Florida Water
Because all my ideas can't be good!
We’ve talked here on Emeth, a few times, about incense.
From those discussions, I think that almost all of us agree that a high quality incense can add something special and sacred to our Masonic meetings.
But, we’ve also heard why it isn’t a good solution for some Lodges. How some Masons have health issues that are made worse by it, how others are sensitive to smoke or the scent. We’ve also heard about poorly installed fire systems, and how the burning of incense isn’t possible in some Lodge rooms because of them. My own Centralia Lodge is that way, with an overly sensitive sensor right in the heart of the Lodge room, tied directly to the local Fire Station.
But, what about Florida Water?
No, I don’t mean water bailed out of the ocean or a river in Florida. I mean the unisex cologne first developed in 1808 and still being made with the same recipe today.
I’ve know about Florida Water for a long time, but I never actually saw a bottle of it until this past week when I ran across it in a specialty grocery. It just isn’t a popular thing here in the Pacific Northwest I guess.
It is sold all over online, in small Botanica shops and it is really inexpensive. But heh, I like to buy things in person.
So, I saw some the other day, and of course had to snag a bottle for myself.
Florida Water is what it says it is. A unisex cologne. I’d personally classify it as an After Shave for my own use.
But, it’s also something quite a lot different from that.
I do not know when or why, and I presume that no one does, but at some point in its long history, it entered into many spiritual practices throughout the Western Hemisphere.
It is used, in various minority faith traditions for spiritual cleansing of physical space and practitioners.
Intention of course being the agent of transmutation from the mundane to the sacred.
Many of these practitioners use it in the form of a spray. Simply filling a spray bottle with mostly water or alcohol, adding a bit of Florida Water, diluting it to a scent level of personal preference.
Having a bottle here in the house the past few days, and having used it as After Shave during that time, has resulted in some thinking.
It seems to me that the primary purpose of the use of incense within a sacred space, such as a Lodge meeting, is to awaken another sense. To set the space apart from the mundane, as perceived by the sense of smell. Indeed our Fellowcraft Degree Lecture discusses the importance of our senses.
Of course watching the tendrils of smoke rise and disperse throughout the space touches upon our sense of sight as well, but surely the primary goal of the use of incense within a Lodge is to delight the sense of smell, and create a break from the mundane.
And couldn’t, I wonder, spraying the room prior to a meeting with diluted Florida Water accomplish much the same thing?
If intentions were correct, and a Brother so perceived it, could not that act spiritually cleanse the room, much as many believe incense or sage capable of doing?
If the scent of the room was the same, every single time the Lodge met, and that scent was slightly different from the norm, wouldn’t that help create a scent barrier between the mundane world and the sacred space? Wouldn’t it then become another ‘brick’ in our creation of sacred space as we Open our Lodge, and as spiritual builders, isn’t that fully in keeping with our goals as Masons?
Memories strongly associate themselves with scent. Don’t we feel better when we smell something we’ve always loved cooking in the kitchen? Can’t we almost smell the campfire when we think of a wonderful adventure in our past? If for us, a certain specific scent became associated with the good memories of our Masonry, would that not serve to help us relax and get into the right frame of mind prior to our Lodge Opening?
A bit of home diluted Florida Water room spray isn’t going to set off any overly sensitive fire suppression systems.
And those who are very sensitive to scents can easily be accommodated by diluting the spray enough. We wouldn’t be looking for a powerful or overwhelming scent, just the slightest hint of something different to set the space apart.
Good incense (we aren’t talking about the crap on a stick the stoners burnt in high school to cover the stink of their dope) is a wonderful thing. I’ve loved it since I was a child, it may well have been my favorite facet of the Catholic Mass.
But, for some Lodges, it just won’t work and can’t be included.
Perhaps some diluted Florida Water used as a room spray could serve as a substitute instead? It seems to be used as such by various spiritual traditions.
Just how a cologne became incorporated into spiritual practices is a mystery for another day, but if you would like a bit more information, the manufacturer is linked below. A quick Google search will turn up various articles about its spiritual use, all of varying quality. As always, one must separate the wheat from the chaff.
Finally, I am given to understand that a man might give a bottle of Florida Water to the special lady in his life, without her assuming that he is doing so in order to have the opportunity to take liberties with her…
“I don't want any money for it," he said. "It's a gift." Scarlett's mouth dropped open. The line was so closely, so carefully drawn where gifts from men were concerned. "Candy and flowers, dear," Ellen had said time and again, "and perhaps a book of poetry or an album or a small bottle of Florida Water are the only things a lady may accept from a gentleman. Never, never any expensive gift, even from your fiance. And never any gift of jewelry or wearing apparel, not even gloves or handkerchiefs. Should you accept such gifts, men would know you were no lady and would try to take liberties.”
― Margaret Mitchell, Gone with the wind
I have an old Lodge where the meeting room is huge and a very high ceiling but every meeting I use a rare scent that I bring called "Old Spice" 😎
Interesting... I use it very extensively, the florida water. I learned in the Amazone rainforest how to infuse it with plants while doing my work with certain ones. The florida water by itself is already supposed to be a cleanser for energies. Combined with certain plants, elements can be added through adding the plant material, blowing intention with tobacco into the bottle or even sing into the bottle to charge the bottle with the spirit or essence of the plants that you have added fused with your intentions.
This can be used to spray in rooms, people individually directly on the skin and in their aura. I used it often to bring people down after ceremonies and to give them a cleaning and relief of the heavy work that was done during the ceremony.
I love it a lot... it's a dear companion to have on my side and I can use it as an aftershave too!🍻🤤🧙♂️🙏