🔮 Symbolic Approach
Myrrh, incense, Cleopatra's perfumes, Egyptian kyphi: scent is a prayer that walks in without knocking. A loved perfume, a presence. An absent person's scent, an evocation. Too strong, taking up space—magic or control. A broken bottle, the essence spills: no more dose, no more ritual.
🛋️ Psychoanalysis (Freud & Jung)
Memory, mother, seduction, territory. Proust didn't invent the cake: scent smashes right through time. Shame of a body "that smells". Perfuming yourself so your true scent isn't noticed.
🧠 Neuroscience
Direct olfactory pathway to the amygdala and hippocampus. A real sillage in the room, an ex, a soap. The dream doesn't need an image: scent is enough to rebuild everything.
💡 Practical Advice
Name the scent (person, place, era). A gesture: air out, or conversely wear what connects you. If a sillage invades you (a relationship), put some distance between you and the real bottle.
