February 2, 2017 will mark the Imbolc Sabbat. This is the first of the four major fire festivities celebrated every year. The other three being: Ostara, Beltaine and Litha. Each of these representing the rising, growing, maturing Sun until his peak on Litha. Marking the beginning of the Sun’s reign is when we celebrate the waking up of Mother Earth. The dark days are now behind us and we prepare to step into the light of spring. The Sabbat often gets confused with similar celebrations this time of year such as Candlemas, Ground Hogs Day, and Valentine’s Day. Candlemas and Ground Hog’s Day are nature based holidays used for predicting the coming seasons. Our Imbolc was transformed into Candlemas by the churches decades ago and American’s put their twist on that forming Groundhog’s Day. Valentine’s Day, years ago, was confused with Ground Hogs day because they were both celebrated on Feb. 14 by older generations. It is this time of the year when we celebrate the Goddess as Maiden. She is fertile, she is pregnant and soon she will have her child. She is young, beautiful, slightly naive but very strong. She is in her prime. She is a goddess of fire, of home, light, healing, fertility, etc. Depending on your tradition she may take many different names. Celtic traditions put a strong emphasis on Brigid. However, this is also the season (in Greek traditions) when Demeter is happiest as a mother because her daughter Persephone is allowed to return from the underworld of Hedes to be with her. Others include Freya, Diana, Gaia, Hera, Hestia, Athena, Artemis, Selene, etc. In Ireland, as Christianity began to take hold and Imbolc was transformed into Candlemas, many believe that the St. Brigid, as in the celebration of Feast of St. Brigid, actually derived from our goddess Brigid. Our Sun is still incredibly young, not yet mature. He is growing and getting stronger, and his strength will continue to build as he is the Oak King. Seeds have been planted and there is a stirring of life just below the surface. In some climates, it still may be difficult to see, visually, but it is there and if you try hard enough, you can feel it. We are strong right now. We have nurtured ourselves throughout the winter and prepared ourselves for the long hard days of work that lies ahead of us this summer. Sun is calling you outdoors to soak in his energy and to allow it to work inside you for growth inside and outside. Our Sun gods are those of fertility, forest, nature, and of love. They include the god Eros, Pan, Priapus, Cernunnos, etc. Many customs associated with the goddess Brigid existed in ancient days as they do now. It was said that during Imbolc, the goddess was to come and visit each home and offer her blessings in areas of home, hearth, fertility, prosperity, protection of land and livestock, etc. Her blessing was very critical in early days and so people would make offerings in order to receive these blessings. Some customs included the making of the Brigid cross, Brigid bed or the Brigid doll. This is one reason our corn doll in the shop was so popular. She was brought in from the fields, made from the grown corn leaves and tassel, she was offered a home during the cold months and then she is returned to her home in the fields in the spring to bless it. Many feasts were had to celebrate the Sabbat. Other than making her bed and other crafty material, offerings of food and drink were given. The meaning of the word Imbolc is not completely clear. Some have traced it back into Irish, British and even European meanings with some similarities. These include things like “the birth of Ewes”, “the mother’s milk”, “to begin anew”, “cleansing or purifying”, “in the belly”, etc. The common thread that we see here over many different years of different customs is that it has a strong significance with birth or rebirth. As a baby is born they are pure, untouched, and clean emerging from the mother’s womb into a world where their survival rests on nourishment from their mother’s milk. It’s a beautiful, natural part of life in the physical world of man and in the spiritual world as well. A reminder that with death…there is always rebirth. So death isn’t a final thought, or a destination, it’s a milestone that leads to new things. Something to not only not fear but to rejoice in. Blessed Imbolc! Photo Credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/41190630@N05/3798227560/
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This is a handmade feather wreath on a 18" wire frame. The wreath is made out of 100% naturally molted chicken feathers from our own spoiled hens. As they molt in the late Summer through early Fall we collect each feather individually, clean it, dry it and store it for this beautiful piece. We only get enough feathers to make a couple of these per year depending on what kind of a molt our girls have. With the feathers attached this wreath is more of a 22" wreath even though its on the 18" frame. This process is VERY time consuming as each feather is hand selected and placed into the wreath individually. We then spritz the wreath with our Sage Smudge Spray to cleanse and also to offer it purifying properties. It is charged under a full moon and intention of bring peace and love to the home while repelling and neutralizing negative energy that crosses this door. This wreath needs no herbs. The chickens that gave us these feathers ate the herbs to produce the feathers they gifted us with. They represent life themselves and the ultimate representation of the Air element. Our wreaths offer all the benefits and magick to our homes without it being obvious to everyone who comes to our door because sometimes we want to keep the magick in our lives to ourselves. Cynnamon Charm strives to bring magick into your homes even in the most mundane objects. )0( When they are gone....they are gone! Click here Yesterday I was working on the Cynnamon Charmed Facebook and website video for Imbolc. Normally I don’t watch the videos because I will pick myself apart but yesterday I did. So what I saw in my video, I realized, could be tied in with my shadow work I am doing the next couple months. So before I get into what I didn’t like, I want to mention the progress. I began doing videos for the page about 4-5 months. It