The Olfactory Experience of perceiving scents and the use of language for describing
scents have been present in all Ancient Civilisations and in this era. This means that Olfaction has been the most important sense used for survival, communication, protection, healing, and beauty, used in sacred rituals ceremonies and connection to the Divine.

Since pre-history, human beings discovered fire, and then, the fascinating experience of smelling the particles of wood and resins being burned through smoke.
The word “Perfume” comes from this concept in Latin “Per - fumum” that literally means “through smoke”.

In Literature, the language of scent has been used to describe events, places, persons,
gardens, palaces, dresses, the country-side, the misery and the richness, the sacred places, the abundant places, the simple places that trigger our memories, all in  descriptive, poetic, and historical ways.

We have used Language to describe the reality around us and pass the experience to
others, by categorisation of plants and flowers, olfactory properties, health properties, and uses in other aspects of our lives, like traditions. Additionally, we have used Scents as well as Body Language for Healing and Sacred Ceremonies to communicate with our inner-self and align better with Nature.

In pre-history and ancient history, humans had a bigger Limbic System in our brain
than today's human beings.
The Limbic System is responsible for managing our Memory, Emotions and Identification. In this era of immediacy, screen interaction, isolation, scent restriction or phobia, we are evolving with the risk of developing a smaller Limbic System and this is already bringing a society that does not retain concepts or places or historical factors, and also a society that has less empathy and less need for identifying with others and identifying risks by themselves without the use of technology. Society is been driven by Visual Communication mostly, while one sense is being on demand, this eclipses the other senses.

Aromatherapy has been part of a millenary wisdom and it is very much linked to the
Connection with Nature, using this wisdom to identify healing plants and flowers and different methods of healing. Natural Aromatherapy is defined by the use of Natural Raw Materials, not synthetic fragrances. The best Natural Aromatherapy starts by going out to a Garden, the Bush or Countryside. Experiencing the smell of the actual plants and flowers makes Olfaction a powerful tool, as the aromatic molecules will go to the Olfactory system in our brain and Limbic system, but also will act on our Sympathetic and Para-Sympathetic Nervous Systems in our body.

There are various methods of Natural Aromatherapy applications like:
aerial diffusions, baths, oil applications through massage, food, patches, creams or lotions, shampoos, and clay compresses. The scent and properties of each raw material,  plant or essential oil will manifest in their own healing language.
By using the different parts of the plant, sometimes the roots, sometimes the leaves, and sometimes the flowers, the healing therapeutic properties and methods may change.

Understanding the use of essential oils, their potency, contra-indications and application methods is paramount for producing synergies that will act on specific area of our body, organ, or enhancing mood and emotional wellbeing. Plant maceration is also a method for creating oils that are not that potent as essential oils, but provide therapeutic synergies. Essential oils have to be treated carefully, always dilute before application, otherwise, only smell from the bottle. Essential oils are not meant to be drunk; they can irritate our throat and internal organs. Only specialised oil capsules can be used for internal use.  Always consult your medical practitioner.

Another aspect of Natural Aromatherapy is the use of reputable quality of essential oils
that are neither adulterated, nor mixed with other blends or fragrances without indication for the guarantee of high degree of healing properties.
Nowadays, we are blending the experience of Natural Aromatherapy with Natural Perfumes. In the last century, the focus of Perfume was aesthetic, was part of fashion and was no longer made of natural raw materials, but with synthetics and isolates.

Natural Perfumery plays two roles:
1. Expressing beauty, transporting you to a place or emotion; and,
2. Bringing the therapeutic role of each accord of the Perfume construction.
This blend of these two disciplines and Olfaction Training is called Natural Perfumotherapy, a new way to go in Perfumery bringing Scents to Emotions, Wellbeing and aligning us to Re-Connect with Nature.

More info about Perfumotherapy 

Christmas time is celebrated throughout many days, even after Christmas Day. In some countries, they extend it up to the first days of February.
Christmas time, in Winter time, is decorated with beautiful Christmas ornaments,
lights, and listening to Christmas Carols, Classical music or any other music that invites us to reflect and relax, sometimes, we also get music to gather with family and friends and enjoy the time sharing love, food, songs, games and gifts. Christmas time, in Summer time, in some places they like to have similar Christmas decoration, music and food than the people from Northern Hemisphere, but in general, due to the warm season, people are more relaxed about decorations, and more attuned to go out and swim, smell the flowers in bloom from Spring, experience the breeze and humidity and enjoy the birds and flying insects pollinating flowers and plants.

