Powdered Sugar
Sandalwood Oil of Rosewood
Neroli or Orange Blossom Oil Geranium Oil
Jasmine Cascarilla
Lavender Some Balancing Blends
Bergamot Recommended by C.W.
Gum Animi Leadbeater
Coumarin and Tonquin Bean Sandalwood and Rose
Cinnamon Oil Number Eleven
C. W L.'s own Recipe========
 CWL on Fragrance-Essences

The following information was collected together by Dr. George

S. Arundale in his book, The Lotus Fire (1939) and mostly involves
a collection of the research done by the great Theosophical occultist,
Bishop C.W. Leadbeater :

Fragrance-Essences
C. W. Leadbeater : “The use of incense is perfectly scientific ...
All occult students are aware that . . . there is no such thing as really
dead matter, but that everything in nature possesses and radiates
out its own vibration or combination of vibrations. Every chemical
element has thus its own set of influences which are useful in
certain directions and useless or even hostile in others. It is in this
way quite possible, for example, to mingle certain gums which,
when burnt as incense, will strongly stimulate the purer and higher
emotions; but one could just as easily make another mixture whose
vibrations would promote the most undesirable feelings ...
“The incense used in the [Masonic] Lodge tends to purify that
part of man's nature which is sometimes called the astral body, as it
is made of gums which give off an intensely cleansing vibration ... It
has also the effect of attracting denizens of the inner worlds whose
presence is helpful to our working, and of driving away those which
are unsuitable . .

“If the incense is intelligently magnetized its strength is

increased enormously; for example, by putting into olibanum the
definite force of the will in the direction of calmness and devotion,
its influence may be increased by perhaps a hundredfold. That is
why the incense in church is always taken up to the celebrant to be
blessed, and why in the Lodge it is brought to the R.W.M. in order
that he may magnetize it with whatever special quality he thinks will
be helpful for the work of the day. The sprinkling of holy water in a
church is another way of producing a similar effect, but incense has
the advantage that it rises into the air, and wherever a single
particle goes, the purification and blessing is borne with it ...

“Practically all the religions of the world use incense in one form
or another. It appears in the temples of the Hindus, the Zoroastrians,
the Jains, and in the Shinto of China and Japan. It was used in
Greece, in Rome, in Persia, and in the ceremonies of Mithras. All
these people, including the Roman Catholics, avail themselves of it,
because they know it to be a useful thing; why then should not we?
“
The Hidden Life in Freemasonry, pp. 129-33

Censing the Individual. The censing of an Individual in a

ceremonial has the effect of “charging him with power “for the
work his rank qualifies him to do.

“Then the clerics, choir and people are censed in the order of
dignity. There is a threefold object in this: first, to show respect to
them, as is evidenced by the variation in the number of swings
given; second, to include them all within the magnetic field; third, to
evoke whatever latent power of love and devotion there is in each,
that he may take his full share in the great work which is about to be
done. The act of censing establishes a condition of rapport, of
synchronous vibration, which may be utilized to expedite the flow of
force either outward or inward.”
The Science of the Sacraments, p. 174

Angels of Incense
“In considering the many benefits which we gain from the use of
incense, we must not overlook the aid of the special orders of Angels
and nature-spirits which work by its means. The Angels of the
Incense are of two quite distinct types - neither of them readily
comprehensible except by those who have devoted much study to
such subjects. Such investigators know that there are Angels of
Music - great beings who express themselves in music just as we
express ourselves in words - to whom an arpeggio is a greeting, a
fugue a conversation, an oratorio an oration. There are Angels of
Colour, who express themselves by kaleidoscopic changes of
glowing hues, by coruscations and scintillations of rainbow light. So
also are there Angels who live in and express themselves by what to
us are perfumes and fragrances - though to use such words seems
to degrade, to materialize the exquisite emanations in which they
revel so joyously. A sub-division of that type includes the Angels of
the Incense, who are drawn by its vibrations and find pleasure in
utilizing its possibilities . . . Incense is always efficient in attracting
the attention of any Angels who may happen to be in the
neighbourhood...

“There is also another kind to whom the title of Angel is less

appropriate. They are equally graceful and beautiful in their way,
but in reality they belong to the kingdom of the elves or nature-
spirits. In appearance they resemble the child-angels of Titian or
Michael Angelo, except that they have no wings. They do not
express themselves by means of perfumes, but they live by and on
such emanations, and so are always to be found where fragrance is
being disseminated. There are many varieties, some feeding upon
coarse and loathsome odours, and others only upon those which are
delicate and refined. Among them are a few types which are
especially attracted by the smell of incense, and are always to be
found where it is burnt. When we cense the Altar and thus create a
magnetic field we enclose within it a number of these delightful little
elves, and they absorb a great deal of the energy which is
accumulated there, and become valuable agents in its distribution at
the proper time.”

