Bastet ☥ botanical kyphi fragrance Egyptian temple perfume inspired by Bast, goddess of cats and perfume. Mysterious, ancient palm fronds fan the goddess. From an alabaster urn she scoops out a hunk of black, sticky incense spun with crushed spices, honey wine, currants, figs, mossy tendrils, mint, sweet fir, and balsams imported from the Horn of Africa. Precious woods-- oud and boozy poplar-- coated in a sweet varnish, spearmint, and cinnamon dusted bread rise off of the sticky black cube as it begins to smoke. If kohl were candlewax, it would produce this warm, buttery, black glow. Inky, creamy, iconic. Saffron makes pungent stabs but melts into adipose petals of rosy honeycomb. Pine needle boughs brush the air. A soft rush, heart of fir set in dark paste. Cloves run wild. Pastilles of perfumed wax melt on your temples, dripping onto bare shoulders and feet pounding the temple stone to dust. Temple to temple, dust to dust. Bastet lingers in rich and spicy relief on a trail of cooling, licked skin like a scented fingerprint from a long-lost ritual. Dark and sensuous, kyphi is a traditional temple incense dating back to ancient Egypt. This fragrant compound purportedly held medicinal and therapeutic properties, but ancient Egyptians would also burn kyphi as part of ritual, invocation, and a sensual celebration of aroma. Kyphi recipes vary by source and culture. It may include honey, wine, raisins, myrrh, juniper berries, papyrus, pine, calamus, rush, aspalathus, mastic.