Women play the central role as eyewitness at Jesus’ death, entombment as well as in the discovery of the empty tomb. Continue reading Olfactory activists
Tag Archives: death
Smells inform about life and death
“Smells are not decodable. Nor can they be inventoried, for no inventory of them can have either a beginning or an end. They ‘inform’ only about the most fundamental realities, about life and death, and they are pan of no significant dichotomies except perhaps that between life beginning and life ending. There is no pathway here other than the direct one between the receiving centre and the perimeter of its range – no pathway other than the nose and the scent themselves. Somewhere between information and the direct stimulation of a brutal response, the sense of smell had its glory days when animality still predominated over ‘culture’, rationality and education – before these factors, combined with a thoroughly cleansed space, brought about the complete atrophy of smell. One can’t help feeling, though, that to carry around an atrophied organ which still claims its due must be somewhat pathogenic.” – HENRI LEFEVBRE
“A stench beyond experience”
27 January is the day for everyone to remember the millions of people killed in the Holocaust, Nazi Persecution and in subsequent genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia, and Darfur. The Holocaust Memorial Day 2020 marks 75 years since the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau. On this day I take the liberty to share a few lines I recently discovered in a book by Marcus Smith. Continue reading “A stench beyond experience”
He suffered death and was buried
The entombment of Christ is one of several standard representations of Jesus’s suffering and death at the hands of the Romans. According to the Christian tradition Pontius Pilate granted Joseph of Arimathea permission to take Christ’s body down from the cross for burial. In addition, the gospel according to John mentions Nicodemus who brings a mixture of myrrh and aloes—about 100 Roman pounds (33 kg)—for embalming Jesus’ body according to Jewish custom.
This detail is part of the piece by Adriaen van der Werff that is on display the Alte Pinakothek in Munich.
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A new essence of life?
A company promises to provide ‘olfactory comfort’ by making a perfume from the distilled scent of our dearly departed. Could it catch on? Continue reading A new essence of life?