Neither the Day Nor the Hour - Extrait De Parfum - Filippo Sorcinelli

The twelfth fragrance in the monolithic UNUM collection seeks to confront the most powerful of emotions: fear. As is almost traditional, it draws inspiration from the passage in the Gospel of Matthew that tells the parable of the ten virgins, from which it also takes its name: the story of the women who prudently set aside oil for their lamps in preparation for the bridegroom’s arrival. We know that only five of the ten women—described as prudent—will attend the wedding feast; the others, having gone to find oil for their lamps, will find the door shut. “Lord, open the door for us,” they will say upon arriving, and receive this reply: “Truly I tell you, I do not know you.” We also know that, while waiting, they too fell asleep, yet were ready to wake and prepare to rejoice at the bridegroom’s arrival: “Keep watch, therefore, because you do not know the day or the hour,” we read in Matthew.
But this is only the beginning. The idea, in fact, is to go beyond the Gospel’s words and explore fear more intensely and deeply, into the realm of conflicting emotions, yielding to the seductive allure of danger—an “amor fati,” as Nietzsche put it—and, in any case, the presence of the uncontrollable. This element defines horror literature and more; it is precisely the uncontrollable’s dominion over us. And yet fear always needs something else to be fear: not a lack of courage, but the presence of what we desire most. The one who remains the highest aspiration for most people is also a source of trouble. It is freedom.
The fragrance conveys the idea of destruction, voluntary silence, and the introspection needed to delve into the most remote depths of existence beneath the skin.
But controlling fear creates an attraction to it, even allowing us to take pleasure in a fear that is sought, desired, and controlled.

Human beings, in fact, are enveloped by a dreadful fate, and our society, with its violent mass conformity, seeks to numb itself and deny the truth: namely, Being-toward-death.
Only then does a person become an “I” in their most deaf and shadowy depths and reveal their true nature, made up of contradictions and desires. Faced with fear, primordial needs arise, seemingly disordered and tinged with repressed, concealed, dangerous eroticism, making the impossible possible.

Top notes: Lemon, Cardamom, Bergamot, Lily of the valley, Galbanum, and Cedarwood
Heart notes: Marine notes, Iris, Jasmine, and Rose
Base notes: Musk, Sandalwood, Tonka bean, and Amber.