Adam Sayid
Every so often, we hear of a claim of osmogenesia, which is also known in Christendom as ‘odour of sanctity’. Throughout history, pleasant smells of scents have been piously associated with certain religious clerics and saintly figures, usually occurring upon death – known as osmogenesia. In almost all religious circles this kind of spiritual affair is experienced by the followers and seems to be very sincere. Simple logical deductions denotes that these experiences are not directly connected to the religion the person belongs to, since the intellectual stance between all the religions are contradictory.
The experience therefore is a human aspect, and thus has some natural explanation. There are two potential natural explanations; the exudation is merely the smell of acetone and/or acetoacetic acid, caused by ketosis from extreme fasting, diabetes or some unique dietary habits, and the second explanation would be the phenomena of phantosmia, which can be caused by bereavement or distress.
In the light of the above reality, what people experience within religious circles is a spiritual-psychological oriļ¬ce; some spiritual level of hallucination triggered by some unexplored natural phenomenon. Which manifests and heightens indomitably when partaking in a religious ritual that particularly involves physical/mental exhaustion (sometimes due to bereavement and distress), usually in a conclave/mass surrounded by a religious ambiance, and of-course, conviction.
