Paper short abstract:

The experience of the divine is influenced by a situational dynamism between people and plants, which depends on the intensity of sensory cues transmitted by certain flowers, as well as on the socio-economic, political and ritualistic circumstances of the encounter between the human and plant.

Paper long abstract:

In the phenomenology of Islam, flowers are earthly representations of the divine (Schimmel 1994; Schimmel 2001). However, few studies have investigated the sensory processes by which divine powers are materialized in human plant relationships. In this paper I argued that the experience of the divine is influenced by a situational dynamism between people and plants, which depends on the intensity of sensory cues transmitted by certain flowers, as well as on the socio-economic, political and ritualistic circumstances of the encounter between the human and plant. Drawing on 15 month of ethnographic research in Tunisia, this paper investigates how the mechmoum, a ubiquitous jasmine nosegay, works as a religious charm through visual and olfactory cues that are said to please both humans and the guardian angels that surround them. The quality of the jasmine, assessed by scent, color and symmetry, plays a vital role in manifesting the Islamic concept of tahara (cleanliness), which is an essential prerequisite for ritualistic efficacy and by extension protects in times of danger. The sensory intensity of certain flowers thus transcend the veil that divides the physical and spiritual world (alam el-shahadaa and alam al ghaib), manifesting one within the other.