Myrrh and Civet are paired as the perfume of Binah in Liber 777, uniting two radically different substances: a dry, bitter gum-resin from the Commiphora tree, and a pungent, fatty secretion of the African civet cat (Civettictis civetta). The name “myrrh” comes from the Arabic murr, meaning “bitter,” while “civet” derives from the Arabic zabad (ⲍⲁⲃⲁⲇ), “foam” or “cream,” referring to the appearance of the raw glandular paste. In this pairing, myrrh provides the astringent, funereal depth of the Great Sea (Binah), and civet supplies the heavy, animalic base that anchors the scent to the earth and the tomb.

Position on the Tree of Life

This perfume corresponds to Sephirah 3, Binah—Understanding, the Great Mother, the dark, fertile abyss of Saturn. In the scale of perfumes, the step from Kether (Ambergris) through Chokmah (Musk) reaches here at a scent of dissolution and receptivity. The bitterness of myrrh mirrors the salt of the primordial waters; the musky, fecal edge of civet echoes the womb-tomb of the underworld. Together they are the perfume of mourning, of the starry night, and of the deep wisdom that arises from the acceptance of form and limit.

Historical context

Myrrh has been burned in temples and tombs for at least four millennia. In Egyptian funerary practice, myrrh was an essential ingredient in the mummification process, particularly in the kyphi incense used to purify the dead and guide the spirit through the underworld. The Ebers Papyrus (circa 1550 BCE) prescribes myrrh for wounds and for ritual fumigation. In the Hebrew Bible, myrrh appears in the holy anointing oil (Exodus 30:23) and as a symbol of suffering and love in the Song of Songs. The Magi bring myrrh to the infant Jesus as a foreshadowing of his death. Ancient Greeks and Romans burned myrrh in temples of Isis and Adonis; Ovid records it in the Fasti for the Parilia festival.

Civet, by contrast, entered European luxury perfumery only in the medieval period via trade routes from Africa and Asia. Arab merchants brought civet paste in horn containers, where it was prized for its fixative properties and its ability to “lift” floral scents. By the Renaissance, civet was a signature note in the heavy, animalic perfumes of the Venetian and French courts. In alchemical and hermetic texts, the substance was classed among the “animal” odors—alongside musk and ambergris—and was associated with Venus as well as Saturn; its penetrating, long-lasting quality made it a symbol of the persistence of primal matter.

Liber 777’s pairing of myrrh with civet at the third sephirah draws on both traditions: myrrh is the bitter wisdom of the Mother, a fragrance of sorrow and initiation; civet is the animal shadow, the earthy, sexual undertone that makes the scent a full expression of Binah’s paradoxical nature—nourishing and terrible, fertile and barren.

Context in the table

In the column of Perfumes at step 3 (Binah), the entry reads “Myrrh, Civet.” No other step combines both a plant gum and an animal secretion in this way. The sibling cells at neighboring steps—Ambergris at 1 and Musk at 2—are also single animalic odors, but the union of vegetable bitterness and animal musk is unique to this position. It signifies the blending of the dry, structured cosmos (myrrh as Saturn’s tears) with the formless, raw vitality of life (civet as the body’s shadow), together making the complete perfume of the Great Mother.