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.

 

Wanderings….

Last night I went hunting, for antlers….

In my friend Terry’s backyard.

Thanks Terry!

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!