What is the Scent of Christmas Celebration made of?
Depending of our culture of origin, this Scent will vary.

In Western Christian Culture is generally a cozy blend of warm spices (cinnamon, clove,
nutmeg), fresh conifer greens (pine, fir, cypress, spruce), sweet baked goods (ginger bread,
almond bread, vanilla, anise), bright citrus (orange, lemon) mixed with peppermint, all in
harmony with mulled wine and cider with cherries, cranberries mixed with the smell of turkey, ham, beef or chicken and potatoes, carrots, onions, garlic, sweet potatoes, beans, chick peas, green peas. Inside the churches, the smell of tuberose and myrrh, frankincense and candles accompanied with Anthems and Christmas Carols.
In Southern Europe, the smell of fish and seafood with peppers, olive oil harmonises
with sweet nuts deserts, dried fruit, red and white wine or mulled wine, cider, brandy to drink. The Christmas decoration also include fresh conifer greens adding a fresh earthy smell. The Christmas style of sweet bread is puffed yeast-based, like in Italy, they have Panettone, in Greece, something similar to Panettone, they have it also for Easter, in Spain, they have “Rosca de Reyes” for the 6th of January. These sweet puffed breads have lots of sugar and dried fruits and usually are taken with frothy warm cocoa drink. The smell in that time is sweet almond, vanilla, fruity, icy sugar, cacao, vanilla like.

In Mexico and some Latin-American countries, the European and Spanish influence is
there in Christmas, but at least in Mexico, we have added some other dishes and aromas into Christmas, like the powder of dried prawns mixed with cooked rosemary and spicy and hot “mole” paste and cooked small potatoes. Some people may cook prawns as a tradition too. Another traditional dish is “Chiles en nogada”, a delicacy of stuffed capsicums or “Chile Poblano” with minced pork meat, blended almonds, covered in an almond sauce and pomegranate seeds. This dish mixes the green spicy chilly with the sweetness of almonds, pork meat and the bitterness of pomegranate seeds. Some more indigenous alcoholic drinks are also part of the tradition like Pulque, Tequila.
Some other Latin-American countries in South America, will cook “ceviche”, based in
fish, seafood, potatoes, lime juice, peppers, salt, tomatoes, coriander, cucumber, avocado, red onion, garlic, and orange juice. This is a very fresh, oceanic smell dish.

In Australia and New Zealand, similar Christmas Celebration custom as the Northern
Hemisphere, with some more simplicity and flexibility adding as a desert “The Pavlova”
a Meringue based fruit creamy desert with strawberries, black berries, kiwi fruit, mango slices. It is soft, easy to digest, sweet combined with the bitterness of the fruit white wine, cider or rose wine are served as drink, seafood is also popular and fish with potato chips and lots of vegetables like potatoes, carrots, spinach, sweet potato, parsley, coriander, mint, orange, lime, lemon, beetroot, red onions, garlic, mushrooms, all blended in black-pepper, marine salt or pink pepper. After dinner, the scents from black tea or herbal tea infusions with milk or coffee or chocolate milk are enjoyed.

In the Middle East, Christmas celebration dishes feature with roasted lamb or chicken,
usually stuffed with spiced rice and nuts (pine nuts and almonds) combined with fruits like dates, also hummus, tabouli, baba ganoush, kebbeh with coriander, peppers as garnish for the dishes. The Baklava is a very sweet festive cake that also is added into the Christmas Celebration. There are regional variations including the Syrian stuffed turkey, Palestinian Qedreh (lamb, rice, chickpeas) and Egyptian Fatta, all seasoned with spices like cinnamon, allspice and baharat.

