Guerlain, 1853
The house is infused by the spirit of perfumer Pierre-François-Pascal Guerlain, who inhabited 'Le Petit Manoir' in the mid 19th century. His enchanted universe of female archetypes is woven into the tapestry of the present. The land is alive with different notes and frequencies infusing the house. Ephemeral and captivating, as perfume.
L'Heure Bleue, 1997
The house remained in the Guerlain lineage until the 1980s. About fifteen years later, by a leap of fortune, the key was passed to our family. My mother chose to name the house L'Heure Bleue, a fragrance for twilight time dwellings, developed by perfumer Jacques Guerlain in 1912.
This perfume is delicate and intense, an ode to the iris flower. It evokes transitions familiar to all initiatory journeys, an extended liminality capturing the various crossings, emanating from the land.
This project, together with Levanah are the fruits of having grown with the land and house for the last thirty years.
“It's that time of day when day embraces night and silence fully envelopes the world. An expression of harmony, a moment of stillness and grace tinted with deep blue echoed in L'Heure Bleue, composed in 1912. Painting an impressionistic olfactory canvas, Jacques Guerlain merged the violet accord and iris with the creamy ivory of vanilla, leaving a bewitching fragrance trail of both fresh and warm nuances. Through this ambery floral, a tale of eternal love is told. In this moment of suspended time, when the night is ‘yet to find its star’ as Jacques Guerlain described it, L'Heure Bleue marks the meeting of two soulmates destined to become one in the frisson of eternity.”
Levanah, 2023
The blueprint of Levanah, a project rooted in ancestral wisdom teachings, was revealed through working with the land and the house.
The living astrological sky that inspired the inception of this project came through in the summer of 2023. When the planet Venus was retrograde in the sign of Leo from July 22nd to September 3rd, marking a 40-day reset as she transitioned from an evening star to be reborn as a morning star. One myth that is resonant with this transit, is of the Mesopotamian goddess Inanna, who descends into the Underworld. Inanna's myth is a journey of sacrifice, and rebirth. Inanna is the goddess of liminality in a similar way to L'Heure Bleue being the liminal hour.
Deep listening amidst emerging qualities of this transit brought into alignment the pillars of Levanah, and the retreats that are offered. Each retreat is a carefully and singular elected weave of astrology, storytelling, dream work and herbal alchemy.
House of Changes, 2025
The caption ‘House of Changes’ entwines L'Heure Bleue with the ancient Chinese divination text the I Ching or ‘Book of Changes’. The book is considered one of the world’s oldest oracles, working with nature archetypes. It offers guidance through image, metaphor and flux, reminding one of the sense of a perpetual outcome. Ultimately, it teaches us to play with change, dance with change and accept change. Each image cast serves as an energy reading of a moment in time. Bringing together the book and the house, illuminates the intrinsic qualities of the house to align in a deeper and more receptive way.
L'Heure Bleue is house of mirroring windows, with walls whispering parables.
In honour of my ancestors
Named here, the female line
grandmother Maria Magdalena Leys and grandmother Maria Magdalena Gybels,
my mother Geertrui,
my daughters Lásse Grey and Avalon.
In honour of the Maiden Joan of Arc,
a beacon of focus and presence,
symbol of courage and unwavering faith,
who in the winter of 1430 was imprisoned in the chateau of Le Crotoy. From there she traversed the Somme Bay to Saint-Valery, an important passage in the journey towards the end of her life.
In her footsteps,
Honouring Source,
Weaving the threads of fire.
Cathérine
“The Birth of an Ocean
She
Wrapped in sea-born blue light
Our bodies seamlessly
Unseen
Until Mabon wove a day
Into our boundless night”