and powers. So herbs and spices became
important in the sacrificial fires and incense
of religious ceremonies; they were offerings
to the gods, a way of evoking their presence
and imagining their heaven. Perfumes — a
word that comes from the Latin for “through
fire” — have long been the source of a
similarly mysterious appeal.
The Aromas of Holiness and Paradise
In the religions of the ancient world, spices
were a means by which spiritual
fulfillment could be symbolized and
experienced as a form of sensuous delight.
A garden inclosed is my sister, my spouse;
a spring shut up, a fountain sealed.
Thy plants are an orchard of
pomegranates, with pleasant fruits;
camphire, with spikenard, Spikenard and
saffron, calamus and cinnamon, with all
trees of frankincense; myrrh and aloes,
with all the chief spices: A fountain of