The 5 Elements | Lisa's Inspiration
THE 5 ELEMENTS: Lisa's Inspiration
This is a journey back in time – Millenia ago, when all peoples of the Earth worshipped Nature. The Louvre in Abu Dhabi does a great job in exploring this period, pre-3,000 BC, with relics carefully uncovered from the majority of humanity’s recorded existence. This was before Christianity. Before Islam. Before Judaism. We existed for millions of years before the concept of worshipping “one male god only” was conceived.
From China, to India, to Greece, to the Americas – all of the earliest civilisations held Mother Earth in the highest regard. We lived, breathed, honoured, and were a part of nature. Our ancestors were all wild pagans – every race of us. Starhawk explains this sacred connection:
“In an ancient world in which everything a person ate, touched or used came literally from the land around them, humans indeed were part of the land in a deep integration we can only imagine.”
Gods and Goddesses took the forms of the most beautiful and awe-inspiring things humans saw around them: In Hawaii, there was Pele, Goddess of the Volcano. In coastal China, Mazu, the Goddess of the Sea took prominence. In Eleusis, once the most fertile plain in Greece, she was Demeter, Goddess of grain. There was Zeus, the stunning God of Thunder and Lightning. In hot Egypt, there was Ra the Sun God.
What we called Goddess or God was actually the face and voice that people gave to the way the land spoke to them. What a gorgeous compliment to the creation around us. I wonder these days, have we forgotten to appreciate the nature that use to inspire the highest levels of holiness?
This passage by Eddy Berkovits perfectly captures how I feel as well when I take refuge in forest walks: “Yesterday I came to you, and filled my eyes with your splendour. You breathed life into my body, you nourished my soul. You let me walk through your realm, my footprints marking my journey. Yesterday, I brought you nothing and you gave me all.”
As an artist, I appreciate design as the core of existence. I live to create beauty, to find beauty, and to savour it. And I will never be able to find man-made beauty that is as gripping, poignant, exquisitely detailed, and surprising in its random genius, than that of Nature. She trumps all.
So can we stop bringing Nature nothing, while she gives us everything? The 5 Elements Collection has been designed to re-inspire your connection to Gaia, Mother Earth.
"Gaia, as you awaken, I heal myself. As I awaken, you are healed." -Mayan Proverb
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT:
In order to reduce our carbon footprint, we proudly kept it local. Each scent and its packaging is 100% made in Singapore. Locally sourcing ingredients, recycled packaging details, and working with local suppliers helps us reduce the environmental impact caused by international freight and shipping.
SUPPORTING LOCAL ENVIRONMENTS:
10% of Profit from each bottle sold goes to Environmental Organisations – As we expand sales of The Five Element Collection overseas, we will continue to look for the best environmental organisations which serve their own communities and eco-systems. Its important to us that we donate to organisations that have a local focus, as we believe that appreciation for the environment must start locally.
In Singapore, we admire the work done by Nature Society (Singapore), as they spread the importance of conserving Singapore’s natural environment through a wide range of activities such as guided nature-appreciation walks, talks, overseas eco-trips and collaborations with schools and the community. We chose to donate to NSS particularly because of their philosophy and their effectiveness in working with government, businesses, and civil society.
Information about Nature Society (Singapore)
NSS is one of Singapore's oldest non-government organisations and continues to win Charity Transparency Awards. Their joint projects with the National Parks Board (NParks) have included major projects such as the 1994 -1997 flora and fauna survey of Singapore's nature reserves, and participation in the framing of the national Green Plan 2012. NSS also has collaborations with Wildlife Reserves Singapore Conservation Fund, and both NSS and Singapore Zoo are members of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:
One of my key muses for this scent collection is Starhawk – an American writer, activist and theorist of feminist Neopaganism and ecofeminism. She is also a columnist on Faith for Newsweek and the Washington Post, winner of the Nautilus Award for Social Change, and in 2012 was listed in Watkin's Mind Body Spirit Magazine as one of the 100 Most Spiritually Influential Living People.
Her book, The Earth Path, had a profound impact on my own relationship with the Earth, and changed my perspective on 'how we should be living' so radically, that I can never go back. Starhawk's wisdom and accumulated experience on what techniques we can use to be more sustainable were also enlightening. I now dream of practising permaculture myself some day, in a little hut in the woods - and until then, I'm making baby steps.
I highly suggest getting her book above, but here is also a wonderfully comprehensive speech Starhawk did at Harvard's Divinity School - explaining her earth-based spirituality, and how it can build sustainable communities and societies.
THE SCENT COLLECTION
Each of the five scents takes its name from the five elements in Chinese Astrology: Earth, Fire, Wood, Water, and Metal. The Scent Collection was crafted 100% in Singapore, and is our sacred offering to the Nature that sustains us.
View each Fragrance here.
