This presentation combines threads of my aromatic, psychological and archaelogical research. I will try to weave them together in a tapestry of mutually enhancing perspective. Although I am an aromatic consultant for custom blended perfume and body oils and environmental fragrancing projects, I am also an archaeologist with a passion for exploring ancient civilizations.
I have recently returned to California after living twelve years in England, where I was a co-founder of “The Dragon Project.” This project was a multidisciplinary scientflc investigation of subtle Earth-energy phenomena, such as ultrasonics, geomagnetism and ambient radioactivity at Rollright stone circle, a Bronze Age (2500 BC) monument in Oxfordshire. There are 900 stone circles in the British Isles, of which Stonehenge on the Salisbury Plain is the most eminent.
My focus on the project was to investigate how these energies affect altered states of human consciousness such as clairvoyance, dreaming or healing. I developed a sensory psychology approach to explore the mindset of the builders of these enigmatic ancient monuments. The world view of each age is based on the use ratios--the relative strengths and weaknesses—of the five senses. Each new technological innovation shifts these sensory ratios. As one sense becomes dominant others become diminished. For example, today we are heavily biased toward vision, whereas in earlier hunting and gathering societies smell was relied upon to a greater degree.