The World Economic Forum on the Middle East at Sharm El Sheikh reeks of solemnity. There is a sense that the people who attend this annual business-driven meeting carry the weight of the world on their shoulders. With speeches by three heads of state (Presidents Mubarak and Bush and King Abdullah) at the opening event Sunday, with 1,500 world leaders from many different sectors, the gravity of the issues at hand seemed overwhelming.
So I was intrigued to see, amid this serious talk, a session about interreligious dialogue, scent and religion. This was a part of the forum devoted to dialogue between the Muslim World and the West.
As the “scent of peace and dialogue” was released into the air, Christophe Laudamiel, senior perfumer from International Flavors and Fragrances (a New York based group), presented a narrative of why smells and religion are intricately linked. The perfume, he said, was made up of scents reminiscent of the three monotheistic faiths that were born in the Middle East: musk and rose, representing Islam, frankincense and sea breeze, symbolizing Christianity, and Jaffa citrus and orange, for the Jewish faith. Added to it is Egyptian absolute (a perfume fixant) and jasmine. And finally a whiff of sandalwood.
We were reminded that in the past religious leaders were experts of the olfactory, both because they were keepers of most learning in ancient times and because they understood how important the sense of smell is for people’s state of mind. Smell affects mood and thinking, and influences how people communicate. Some universities are studying its properties and Harvard University, Laudamiel said, has been asked to create an archive of scents.
In the midst of the intractable problems the conference is addressing, it was refreshing to have a whiff of something new.
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