Do Witches Use Perfume?
The answer may surprise you
Just kidding, the answer won’t surprise you at all because spoiler: witches are people. Some of us wear perfume, some of us don’t. In an ideal world, we’d roll in fresh rosemary or cloves, but then we’d stain our clothes.
A week or so ago, Instagram suggested I check out a perfume called “Witchy Woo” and I had a minor identity crises wondering, Am I being seen by my algorithm, or caught in a capitalist trap? Am I, in fact, interested in spritzing myself with the deep, earthy scent of rare Moroccan orris entwined with thorny rose, nutmeg, cinnamon, and black pepper with grounding patchouli wrapped in illuminating frankincense and opoponax?
I do want to “wake up the powerful alliance of my courage and creativity,” but do I need to pay a perfumery $190 plus tax and shipping to achieve it? And what the heck is opoponax, anyway? (A tree resin, it turns out.)
As I get deeper into my spiritual practice, it gets harder to square my witchy sensibilities with the “normal” world. Take the holiday season, for example, which Inglenook’s new Features Writer Malachi Lily speaks to in their divinatory reading for this month. Fall is when everything outside starts to die, shut down, and go to sleep, but it’s when I seem to be propelled into high-performing gear. While I love gatherings—I’m a big believer in hygge (HOO-gah), the Danish art of coziness and meaningful togetherness—but pacing is also a thing. It doesn’t mean I should say yes to every invitation or call-to-hosting action. On the other hand, I don’t not want to be invited, and I don’t not want to have people in my house…I just wish there weren’t so many dishes, so much vacuuming, so much extroversion. My body deeply resonates with what’s happening outside: it wants to go dormant, to be less frenzied — but not in a depressing way, which is a tricky balance.
To me, being a witch is about balance, awareness, and intention. There’s paraphernalia involved, but it’s not much fancier than those three words. I work on finding energetic balance, expanding my awareness, setting and channeling my intentions and will. When it comes to the balance of energy, I take my cues from the natural world, which is more meaningful and authentic for me than the cues I get from media and pop culture. This is a big difference from how I used to operate, before I “went witch” a couple years ago, and I’m left wondering:
When my definition of “meaningful” shifts, how do I reconcile that with my community?
Witch or no, I think anyone can relate to this quandary. When we gather, there needs to be common ground, which usually translates to “generalized topics ground.” This leads to another layer of self-exploration about sacrifice. I find myself asking, What am I willing to do to be part of the goings-on of the season? And sometimes, What parts of myself am I willing to put aside to belong?
It’s easy for me to get caught up in shopping, instead of answering these big questions. Materialism is far less complicated. (Or is it? Inglenook’s Features Writer Tara has thoughts.) The thing is, I love buying gifts. I love giving them to people. This is very convenient for me come December, when gifts become a worldwide common ground. Or maybe…it’s love? Wading past the over-commodification and forced routine of holiday traditions, many of which were either invented or perpetuated by capitalism (I’m looking at you, Santa and Rudolph), there’s real, actual love to be found. Gifts can be meaningful. But it all circles back to balance, awareness, and intention.
I wish you a restful Yuletide with plenty of books, or at least time for reflection.