The Perfumed Dream Garden

A therapeutic perfumed dream garden in Archaia Epidavros, Peloponnese, Greece.

A non-denominational sacred space inspired by ancient Greek holistic healing techniques for sacred sleep (enkoimesis) and divine dreams.

Over the last few years I have been really interested by research that explores the senses, perception and memory — and how this manifests in dreamstates.

My fascination with ancient buildings for sacred sleep and temple culture, extends to the sensory impressions, smells, sounds and textures that were obviously so vital to the overall awe-inspiring atmosphere of ancient sacred precincts.

When you enter the abode of the god,

Which smells of incense, you must be pure,

And thought is pure when you think with piety

This was the inscription that greeted pilgrims passing through the propylaia into the sanctuary of the god Asklepios in Epidavros.

I have been fortunate to host the experimental archaeologist and Egyptologist Dora Goldsmith for my ancient history lecture series Explorers’ Egyptology. Her work recreating ancient perfumes, incenses and medicinal preparations brings the deep past into the nostrils and tastebuds and redolently evokes ancient timespace like nothing else. Dora talks about how the gods and goddesses were entangled with pleasing olfactory experiences, that in essence, to breathe in the divine frangrance of the blue water lily was to commune with Nefertem (Sekhmet and Ptah’s son — god of the flower and perfume). The sacred smoke or perfume of myrrh could call in the presence of Hathor.

Modern culture seems to have contrived something like a hierarchy of the senses, where vision sits at the top. This was not the case in ancient times and is not true now of individuals in small scale societies that live within the mesh of nature. It is certainly not true for most other members of the animal kingdom. Even today, in our olfactorily discombobulating towns and cities, smell can make us feel safe, it orientates us, it can provoke arousal and disgust. Many came to appreciate how powerful this sense is first hand when they lost their sense of smell as a symptom of covid.

It has been a great pleasure to discuss these ideas with Keren Bester — a self-titled ‘smellosopher’. I first met in 2019 when she delivered a very rousing and inspiring talk in London about how our sense of smell is so vital to our experience of the world, and how olfaction is so entangled with memory, perception and consciousness. Keren is now a PhD researcher at the University of Dundee exploring a philosophy of the nose.

Keren and I have been discussing applying some of her research to my dream projects in Greece. One area that we think has incredible potential is how powerfully connected smell and memory are. Curated smellscapes could be used to activate dream memories, and this is something we want to study in the dream garden.

About the Perfumed Dream Garden

Situated at the edge of the village, the serene 5 acre plot is close to the beach and is already a thriving and heavenly-scented orange grove — with some mandarin and pomegranate trees too.

Our aim is to maximise biodiversity on the plot — growing more fruits, herbs and flowers, particularly those that are known to have divine correspondances with the healing gods and goddesses of ancient Hellas.

The first phase will be to commission local stonemasons to sculpt and install 6 marble klinē (traditional Ancient Greek treatment beds).

The garden is intended for dream incubation and therapeutic sleep sessions.

Visitors will be given bedding to place on top of the beds but the space will not designed for overnight accommodation.

The plot has water and electricity and can also be used to host workshops. To find out more information please email me : 22sarahjanes22@gmail.com