Honey at the table
This week I have been playing with honey and comb, making sacred honey water and preparing beeswax for candles. I am excited to spin my tales about the process, but for now I was inspired to leave you with a Mary Oliver poem, and some images of my inspiration for the week*sigh*…..
Honey at the Table
By: Mary Oliver
It fills you with the soft
essence of vanished flowers, it becomes
a trickle sharp as a hair that you follow
from the honey pot over the table
and out the door and over the ground,
and all the while it thickens,
grows deeper and wilder, edged
with pine boughs and wet boulders,
pawprints of bobcat and bear, until
deep in the forest you
shuffle up some tree, you rip the bark,
you float into and swallow the dripping combs,
bits of the tree, crushed bees – - – a taste
composed of everything lost, in which everything lost is found.
New Amber Necklace Talismans
Last week my tray of Amber called out to me, yelled actually to be picked up sorted through and made into creations that would go out into the world. I mean what was I thinking hording all of this stunning amber?
Perhaps it is my love of honey, the sacredness and beauty of it, which is the result of all the hard work our honey bees put into it, but I was so inspired by amber and honey that I decided to make an amber honey tincture, of which I shall have to write more on in another post.
For centuries both honey and Amber has been highly prized, both holding the claim to having been so valuable that they were used as currency at one time or another. Amber being made into and used as Trade beads, and Honey in Egypt which was used in a myriad of ways from gifts for the dead to curing wounds. Follow this link to a great web-site on World trade Beads “Here”
Amber is fossilized resin and the oldest amber humans have found was dated at 345 million years old, but most of the oldest Amber we have today is “only” 30 to 90 million years old!
Amber necklace from the Ghysels Collection.
Amber has also been used as talismans and as prayer beads. The word Talisman comes from the Arabic word Talisam which means to “make the marks like a magician”. The word Talisam originally comes from the Greek word Telsam which means to say an incantation. Talismans have humble beginnings as prayer beads, because it was believed that the first sound was that of the heartbeat and thus the sound of the rhythmic clinking of beads as incantations or prayers were being said, was supposed to being the user closer to god.
Muslims, Jews, Christians, Yogi’s and Buddhists all have a long history in using rosary’s, Maala’s, and prayer beads as talismans to their chanting, and Amber was one of the first beads to be used.
One of the more fascinating uses of Amber, is the “Amber Chamber” at St Petersburg in Russia, which uses amber, gold and mirrors to cover the walls. One day I hope to see this room for myself!
Amber also has many spiritual properties as well, and this is what originally drew me to it in my early 20′s when I could not deck myself out with enough Amber. It is said that Amber is good for the nervous system and is good for anxiety, stress, and depression. I myself can attest to it’s anti-anxiety properties as during my highest times of dealing with Anxiety Amber was always with me and I found it to be very soothing.
Amber is connected to the sun, to warmth and yet is also associated with the element earth which makes it very grounding. It is also said to attract prosperity and healing.
Amber is also good for use in meditation and shamanic journey work, for both it’s ability to transform negative energy into positive, and as a protection talisman for journeys to the lower world. Amber carries within it a spark of light and this is what enables it to transmute negative into positive.
Below are my two Amber talismans strung with Whitby Jet and Black Tourmaline. Both are used for spiritual work.
Last week while I pulled out and worked with all of the Amber I had in my studio, I could sense light streaming out from my fingers and into the pieces to the point that it felt seamless, an energetic giving and taking as through there was a stream of energy being passed between myself and the pieces, which seemed to know how they wanted to be placed and came together so fast I was shocked when I looked up and had made so many in such a short time!
My guess is that these pieces have special owners as well to whom they have already chosen!
I was also told that one of these beauties wanted to be given away and so I choose a strand of small honey amber mixed with golden amber and I can’t wait to see who wins it!
The contest details are up at my Red Moon Facebook Page and it is simple to win, simply click the image below and follow the instructions!
All the other pieces I made are up at the Red Moon Shop and ready to go find their new homes!
Butterflies, Lunar Moths, Tattoos and Inner Transformations.
It was twenty years ago this year, that I got my first tattoo.
