Introduction
... at the Giza plateau for the Vernal Equinox sunrise overlooking the Pyramids, the Great Sphinx, and Valley Temples, March 2018 photo by my Cairo guide Mazen Maher.
Hello, and Welcome!
My name is Shane Clayton (AKA Montane in my musical circle of friends), sole proprietor of ‘The Egyptian' Sacred Scents, the retail business offshoot of my Wandering Stars Healing & Learning Center. All of the perfumes, scented oils, unguent balms, and incense reproductions used in my Egyptian aromatherapy practice and offered for sale here are handcrafted by me at my cottage home located in beautiful Butte Valley, California.
The inspiration came while I was visiting Egypt for the first time over the Vernal Equinox of 2018. I was truly transported to another world - and deeply affected by the massive and ingenious architecture, gorgeous art, and remarkably advanced culture of ancient Egypt. My journey was like entering a time machine, each temple or tomb being a portal to ancient ages going as far back as 4,500 years ago, with fascinatingly beautiful, remarkably intact, and (then) inscrutable hieroglyphics literally begging to be deciphered.
As I stood there in awe within the impressive temple ruins, Dynastic Egypt's staggering cultural longevity (around 3,000 years!) and its incalculable influence on all subsequent Western civilizations hit me like a 70 ton monolithic block!
Much of what remained of this great civilization that wasn't easily looted or destroyed after its final days lay mostly buried under the dessicating wind-swept desert sand or dried Nile mud for nearly 2,000 years - miraculously preserving it for later discoveries. More is still being uncovered there by archaeologists every day.
There are simply no other ancient civilizations that can compare with the sheer magnitude and scope of the remains of ancient Egypt, and there is so very much we can learn from them!
The ancient Greek Historian Herodotus called the Egyptians "the happiest people on earth." In its shadow, technologically superior mainstream Western society (which the irrepressible John Anthony West often wryly referred to as "shiny barbarism") was brought into stark and jarring contrast. What I experienced there in those truly sacred spaces was like a massive "download" - an uncanny intellectual, emotional, visceral, and spiritual "Remembrance."
The ancient Egyptians had a word for it: Sekhau!
Among the many wondrous things that attracted my attention were the ubiquitous images of Egyptian blue waterlilies they called Seshen (mistakenly called a "lotus" for centuries), with offerings of jars heaped with fragrant Madjet unguent, lists of the Seven Sacred Oils (called Merhet) and other perfumes, and long-armed incense burners wafting smoke from the celebrated “Kepu” (or “Kyphi”) temple incense, all prominently depicted in tombs and temples going back over 3,000 years.
Above: Pharaoh Seti I offers two Merhet jars heaped with fragrant Madjet unguent to Amun Ra in his chapel at Abydos, with the litany of Seven Sacred Oils listed behind him.
Below: Pharaoh Seti I flicks pellets of Kepu temple incense into the thurible of a long-arm incense burner as offering to Horus in his Osiris chapel at Abydos. Note the huge bouquet of fragrant fresh-cut Blue 'Lotus' waterlily flowers with purification water Nemset vases on the two altars.
March 2018 photos by R. Shane Clayton
Soon after returning home and doing some online sleuthing, I was astonished to discover that while both early and contemporary Egyptologists had translated, identified, and published most of the ingredients and recipes to the Kepu incense and Seven Sacred Oils that I had seen engraved on the “laboratory” walls of Horus Temple at Edfu, no real documented effort had been made to recreate actual authentic reproductions of them! Not that I could find anywhere online anyway, and I made some deep dives!
And so, armed with decades of professional botanical experience and the published translations of the hieroglyphs by their original German discoverers (Johannes Dumichen and Heinrich Brugsch), along with peer-reviewed books and scholarly papers such as Dr. Manniche's, and copious supportive historical and archaeological evidence, I went right to work.
Documenting my efforts resulted in the several articles published on this website and elsewhere, and the development of 'The Egyptian' Sacred Scents collection, named after the mysterious and highly coveted perfume documented by Dioscorides just after the turn of the millennium. All are faithfully reproduced following these ancient temple ingredient lists and recipes.
Taking great care in sourcing ingredients for quality and sustainability, the rare botanical resins and essential oils incorporated in our products are organic whenever possible, and primarily imported from India, Sri Lanka, Asia, and various Mediterranean countries including Egypt; with some sustainably collected locally in Northern California and Nevada.
Each ingredient has particular benefits and applications while working synergistically with others in the mixtures. No synthetic ingredients or preservatives are used, nor are there any dyes except natural red alkanet root in our two unguent balms per the Egyptian recipes.
While many of the ingredients (mostly resins and essential botanical oils) are well-known or at least familiar to contemporary perfumers, skin/hair care specialists, and aromatherapists, there are some guaranteed surprises as well. Click my “About" link in the header above for more about our products and ingredients, or visit my full apothecary of 72 Ingredients.
First offered for sale in 2020 by Wandering Stars on the Squarespace platform, I barely broke even with the Sacred Scents sales every year - even though there was a lot of interest in my accompanying articles. But after my Egyptian Blue 'Lotus' products were placed on their credit card gateway's "High Risk" prohibited products list, I was forced to seek other options.
I created this, 'The Egyptian' Sacred Scents website and Shop in response to the continuing popular demand, and we currently have an application submitted to securely process your credit card payments for our Blue 'Lotus' products once again... stay tuned!
I am so pleased to have had so many positive responses and return clients over the years, particularly for our best-selling customer favorites: Nudj Immortelle, an unsurpassed all-natural cosmetic emollient for body, face, and hair, along with our lovely Wadjet 'Egyptian' Perfume Oil, a divine scent fit for a goddess or queen... visit our SHOP to see what other scented luxuries await!
Thank you so much for visiting my new website!
Feel free to use my handy Feedback Form to reach out and drop me a line should you have any questions or comments!
>> MEDICAL DISCLAIMER: Our expertise lies in aromatherapy, fragrant botanical resins & essential oils, handcrafted incense, perfumes, and cosmetic skin/hair ointments & balms. Information contained on this website is to the best of our knowledge factual and backed by clinical citations, and is presented solely for your edification and enjoyment. Wandering Stars and/or 'The Egyptian' Sacred Scents is not a licensed healthcare provider and cannot give medical advice. For your own safety, do not ingest any of our products without first consulting your physician or naturopathic caregiver. Your reading this notice serves as our agreement that you will abide by this recommendation in accordance with ourTerms & Conditions. <<
