Smells associated with Spirits

Hey gang

I wasn't able to find a topic relating to this subject, still struggling with the search feature...

Has anyone ever noticed a specific odor or smell associated with a spirit encounter? Is this something that's common knowledge within the community? As an example, Smelling a specific baked item or even a certain piece of furniture from your youth, but having no reason to?

And I don't mean simply remembering the smell or thinking of someone, but breathing in and it's right there and not being able to trace the source?

Whatcha think?

reply to post by JohnnyRaincheck



I think you'll probably get a lot of answers in the coming hours or days.

There have certainly been many cases when people have suddenly smelled a flowery fragrance - usually described as rose or other sweet-smelling flowers - when there were no such flowers or other sources of scent around.
(It even happened to me a few times.)

Many people seem to associate it with the presence of "spirits" of the departed. And it is interesting, if nothing else, that traditionally (in old literature) the "odour of sanctity" is associated with rose or violet scent.

As for other smells, one should be careful (although not overly, not hysterically so), because certain smells - for example the smell of something burnt - may be announcing a stroke.

Smell is, no doubt, one of the most fascinating aspects of the human memory.

Here is a thread you might find interesting.

All the reports of smells associated with the paranormal that I've read have been specific to the "recently departed."

For example jasmine, roses, tobacco, etc are often connected to the actual spirit in life and now also in death seemingly...


I haven't been exposed to any theories about actual spirit matter, like ectoplasm or something, having a specific smell associated with it.

For some reason, I have a close affinity to the Virgin of Guadalupe even though I am far from being a Catholic.

I sometimes smell the scent of roses when I feel her spiritual prescience.

Maybe it's just my imagination.


5 years ago I purchased a house in a small New Mexican village. An elderly couple had committed suicide in this house. Occasionally I smell cigar smoke. Is this a residual of the previous owners. There is more in this Cosmos than we can even begin to comprehend.

Odors associated with spirits are not uncommon, this is part of what is called residual hunting.

Sometimes spirits will leave behind a smell associated with their former life.

One of the most smell association is the smell of flowers or perfume when it comes to a love one that has passed away.

Many people smell strong pungent smells and even that of cigarettes, smoke and rotten eggs.

But they seem to be harmless.

All the reports of smells associated with the paranormal that I've read have been specific to the "recently departed."

Not necessarily.
As I said in another thread, a relative of mine first smelled her sister's perfume a year or so after she had died (and she still does from time to time, always in a certain room). And she isn't the kind of person who even knows about such "folklore", let alone think about it.

Mind you, I am not saying that it was anyone's "spirit". I am just saying that, if it is in any way connected to the departed, then "recently departed" might mean even several years after their passing.





[edit on 11-4-2008 by Vanitas]

There is more in this Cosmos than we can even begin to comprehend.

Indeed.
If everyone just kept this simple truth in their minds at all times, nobody would ever stray too far for their own good.

And we would all be witnessing many more "miracles".

interesting... The reason I asked is because I woke up one night recently and there was a strong odor. I checked around and couldn't trace it.
The smell was the EXACT smell of an old piano we has in our house while I was growing up. For me, there was no mistaking it, it was strange. I haven't seen that piano in almost 20 years.
The piano was actually my grandfathers, we inherited when he passed away. I guess when I thought about it the next day I wondered if he was checking in, seeing how we were doing. Kinda corny huh?

reply to post by JohnnyRaincheck

Actually, yes I have.

Years ago, I lived in an old Colonial Plantation house where a subdivision had grown up around it. The title was about 5 inches thick. It seems it was built by the fellow who at that time was the richest landowner in the county, as a home for his mother after his father died. Eventually the area, being close to a growing town, was subdivided into plots and small homes were built all around it.

Most of the original house was intact, including the foyer and staircase, both filled with original hand-carved details. The staircase was built from rough lumber by hand, based on a visual inspection of the structure, so I assume it was the original.

While living there, we had a few unexplained occurrences. The most obvious was a strong smell of coffee in the foyer area, detectable an entire room away. No one in the house drank coffee. My wife doesn't like it, and I am one of those Mountain Dew fanatics who think coffee is too weak. The only coffee in the house, or for that matter, in the entire double-lot, was a small jar of Folgers instant I kept for company in the kitchen, on the other end of the house. I don't think we ever even opened it, come to think of it.

The smell would come and go at various times, sometimes weak, sometimes strong, sometimes non-existent. I have a very poor sense of smell, and still smelled it on several occasions. My wife mentioned it more often, since she can smell pretty good. No one else was in the house except for my pre-school-age daughter.

My wife also reported seeing figures at times on the staircase. This was either a tall, dark-complected man who was well-dressed in clothing appropriate for the era the house was built; the other was a young woman also dressed in era clothing. They never seemed to take notice of us. The man would walk down the stairs, the lady simply stood on them. (I should mention that I never personally saw the figures.) The only other thing strange was that every Christmas, ornaments would fly off our tree. This I saw, and I don't mean they simply fell off, they flew off horizontally across the room, as though they were thrown.

I have no idea what was really happening. If anyone has an explanation, I would like to hear it.

TheRedneck

reply to post by JohnnyRaincheck


That is interesting!
First, make sure you write down the exact date, hour etc. - yes, even the atmospheric conditions at the time, if you can (no, I am not nuts ) - so that you'll have a full record, a "snapshot" of the moment, if you will.
You may never need it - but if you do, you'll be glad to have it (and it doesn't take much time).

