Perfumes, the odour of modernity in the Church
"An underestimated form of spirituality".
Taken by the nose through the
church year? A team of theologians from
Bochum wants to open up the festivals of faith in a new way through special
scents.
Discovering the church year
through scents
With newly created room scents,
the zap team wants to open up the festivals of the church year in a new way and
make churches more attractive.
Church and smells? When they think about it, the only thing that
immediately comes to mind for many is incense. Flooding the church spaces with certain
scents, experiencing being a Christian with your nose, on the other hand, is
still unusual and a foreign thought for most.
However, the team from the Centre for Applied Pastoral Research (zap) at
the Ruhr University in Bochum, which has developed four space fragrances for
churches, is neither concerned with a cheap gag nor with pimping or prettifying
the church in a cheap way.
Instead, their thoroughly serious
concern is to enrich the conventional liturgy and add another sensory dimension
to it. "For God's sake, a church
should not smell like a drugstore," zap director Professor Matthias
Sellmann immediately dispels a prejudice. "However, fragrance is the underestimated
dimension of spirituality and we want to create a change and different experience
for the worshippers, with which they can discover spiritual richness
anew." To this end, the zap team, which in addition to Sellmann also
includes Christopher Pilz and Björn Hirsch, has created fragrances that fit
into a church and are theologically thoughtful.
"So far, interest has been
concentrated in the Ruhr region and parts of Hesse; What is striking is the
comparatively strong demand from Protestants, although there is less experience
there with a sensually-designed liturgy".
The idea for the unusual campaign
was already born in 2016, when the Cologne Cathedral Chapter wanted to open up
the world-famous cathedral with all the senses. "So our new idea developed from the
scenting of cathedrals," Sellmann explains. A scent scientist from the University of
Bochum and an internationally renowned perfumer were brought in to open up the
church space in a completely new way, especially to young people and computer
game fans. Under the title "The
shining, sounding and smelling cathedral", a special scent called
"silent mod" was released for three days, which - as the name
suggests - was supposed to ensure a quiet appropriation of the cathedral. The experiment succeeded and found great
resonance, especially among those far from the church. As a result, a follow-up reflection by the zap
team in Bochum came to the conclusion that access to the great feasts of Christ
in the church year should in future be established through scents.
The Bochum team contacted experts
who can identify and comment on fragrances and developed four fragrances based
on the feasts in the church year, which together form the
"zap:aerothek". "Physis" is the name of the fragrance for
the Christmas season, which is supposed to remind us of the Incarnation and,
according to Sellmann's presentation, is "a very woody, earthy base
fragrance with a slight vanillin note". "Vanillin is also the basic ingredient of
mother's milk," Sellmann points out the far-reaching references. On the one hand, he says, they wanted to draw
on the scent worlds associated with Advent, Christmas and the Christmas
markets, but on the other hand, they didn't want to bring a copy of the
Christmas market into the church. "Physis
should convey a feeling of security," explains the pastoral theologian. "You can preach about that well and
underline this impression with music and light."
Diverse interpretation
possibilities of various fragrances
Incense scent 2.0
The Easter scent
"Kenosis", which is supposed to stand for departure and the
transition from death to life, has a fresh lemon aroma with woody-smelling
fragrances as well as a hint of myrrh. "This fragrance must not be too sweet
because it must come from Good Friday and therefore embrace the depth dimension
of sacrifice, suffering and the cross," says Sellmann. For Pentecost, on the other hand, the zap team
has developed a maritime fragrance that brings with it a breeze (symbolising
the roar of the Spirit) and, under the title "Dynamis", speaks to the
readiness for a new mental and spiritual awakening. "Through this fragrance we become more
open-minded and curious," Sellmann clarifies. "It speaks to an intellectual and
spiritual dimension."
Finally, the fragrance for the times
in the church year which are not great feasts ("Phronesis") brings
together the vanillin, myrrh and maritime scents, uniting them in a scent of
normality, routine and lack of excitement. The fragrance package, which includes all four
scents, is now on the market and can be purchased for a price of 150 euros for
the whole year. The package also
includes an accompanying book, which was planned much earlier but can only be
published now following the acute shortage of paper. However, the diffuser, the mobile scenting
machine needed to distribute the scent in the respective church, is expensive:
It costs about 1,200 euros
Awareness is still lacking
The trial phase, which ran in
small congregations, old people's homes and hospitals, was quite encouraging. At the moment, many associations and youth
churches are considering whether they should buy the four bottles with the
different room fragrances; ten of the 50 aerotheks created by the zap team have
been sold so far. "There's no
question about it: we still have to make the package better known," admits
Sellmann. "The more who are
interested in it, the cheaper it becomes." So far, he says, interest is
concentrated in the Ruhr region and parts of Hesse; the comparatively strong
Protestant demand is striking, although there is less experience there with a
liturgy designed for the senses. Apparently,
Sellmann suspects, Protestant congregations regard the fragrances on offer as a
good supplement to group Bible reading.
Although not explicitly intended
as a marketing tool against the church's membership decline, Sellmann admits
that the room fragrances were, of course, also created in the context of the ecclesiastical
crisis. "I hope that we convey to
one or the other the idea that the church is quite different from what many
think," he emphasises. "In
this respect, we are also doing this so that those who want to leave will stay
in the church after all."
A broad spectrum of outreach
opportunities
In no case, however, is this
about manipulating people with the fragrances. The only aim is to improve the quality of the
church's work and to open up the essence of church festivals in a new way. There are no limits to creativity in terms of
locations and possible uses. "We
hope for theological and pastoral success, not financial success,"
Sellmann clarifies. "Our project
first has to establish itself and find acceptance. Then we could imagine developing fragrances
for Marian festivals and Marian places of pilgrimage, where there is also a
great tradition."
The Bible on the matter....
Second Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians
Chapter 2 [15] For we are the good odour of Christ unto
God, in them that are saved, and in them that perish
quia Christi bonus odor sumus Deo in iis qui salvi fiunt, et in his qui pereunt
Ecclesiasticus
24 [20] I gave a sweet smell like cinnamon and
aromatical balm: I yielded a sweet odour like the best myrrh:
Sicut cinnamomum et balsamum aromatizans odorem dedi; quasi myrrha electa dedi
suavitatem odoris :
[21] And I perfumed my dwelling as storax, and
galbanum, and onyx, and aloes, and as the frankincense not cut, and my odour is
as the purest balm.
et quasi storax, et galbanus, et ungula, et gutta, et quasi Libanus non incisus
vaporavi habitationem meam, et quasi balsamum non mistum odor meus.
[22] I have stretched out my branches as the turpentine
tree, and my branches are of honour and grace.
Ego quasi terebinthus extendi ramos meos, et rami mei honoris et gratiae.
[23] As the vine I have brought forth a pleasant odour:
and my flowers are the fruit of honour and riches.
Ego quasi vitis fructificavi suavitatem odoris : et flores mei fructus honoris
et honestatis.
[24] I am the mother of fair love, and of fear, and of
knowledge, and of holy hope.
Ego mater pulchrae dilectionis, et timoris, et agnitionis, et sanctae spei.
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