Scented Snippets: Mendittorosa Le Mat

07/14/15 13:57:59by: Ida Meister

Nothing can conjure the image of The Fool on his journey into the unforeseen future for me like this song, the second in Mahler's Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen —Songs of a Wayfarer.

I've listened to many recordings of it, and Christa Ludwig's expressive and clarion rendition feels so right, full of joy and trepidation.

Which is precisely the point.

Enter The Fool, or the Jester, the only unnumbered card in the tarot deck.

He has been called The Madman, The Beggar, The Vagabond; Le Mat, Il Matto, Der Narr.
He is depicted in a variety of ways: young, old, handsomely garbed, ragged and threadbare; his pants torn by a wild cat of sorts, or his poor bottom bare as the day he was born. He is wounded, he is whole; it is anyone's guess, dependent upon the deck which you hold in your anxious palm.

Always, he carries his staff with all his worldly possessions, few though they be. He is accompanied by a beast, too—be it faithful dog or clawing cat—and he is traveling to an unknown destination. His visage is drawn as hopeful, haggard, gormless, naïve.
His is the card of approaching change in one's destiny.

And Mendittorosa has created a perfume about it.

What a world!

Le Mat Notes
Head: nutmeg, black pepper, cloves
Heart: Egyptian geranium, rose de Grasse
Base: Indonesian patchouli, cashmere wood, Spanish immortelle

Le Mat may appear deceptively simple to the eye; we have seen incarnations of rose-patchouli in abundance. It has appeared in the guise of the dry thin, whispery voice of the repressed Victorians, the lush voluptuary seraglio of Tom Ford's Noir de Noir.
And more besides...

But this one is unique.

Mendittorosa Le Mat sings the song of the wayfarer, with its olfactory augury of metamorphosis, reversal of fortune, reinvention of the individual and his circumstances.

Spices speak to us of foreign lands, different cultures, eternal promise of the new.
Variety is the spice of life [La variété est l'épice de la vie!], taken quite literally. The pulse quickens as we sense the winds of change afoot; we are on the edge of the abyss, already positioned and in motion. Whether we like it or not, movement is a given and we are urged forward as momentum builds.

We can take faith in the fullness of the rose [and the rose-like], who gladdens the heart and imparts courage and good cheer to temper our audacity as we sally forth into the unknown fate which awaits us.

Parts unknown are revealed in fine, winelike patchouli while immortelle lays bare its herbal face, the vegetation The Fool trods underfoot on his path to tomorrow. Woody facets are silky and grounding; perhaps our wanderer will not venture off the edge of the cliff or the mountain [as it appears on some decks].

His destiny is uncertain, but his journey will be beautiful and it will alter him forever; we can smell it.

What impresses me most is the remarkable quality of the materials perfumers Amelie Bourgeois and Anne-Sophie Behaghel have utilized; they are stunningly beautiful.
How could one create anything but loveliness from such beautiful essences as these?

Le Mat is distinctly oriental and resinous, so very comfortable and comforting, like some tender waking dream. It manages to be both sensual and deeply meditative and is a joy to wear.

N.B.: A word for tarot enthusiasts:

In the Rider-Waite tarot deck, The Fool is always depicted as a handsome young man holding a white rose in one hand; it is said to represent freedom and earthly desires. He is blithely ambling towards the edge of the precipice, unperturbed, perhaps even unaware.  The sun shines brightly; his small dog accompanies him and appears to be barking, trying to capture his attention. The Fool's parcel of possessions on a staff represents untapped collective knowledge.

In the Marseille Tarot, however, we find Mendittorosa's Fool: an older man of some experience, walking with staff and torn trousers, the clawing beast behind him.
Is he weary? Hopeful? Wounded? Clearly, he is ready to exit from his present existence.

What does The Fool card augur, when presented straight up?

Innocence, insouciance, immaturity, idealism, luck, energy, impulsivity, marginality, the unknown. Travel, new projects, liberty, optimism, new ventures.

When The Fool card appears reversed?

Foolishness, blindness to a situation, chaos, excess, immorality, violence, incoherence, incompetence, passivity, foolishness, materialism, lack of conscience.

We are each The Fool, in turn.

It is our choice which path we take; may it be a blindingly beautiful, insightful journey to behold.

I'd like to thank Jakub Piotrovicz of Mendittorosa for sending me samples with which to familiarize myself; they are a delight.

[And gazing at the website, it's been awhile since I've seen such artistry in presentation, too. Really spectacular—both bottles and packaging.]