And secondly... I don't want to be a wet blanket, but is it possible that what you smelled was - perhaps, just guessing - some kind of product that was used in or around the old piano (e.g. polish, some cleaning liquid - that sort of thing)? If you can, try to check it out.

reply to post by Vanitas


Actually, it was the smell of the wood itself, there's really no mistaking it, and I've never come across any smell even similar in my life. But it's cool, I'm ok with it just being my imagination.

Originally posted by JohnnyRaincheck
Has anyone ever noticed a specific odor or smell associated with a spirit encounter?

A lot of entity encounters tell of a smell of old roses. Like opening a box your Grandma kept in the attic.

If I was going to suggest why this is, I would say that the substantiation of entities requires a cooperation between the form/structure of the entity and your own consciousness, including memory. Your mind is subtly manipulated to observe (collapsing a quantum wave function from virtual to real), and that sometimes results in you "thinking" you smell old roses.

reply to post by JohnnyRaincheck


Oh no, I am not saying it was "just your imagination".
(And besides, imagination is never "just" anything... )

But I am glad that you see why it is so good to first exclude all mundane explanations.

Maybe it's just my imagination.

This is yarn for another thread, but... your "imagination" is actually the (potentially) most creative part of yourself. In fact, it's the most creative force in the Universe.
It's just a matter of employing it wisely.

But, as I said, that should be discussed in a different thread.
All I wanted to say was that nobody should scorn "imagination" as such.

reply to post by Vanitas


I completely agree, wasn't it Einstein who said " Imagination is more important that knowledge" ? Wise words indeed.

Originally posted by TheRedneck
Years ago, I lived in an old Colonial Plantation house where a subdivision had grown up around it. The title was about 5 inches thick. It seems it was built by the fellow who at that time was the richest landowner in the county, as a home for his mother after his father died. Eventually the area, being close to a growing town, was subdivided into plots and small homes were built all around it.

Most of the original house was intact, including the foyer and staircase, both filled with original hand-carved details. The staircase was built from rough lumber by hand, based on a visual inspection of the structure, so I assume it was the original.

While living there, we had a few unexplained occurrences. The most obvious was a strong smell of coffee in the foyer area, detectable an entire room away. No one in the house drank coffee. My wife doesn't like it, and I am one of those Mountain Dew fanatics who think coffee is too weak.

The only coffee in the house, or for that matter, in the entire double-lot, was a small jar of Folgers instant I kept for company in the kitchen, on the other end of the house. I don't think we ever even opened it, come to think of it.

The smell would come and go at various times, sometimes weak, sometimes strong, sometimes non-existent. I have a very poor sense of smell, and still smelled it on several occasions. My wife mentioned it more often, since she can smell pretty good. No one else was in the house except for my pre-school-age daughter.

Actually I'd heard this a few times before. Most of the time in colonial homes because of the wood they were built of. Another strong smell was tobacco even though no one in the house smokes. Seems wood (and sometimes oils) contain smells for a very long time. As humidity and temperatures shift, these woods and oils can release these smells. Oils were common for cleaning and preserving woods. Today we use drying agents most of the time like Lysol wipes (which is bad for woods) but those who know side with the oils. If you ever own a home, make sure the humidity stays between 40%-60% (you can buy a Hygrometer from Honeywell for ~$20 online and a humidifier) both to reduce getting sick from dry, cracked sinuses but also from getting dry, cracked wood in your housings structure. Get a house with Ty-vek on the outside to keep the moisture in if you live in a windy or cold region.

reply to post by saint4God



That's a good point. I was thinking about that myself.

Certain smells can survive for incredibly long periods of time. The bedroom of empress Josephine (of France, the first Mrs. Napoleon Bonaparte) still to this day smells of musk, her favourite scent.

Musk, of course, is an extreme example (and don't I know it...? ), but it gives you an idea of the longevity of certain smells.


(I am referring to the coffee smell here. I don't think this is the case with the circumstances described in the OP.)







[edit on 11-4-2008 by Vanitas]

reply to post by saint4God
Well, well, good to see you saint!

I'll have to admit that's a possibility, but I think I would have noticed a correlation between climate and occurrence. That was one of my initial thoughts.

Mind you, I'm not claiming the house was 'haunted', I'm simply relating one of the few unexplainable things that have happened to me in the past. Usually I can explain the phenomena that most others claim to be supernatural, through purely natural means. This one I never could.

TheRedneck

From what ive read and learned about, sulpher, foul, or rotting flesh smells, assocaite with evil/demonic spritis. Rarem VERY rare, are ffresh spring scents, linked to angels...
But in most cases, a person talks about someone they knew, or loved, recently departed, who smoked, or used a certain perfume.... Its said, the loved ones come back, or perhaps linger, nad are trying too get yuor attention, or let you know everything is ok..since sprirts can't really make themselves materialize all the time, let alone allow us to tap into their vocal frequency, scents are the next step.

Rarem VERY rare, are ffresh spring scents, linked to angels...

I don't know about angels, but I've smelled what you describe once or twice that I am aware of (in the middle of the winter, to boot).
It was a very sweet scent, but definitely not a perfume.
(I collect perfumes since age 14, so I would know :-)).

I did smell a male cologne about a year or so (in a kitchen).
It was eerie, rather frightening, because the only person who could've used it in that particular house would have been my brother - and he wasn't around, nor was he using any such scent and the time. Still, he wasn't there at the time I smelled that scent, so I suddenly thought something could have happened to him. (Because in our family we often had unusual manifestations whenever somebody died.)

I was very relieved when he returned safe and sound.
But the mystery of the smell still lingers, if you'll forgive me the pun.