When the priest later says : “As this incense rises before Thee, O
Lord, so let our prayer be set forth in Thy sight. Let Thy holy Angels
encompass Thy people and breathe forth upon them the spirit of Thy
blessing,""it is a most beautiful sight to see them swoop down the
church shedding their influence over the congregation, carrying with
them the essence of the perfume and sending it surging out in great
waves as they pass. The chief purpose of their effort is expressed in
the words used by the Priest as he returns the censer; ‘May the Lord
enkindle within us the fire of His love and the flame of everlasting
charity.’ As the Angels rush out over the congregation, “they extend
the influence of the magnetic field hitherto kept to the Altar to
include the whole church, but this is more definitely completed and
brought down to the physical level by the censing [before
described], first of the clergy and then of the congregation.”
The Science of the Sacraments, pp. 104, 174, et seq.
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Fragrances in Individual Life

The sense of smell is very intimately related to the physical
body, and scientists have long known what a large area of the
cerebral content in the case of the animal kingdom is devoted to this
sense. A beautiful fragrance gives a thrilling uplifting sense obtained
in its own unique way. Conversely there is nothing so repelling as an
evil odour. Occultists tell us that as people advance on the Path of
Holiness, their bodies become more and more fragrant and that the
“odour of sanctity “clings to an object handled by such a one.

In his investigations into this intriguing field of incense-

perfumes, Bishop Leadbeater tells us how we can use their
potencies to magnetize large areas (The Hidden Side of Things,
II, p.218). In his investigations he also found that some incenses
were purifying, some stimulating and inspiring, some sympathetic
and soothing, while some were definitely undesirable in effect, as,
for example, amber, musk, calamus root, galbanum, dragon's blood,
etc., which attract a distinctly low class of elementals.

Synthetic oils seem to have a similar though not so potent an

effect as the natural essential oils.

From a comparison of the subtle colours given for the various

perfumed incenses by Bishop Leadbeater, it appears that these
follow closely in most instances the physical colour of the flower
itself, and this released colour has its effect upon all persons in its
aura to arouse the corresponding qualities.

This close relationship of sound, colour and fragrance with the

principles of man is hinted at in The Secret Doctrine, III, 463 (Adyar
ed., V, 442-43) :
"All the mental, emotional, psychic and spiritual faculties are
influenced by the Occult properties of the scale of causes which
emanate from the Hierarchies of the Spiritual Rulers of the planets,
and not by the planets themselves. This scale leads the student to
perceive in the following order:

1. colour;
2. sound;
3. the sound materializes into the spirit of the metals, i.e., the
metallic Elementals;
4. these materialize again into the physical metals;
5. then the harmonial and vibratory radiant essence passes into
the plants, giving them colour and smell, both of which '
properties ' depend upon the rate of vibration of this energy per
unit of time;
6. from plants it passes into the animals;
7. and finally culminates in the ' principles ' of man.”

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Purifying Incense

Most good incenses were found to have at least vaguely

purificatory effect. Especially potent is Benzoin (Dhoop) which “is
almost savagely ascetic and purifying; it deals trenchantly with all
the grosser forms of impure thought and is excellent for use in a
great cathedral crowded with somewhat undeveloped individuals."It
is a steely blue-grey colour. Balsam of Peru has a milder but similar
effect to Benzoin. Verbena Leaves is rather brutally purifying,
savagely ascetic. Camphor is like “an astral chloride of lime". Lemon
has a very special purifying effect on the mental body, and is
chrome yellow with a touch of green. Cloves also seem to have a
purifying effect on the mental body with their light yellow hue. Aloes
Wood Oil with a greyish green colour clears the brain.
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Stimulating And Inspiring Incense

Rose Attar, petals, etc., give a beautiful rose colour and open up
the astral body to love of a high type.

Sandalwood is a chord of deep blue purple and golden yellow; it

gives devotion of a very high type, and also has vibrations which
will cut up and clear away impurities. Too strong a concentration
of sandal oil. like rose oil, has a tendency to prematurely open the
web protection between the physical and astral planes.