In Asian Countries, they adopted some of the Western Christmas traditions blent with
their own particular dishes for festivities:
In Japan, they use KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) nuggets with a desert dish “Strawberry
shortcake” which it is a fluffy sponge cake with cream and fresh strawberries. Other sweets
more into the Japanese custom are “Wagashi”, are moulded traditional sweets in the shape of snowmen.
In Philippines, they have baked rice cake with coconut milk, salted egg and cheese called
“Bibingka”. The “Puto Bumbong” is a purple rice cake steamed in bamboo, served with butter, coconut and sugar. Also they have a variety of pastries. They also have many Spanish influence savoury dishes for this celebration made of pork, chicken and beef.
In Vietnam, they have noodle soups, savoury crispy rice cakes with meat and for desert,
chocolate log cake with French influence recipe.
In India, they celebrate with hearty meat dishes with spices like “Biryani and Curries”, accompanied with sweets like “Nankhatai,Bolinhas and Karanji”. For roasted meats, they use goose and duck.
In Thailand, they use spicy red curry with coconut milk, herbs and meat. As a desert,
mango sticky rice with coconut milk.
In Korea, there are savoury pancakes with vegetables, meat or seafood, braised short ribs.
As a desert, rice cake soup, traditionally for New Year celebrations but also shared on
Christmas celebrations.
As decorations in Asian countries, Mango Trees are decorated for Christmas and oil-
burning lamps are used in India.
In China, people prefer to have Christmas celebration outside, instead of cooking at
home. Their food varied from hot pots to Western foods. People give apples to friends and
love ones. Apple signifies “fruit of peace” to Chinese. Some of the staples for Christmas dinner are chicken, duck or dumplings. As a desert, they have coated hawthorn fruits with malt sugar on a bamboo skewer.
In African Countries, there is a vibrant feast of spiced rice dishes, roasted meats (chicken,
goat and turkey) with flavour stews and sides of fried plantains salads and small chops like rich fruitcakes, sticky fruit puddings.

As you can see, Christmas time scents are varied wherever you are.
This is an aromatic glimpse of the World Christmas Celebration Season in food and aromas and decorations as part of the way people stop and value community, reflection, and gathering for peace and harmony. These scents throughout the world are made for us to enjoy, to recover that vibrancy and motivation, and to reconnect with Nature and with ourselves!

The origins and history of Poinsettias ( Euphorbia pulcherrima) take us to the Aztec
Civilization, where this flower was called cuetlax ōchitl, meaning "flower that grows in residues or soil”. This plant only grew in Winter from the lower altitudes in Mexico, in what is now Taxco, Cuernavaca.  As with the higher altitudes of what is now Mexico City, previously called Tenochtitlan, it was not possible to grow this plant, and just got imported in that time from these low altitude areas.

These flowers were used by the Aztecs in ceremonial sites and temples. As the Spaniards were trying to vanish any pagan rituals and beliefs from the Aztecs, they used the Poinsettias or cuetlaxõchitl flowers for the Celebration of Christmas. The Spaniards took the poinsettias as a symbol to get rid of the original pagan traditions of the Aztecs and replace them with friars of the Franciscan Christian religious order in Mexico included the plants in their Christmas celebrations.  The star-shaped leaf pattern is said to symbolize the Star of Bethlehem, the red colour represents the blood shed during the sacrifice of Jesus' crucifixion, and the white leaves represent the purity of Jesus.

Today, Poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima) is known in Mexico and Guatemala as
“flor de nochebuena” or simply “nochebuena”, meaning "Christmas Eve flower”. In other countries, like Spain, this plant is called “flor de pascua ”, meaning “Pascal flower” (Spanish people say “Pascua” to Christmas and “Pascua de Resurreción” to Passover or Easter). In Chile and Peru, this plant is known as “The Crown of the Andes”.

Poinsettia is a commercially important flowering plant species of the diverse spurge family Euphorbiaceae. Indigenous to Mexico and Central America, the poinsettia was first described by Europeans in 1834. It is particularly well known for its red and green foliage and is widely used in Christmas floral displays. The flower was originally called either “Mexican flame flower” or “painted leaf” by people in United States, then, in 1836, the plant was named taxonomy after Joel Roberts Poinsett, the first United States minister to Mexico, who also was a botanist, spoke many languages and was credited with introducing the plant to the USA in the 1820s.