It was a monarch butterfly in shades of bright orange and black, and for me represented freedom and transformation. I had also just broken up with a boyfriend and so I have to fess up that it was not extremely profound, just a simple truth for me at the time.
Over the years though this tattoo, my butterfly pretty much summed up what I was going though, of growing up becoming a mother and wife and stumbling my way into, and along my inner spiritual path, and basically becoming an adult.
Slowly over time though the butterfly began to represent less about freedom, and more about inner transformations as I grew to understand my own inner workings.
I have loved this tattoo, as it has been with me a long time, but over the past few years I noticed clearly that the once bright orange had become a muddy brownish nothing and it was looking soft around the edges{a little bit like myself} and perhaps it was time for it too to have it’s own transformation.
Now I have been in and out of a few tattoo parlors in my time, and they usually consist of super cool tattooists sporting a large assortment of their own cool tattoo art, and the music is, well it usually is not my style to say the least! This time I wanted something more…
I had known for some time that I had wanted to have my butterfly transformed, but had no idea what it needed to become, that is until I met Katia, a local tattoo artist who was once a school teacher! Yup, she spent 10 years teaching elementary school kids and then one day realized that her passions had changed, she had changed, and that as a result her career had to change too–now this is something I can relate to, not to mention inspiring!
When I first contacted Katia she invited me over to her studio for a sit down, once there she looked at my butterfly, took photos of it and we had a big chat about what it possibly needed/wanted to be. I had a few ideas but nothing concrete.
Later that week in the early morning hours between sleep and dreaming I found myself wandering around a field and noticing a large moth, but I was never able to actually see it. Once awake the moth stuck in my mind and would not leave.
As I carried on with my day I also found myself wondering what would cover the beautiful butterfly that I once loved, and wondered if a moon might be what wanted to go there, as it deeply reflected what I am doing, and my current path.
And then in a flash the moth appeared in my mind and I thought- that is it- a Lunar Moth! Wondering if such a creature existed I promptly went to the computer and looked it up–lo and behold there was the most stunning moth I had ever seen complete with little crescent moons on it’s wings–perfect!
I e-mailed Katia at once and within a day or so she had sent me back a beautiful sketch of the moth covering my butterfly, and I loved it!
Yesterday I went to Katia’s to transform my butterfly into a lunar moth.
Katia being the wonderful person that she is, was completely open to me bringing smudge, and she was more then happy to smudge her equipment to remove any energy of the last person from it.
She then put on music of my choice{Loreena McKennitt} had me take some deep cleansing breaths and walked me though a guided visualization, seeing my butterfly transforming and becoming something beautiful again, and relaxing me deeply before we began.
This is not something I have ever experienced in any tattoo parlor EVER!
First she hand drew on the moth and then added the black lines.
Then she started to add color and slowly the butterfly began to change……
And finally slowly it came together and the butterfly had transformed into a large, and stunningly beautiful Lunar moth, complete with the phases of the moon in it’s wings!
This is the before and after:
Thank you Katia of Rainfire tattoo you are an inspiration and a very talented artist!
First Frost, Book Launch, and the waxing moon.
This morning as I went out to drive Zubin to high school the car was covered with first, the frozen leaves dropping from the trees above our heads with a satisfying “plink” as they touched the ground for the first time.
Winters embrace is coming and this week-end we will be turning the clocks back an hour! The time has certainly flown this fall!
Today I prepare with Nao and Eyan for our book launch tonight, and sleep came sparingly last night as my mind processed all that needed to be done today!
Dark moon beet cupcakes were prepared yesterday–all 100 of them! and today we will get together to drape red sari’s all over the space at the Lunapads headquarters making it into a red tent for this evenings gathering!
It is a busy time but I am savoring it all, for I know the time is close when things begin to slow to a snails pace and I will move inward, musing and writing more here, making creations, and going deep into my shamanic work. For now though the leaves colors brighten my day and the light is still with us–for now….
I am blessed to have skylights in the roof above my bed, and last night I was gifted with the waxing half moon shining on me overhead as I drifted off to sleep…
Bright Fall Blessing to you all!
Nikiah
Recent Comments