The Scent of the Soul: A Metaphor for Spiritual Reality

From the inner world to its external manifestation, the concept of the "scent of the soul" transcends mere physiological perception and acquires a symbolic meaning that conveys the profound spiritual qualities of a person. Engaging in a dialogue with this powerful image, one can see how our perception of smells becomes a metaphor for spiritual choice: an orientation toward life and the Divine exudes a fragrance, whereas a focus on terminal, somber accents leads to the perception of a "scent of death." The main idea here is that every smell—whether physical or metaphorical—is imbued with layers of spiritual meaning, depending on the good or evil intentions and feelings that shape our soul. Thus, scent becomes not simply a sensory experience, but a potent signal reflecting the essence of our inner world, inviting us to consider what truly matters on our spiritual journey.

Can one perceive a person's soul through sensory experiences, for instance, through scent?
Based on the cited sources, the notion of the "scent of the soul" is presented not so much as a direct physiological sensation as an image that symbolically reflects a person's inner spiritual state. For example, one of the texts states:

"The apostle thanks God for granting the faithful triumph in Christ, and the fragrance of knowing Him is spread by us in every place. ... This is the fragrance of life, in contrast to the scent of death: for some, the smell is deadly, while for others it is life-giving (2 Cor. 2:14–15). ... For the scent of our soul spreads depending on the endpoint of our vision: if it is a tomb, then the scent of death; if it is the living God and the Kingdom of Heaven, then the fragrance of life." (source: link )

In the same source, it is emphasized that:

"All physical scents are images and symbols of spiritual reality. Spiritual scents emanate from bodiless spirits and depend on their quality, on the fabric of their good or evil intentions and feelings." (source: link )

Thus, it appears that sensory experiences—including the perception of scent—can symbolically convey information about the state of a person's soul. It is easy to conclude that a scent can be interpreted as a signifier of profound spiritual qualities, whether it is the fragrance of life or, conversely, the odor of death, even though it is merely an image pointing to the true spiritual state.