Neroli or Orange Blossom Oil mingles a delicate rose and violet,

plays upon the higher astral, laying it open to buddhic influence,
so to speak, approaching “from the other side to Rose."It quiets
the physical body and is rather good if one has a headache.
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Jasmine, with its rose, pale green, and possibilities of lower octaves
arouses an oriental or Sufi type of devotion. It is distinctly a
feminine or Astoreth scent.

Lavender has the effect of “fidelity, remembrance, patience, and

sweetness ... a staying quality.' It has a rainbow effect of pale blue
violet with touches of rose which comes out in parallel lines with
concentric circles.

Bergamot has a very elusive greenish blue or turquoise colour with

a lower chord of “more crimson lake than anything else; rather
like the spectrum, but it has a line of strong yellow, crimson base,
a greenish top, and a kind of bar of light flashing out of the yellow
in the middle."This interesting scent from the Citrus Bergamia tree
complements the Neroli scent.
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Gum Animi, a crimson scent, would stir an emotional composer or
poet, or devotee.

Coumarin and Tonquin Bean is fresh and bracing for a person

fatigued; its effect is chiefly mental and etheric but pleasant on
the astral, its colour is a greenish yellow, astrally and mentally a
rather sharp green, etherically a greyish green.

Cinnamon Oil is stimulating and works largely along astral lines

arousing affection, sympathy, joyousness and good feeling
through its maroon colour with almost dark crimson flashes in it.

Mastic, a warm green, is etherically stimulating; Thus works chiefly

on the etheric as a health-giver and cleanser.
Storax, an indigo colour, arouses a rather unintelligent devotion of
the militant type.
Olibanum, ['Lobhan'] “the special incense of devotion; its
fragrance tends strongly to awaken that feeling in those who are at
all capable of it, and to deepen and intensify it where it already
exists."It is dark blue and soothing.
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Cinnamon Wood, burnt sienna, has an effect like olibanum.

Juniper Oil, dark blue, also cleansing and soothing.
Indian Jatamansi or Spikenard, violet-blue, with a touch of
mauve, sympathetic, soothing.
Powdered Sugar, dull crimson, soothing and relaxing to the astral
body.
Oil of Rosewood, a rose-madder, mildly affectionate.
Geranium Oil, “a rather pretty greenish brown"but with a touch of
the personal about its sympathy.
Cascarilla, a sympathetic yellow green.

- Compiled from books and talks of C. W. Leadbeater

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 To obtain these or natural oils, it is necessary to get in touch
with some manufacturer or importer, as all perfumes are diluted
some thirteen times with spirits, thus rendering them absolutely
unfit for occult purposes. “Absolute"essences are even more
fragrant than distilled “attars"as they express more of the fragrant
“esters,"but assure yourself that the “Absolutes “were obtained
through the ether volatile process rather than that of animal fat
extraction. Perfumes sold in the bazaars are rarely pure oils.

Some Balancing Blends Recommended by C.W. Leadbeater

Sandalwood and Rose; Jasmine and Sandalwood; Rose and

Lemon - the latter a particularly happy blend because the lemon, so
severely mental, is softened by the rose.

Number Eleven.
This blend of Sandalwood 2, Rosewater 2, Benzoin 5 grs.,
Sugar-candy 7 grs., oil of cloves ½ gr., was pronounced as
very fine for a “T. S. meeting “yielding chiefly violet-rose and
golden, “a glory in the scent world, almost overpowering in its
splendour on the astral; the rose calling up to the mind and
feeling the all-embracing love of God."Many variations were tried
of this recipe but none seemed an improvement save the addition
of Olibanum gr. x per dram which built up the lower octave of the
astral.
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C. W. L.'s own Recipe

"furnished by L. W. Burt of Sydney
: 1 Ib. Olibanum, ['Lobhan'] ½Ib. Benzoin [Dhoop gum]; ¼ lb. Gum
Thus. Grind and mix together. Any or all of the following Oils may
be added: Bergamot, Geranium, Lemon, Cloves, Sandalwood,
Rose Attar, one table-spoonful to the quantity of Incense. Mix well.
(If we dip a stick of Adyar incense in oil, we need not specially
compound any incense.)
These potencies are in our hands to use at will. Just as the great
Angels of the Rays flash Their response to Their Altar Censing during
the Eucharist, so will our principles flash their response to these
fragrant lovelinesses. We do not need quantities of perfume for this
purpose. If we rub lightly a common stone or shell with our favourite
essential oil, for weeks it will return to us an elusive scent of other-
worlds.
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