Scent Lore: Memory, Ritual & the Fragrances of Autumn

There is something about autumn that makes scent feel especially noticeable.

Bonfire smoke hanging in the air. Crisp leaves underfoot. The scent of pine. Rain-soaked earth. That first evening when you step outside and suddenly realize the season has changed.

And for some of us, that is apparently all it takes. One good whiff and the brain decides to open a file we have not thought about in a long time.

Sometimes a scent simply smells good, like fresh flowers, bread baking in the oven, or coffee brewing in the morning. Other times it brings back something more, like a place, a person, or a memory that catches you completely off guard.

That is one of the things I find so interesting about scent.

Bringing the Past Back

Smell is closely connected with the parts of the brain involved in memory and emotion. Researchers call some of these experiences odor-evoked autobiographical memories.

That sounds much fancier than what it actually feels like.

You smell something familiar and suddenly you are somewhere else.

For me, one of those scent combinations is Old Spice, cigarettes, and peppermint.

My dad passed away in October two years ago, and somehow those three scents still manage to bring him right back into the room for me. Individually they are ordinary smells. Put them together in my memory, though, and they are unmistakably Dad.

October has become a time of remembrance for me because of that, but it is also a time of celebration. I love this season. I love the cooler air, the colors, fires outside, the smell of leaves and pine, and everything that comes with settling into autumn.

I think both things can exist together.

We can miss someone and still laugh.

We can remember what we lost and celebrate what we had.

And sometimes a scent is what opens that door.

It could be your grandmother's perfume, woodsmoke from a cabin, coffee brewing early in the morning, garden soil, lake water, an old aftershave, or something completely ridiculous that would mean absolutely nothing to anyone else.

Memory does not seem terribly concerned with whether a scent is poetic.

Scent Has Always Had Meaning

People have been using fragrant plants, oils, smoke, resins, and scented waters for a very long time.

Fragrance has been used for grooming and hospitality, but also for prayer, ceremony, remembrance, and simply making ourselves or our surroundings smell a little better, which, depending on the century, was probably no small accomplishment.

Those uses often overlapped.

Incense could change the feeling of a space. Fragrant oils became part of daily care. Scented waters were used for refreshment or ritual. Perfume became part of how people presented themselves to the world.

The forms changed, but the idea remained the same.

Scent changes the atmosphere.

Ritual Does Not Have to Be Complicated

When I use the word ritual, I am not necessarily talking about anything formal.

It can simply be something you repeat because it helps mark a moment or puts you in a certain frame of mind.

You might light the same candle when you sit down to write or journal. Or wear a particular perfume on days when you need a little extra confidence.

Dried lavender might become part of your bedtime routine. You might simmer orange peel and cloves every October because that's the moment the house officially smells like autumn.

These little habits matter because, over time, we begin connecting the scent with the experience.

The fragrance becomes part of the memory.

Autumn Was Made for Scent

Autumn gives us some of the best fragrances of the year.

Pine and cedar. Apples and citrus. Cinnamon and clove. Rosemary. Woodsmoke, moss, vanilla, fallen leaves, damp earth and all those deeper scents that somehow make more sense when the air turns cold and the days start getting shorter.

But there is no universal rule about what any of them should mean.

Pine might make one person think of Christmas and another think of camping. Someone else might immediately remember a grandparent's house.

Peppermint probably makes plenty of people think about candy canes.

For me, sometimes it means Dad.

That is the part I find most interesting.

The scent itself is only half the story. We bring the other half with us.

What Does a Scent Bring Back for You?

Sometime this month, notice which scents stop you for a second.

Not necessarily the beautiful ones or the expensive ones. Just the ones that make you feel something.

What scent immediately reminds you of someone?

What takes you back to a particular place?

Is there a fragrance connected with a season of your life?

And is there a scent you are creating new memories around right now?

You do not need to turn it into a complicated exercise. Just notice.

Our lives become attached to scent in strange little ways, and sometimes we do not realize how deeply until one catches us completely off guard.

That is part of what I love about scent.

It is invisible, but it can change a room, shift our mood, bring back someone we miss, or remind us of a life we are still very much in the middle of living.

For me, October carries a little of all of it, remembrance, celebration, bonfire smoke, cold air, pine...

…and apparently a little Old Spice and peppermint too.

— Lisa
Iron Vixen Herbal Co.