THE STORY BEHIND NENÚFAR

THE STORY BEHIND NENÚFAR

“Take to thee Lotus flowers and plants and Lotus buds when they recur as every bloom and every herb of sweet odor at its season; cool water and incense, joints and offering requirement in full tale, that thy Ka may be satisfied with them for ever and ever.” Tomb of Aahmose; Pharaonic Egypt

THE NAME OF THE FRAGRANCE

Nenufares are aquatic plants, one family of which is the Nymphaeaceae, and one member within it is the Blue water lily, Nymphaea caerulea which is the basis for the fragrance.

COLOUR

Light blue reflects the fact that the Blue Lotus is an aqueous water lily.

THE BLUE LOTUS FLOWER

Water lilies are considered sacred plants by many of the world’s great religions. The basis of this is that whilst the plants have their roots in the dirt and mud, their blooms rise to the surface, in the same way that a spiritual being can overcome adversity and rise to the heavens.

“In the beginning were the waters of chaos ... Darkness covered the waters until...the Primeval Water Lily rose from the abyss. Slowly the blue water lily opened its petals to reveal a young god (Nefertem) sitting in its golden heart. A sweet perfume drifted across the waters and light streamed from the body of this Divine Child to banish universal darkness. This child was the Creator, the Sun God, the source of all life.

So the Primeval Water Lily closed its petals at the end of each day...Chaos reigned through the night until the god within the water lily returned... the Creator ... knew that he was alone. This solitude became unbearable and he longed for other beings to share the new world with him. The thoughts of the Creator became the gods and everything else, which exists.

When his thoughts had shaped them, his tongue gave them life by naming them. Thoughts and words were the power behind creation.” The Waters of Chaos

HOW NENÚFAR WAS REDISCOVERED AND RE-CREATED

The Ancient Egyptians were famed for their ability to produce some of the world’s finest fragrances. Some of the most precious natural raw materials were reserved for the Pharaohs, their court and their descendants, as they were seen as Gods’ representatives on Earth.

The Gods were believed to smell fragrant and the elite wished to emulate them. One of the most revered and precious flowers was the Blue Lotus. Rare even today in Egypt, clues as to the use of this fragrant bloom, and its obvious effect on humans, were found in pictographs on Egyptian temples and sacred sites, where animals, Gods and artisans were depicted smelling Blue Lotus.

The perfume of the Blue Lotus was believed to be a “giver of life” and linked to eternal life. Thus it was that vessels made to hold its sacred essence in potions were decorated with the Crux Ansata, or Cross of Life as well as Lotus blossoms. These were the first clues, which led us to explore the marvelous aroma of the Blue Lotus.

The Blue Lotus is one of the most common flowers depicted on temple and tomb walls. It is found adorning heads, hands and necks forming garlands, and headbands used in rituals. These images suggest that the flower had a hallucinogenic effect on its users.

But whilst the aroma of this bloom is in itself glorious, it was not this, which literally “turned on its users.” So where did the physiological effect come from?

Another clue came from Alfred Lord Tennyson’s poem “The Lotos-Eaters” which was based on one of Ulysses’ adventures from his ten-year journey home after the siege of Troy. After landing on the island of Lotus eaters, believed to have been near Egypt, the effect of eating lotus blooms is described below:

“How sweet it were, hearing the downward stream, With half shut eyes ever to seem Falling asleep in a half dream! To dream and dream, like yonder amber light, Which will not leave the myrrh –bush on the height; To hear each other’s whisper’d speech; Eating the Lotos day by day….”

Research in Mexico showed a similar use of the Nymphaeaceae for ritual and possibly recreational consumption, whilst other Egyptian drawings show some kind of concentrates being added to wine. One particular scene shows the Pharaoh offering the Blue Lotus to his God, making the following observations about the flower’s effect:

“When you look at its brilliance your eyes become dazzled and alive. When you breathe its scent your nostrils dilate with its potency.”

This gives a strong indication that the Blue Lotus has a psychedelic effect. Another set of clues to the use and effect of this flower came from some research filmed in a documentary called “Secrets of the Pharaohs – Unwrapping the Mummy” which was made with the help of Manchester University, UK.

When the 3000-year-old Mummy of Asru, a high-born temple chantress was forensically examined, it was clear that she had ingested the Blue Lotus flower. Further scientific examination demonstrated that the flower contained bioflavonoids in quantity, which exceeded that of Gingko Biloba, used today primarily to help improve blood flow to the brain and other extremities – a natural Viagra! It is also very good for increasing oxygen levels to the brain and thus enhancing memory and thought.

Since Asru was in her fifties, suffering a number of ailments attributed to old age, and in a role, which necessitated giving sexual favors, it would seem that the Blue Lotus, taken by Asru over the long term, would have enhanced the singer’s sexual vigour and her general health.

So whilst the aroma was entrancing, it was actually the flower petals and calyx, steeped in a wine diffusion, which had life-enhancing properties and the chemistry of the flower became even more fascinating on further investigation.

There are three very interesting phyto-sterols in the Blue Lotus. These are chemicals, which are biologically active, meaning that they can have an effect on living beings.

The chemicals were Myristicin, Quercetin and Kaempferol. These flavonoids are also found in tomatoes and tomato paste, and we should recall that the humble tomato was once referred to as “the love apple”

Myristicin is a known hallucinogen, also contained in nutmeg. The NENÚFAR three phyto- sterols, or flavonoids, often help give a plant its color or taste, but can also promote other effects.

These interesting substances were found in the Blue Lotus samples of Stapeley Water Gardens when I visited with the Givaudan perfumer Montserrat Moline. We smelled and recreated the aroma of the Blue Lotus in the summer of 2003 with the help of my head-spaced “aroma print" of the flower. The chemistry proved to be the same as that of thousand-year old samples held at Kew Gardens.

And when the aroma chemistry of the Blue Lotus was put together again, it contained myristicin, in the scent of the humble spice Nutmeg. Several millennia later and you can imagine how the likes of an eighteen-year-old Cleopatra enthralled the most powerful men at the time, not least Julius Caesar and Mark Anthony. Never underestimate the intoxicating power of the Blue Lotus...