was absolutely terrifying for me but my 10 year old daughter convinced me that my business needed it. She was shooting more towards posting Utube videos but same idea. In the beginning, I was not very confident and was afraid to watch the videos out of fear of chickening out on posting them. Since then I have become more comfortable with doing them but a few people have mentioned that I say “Ummmm” a lot in them. I figured that was the least of my worries, just me and how I talk so I wasn’t going to get too hung up on it. After all, I find there is always lots of people willing to criticize you and not nearly enough to attempt to lift you up realizing that you, yourself are your largest critic already. I am proud of myself and the self-confidence, courage and extroverted actions that I have forced myself to embody has created great change and growth in me. So yesterday I recorded our Imbolc video and these aren’t edited. I click record and I talk about what I want to talk about and sometimes I make a few notes of things I don’t want to forget to mention but most of the time I wing it. I like things this way because I feel like it is as close to talking directly to you that I can be. Something seems fake about going in and editing, retaking and all that. Maybe, later in the year, we will even do some “LIVE” chats. So after the recording I was scheduling its post and accidentally pushed something that made it start to play. I listened while I finished typing up my title and comment for the post and quickly realized that I said “Ummm…..” a lot and so I continued watching. Now, I realize that when you are already bugged about something and looking for it then it’s going to stick out more prominently than it may at other times. However, the over use of this word drove me nuts and I don’t use it like that in normal conversation. So, I decided to meditate and continue contemplating why I was doing this as part of my shadow work for the week. I spent the next 24 hours thinking about that and hoping that it doesn’t bother my viewers as much as it does me. I also realize that in talking on video I don’t want stagnant air or silence so when I go from one idea to another I am using “ummm” as a transition word or a place holder until I gather my thoughts. As an artist and an herbalist I work alone a lot. So, most of the thoughts and conversations I have about my work is in my own head. Learning how to articulate and share them with you all has been a work in progress. Being aware of this will help me in the future and I intend to work a great deal on it. I don’t know that I will be able to fix it in one or two videos completely but I am going to make a solid attempt to lessen the use of the word. So for all my video viewers that I am driving insane…… please hang in there, I am working on it and it will get better. Photo credit: https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4129/5045045779_2963e256b2_b.jpg Limited Supply- Click here for yours
Here is a 10 ml amber roller bottle of our very own POWERFULLY charged LOVE blend with only the highest grade ingredients. Therapeutic grade 100% Pure Essential Oils from Eden's Garden, 100% Organic Jojoba Oil in amber glass bottle to protect the delicate oils from the light. This come packaged as pictured in an adorable cauldron with ribbons and tissue. Perfect as a gift for a special someone, or even yourself. Sweet Orange, Clove Bud and Thyme combined for a sweet, sultry, seductive scent that is powerful for manifesting love and romance with an undertone of Cedarwood Oil that keeps all that is drawn in pure and prevents the energy from becoming stagnant. Citrus, Spicy, Herbal and yet Woodsy.....all combined into one POWERFULLY irresistible scent sure to make your special occasion memorable. In general, a wand is a tool used to direct energy. A priapic wand does the same thing, except it has a more specific purpose for the energy it is directing. This energy is directed into the Earth. She has been asleep all winter, the Sun has been renewed and her sleeping days are now over. We want her to wake up and see the new Sun. This wand is designed for exactly that purpose and that is why it’s a great tool at Imbolc. Throughout the month, I will do some posts on the meaning of Imbolc and also of the Gods associated with the sabbat more in depth. However, to understand this wand you need to understand its symbology to the divine father. Throughout mythology, every pantheon has its fertility gods. To name a few there is Herne, Pan, Cernunnos, and yet in some traditions it is a generic Horned God. The priapic wand got its name from another Greek fertility god Priapism. What all these gods have in common is that they are the representative of the divine father. They are normally depicted with a beasts head (goat, bull, deer, etc.) and horns or antlers. This depiction symbolizes the union of man and animal. Another common theme in the fertility God depiction is an erect penis. Among other things, this is to symbolize their fertility. Throughout mythology the phallus is a powerful symbol of masculine power and also of protection. The priapic wand is designed to resemble the phallus in shape. The strings attached to the wand can symbolize other things depending on personal preference. Some choose greens and browns to resemble the rebirth of the plant life. Other people may prefer reds and colors that represent love and passion. The priapic wand is used during Imbolc celebrations or rituals by adults and children as a way of waking up Mother Earth. It is taken around and shaken, hence the need for noisy bells, at the ground to awaken Mother Earth from her slumber. As the sun has returned and is beginning to slowly warm the ground, life slowly reemerges. It is during this time that seeds are planted, hence the symbology of the phallus. These seeds are planted in the Earth and in the animals and we will see the birth of this beautiful life at Ostara. Much of the focus at Imbolc is on the Goddess, rather than the God. Obviously, she is a center point of the sabbat. However, I like to balance the energy in my practice and give appropriate recognition where it is due. So, in our future blog on Imbolc we will take a closer look at the feminine aspect of Imbolc where today we will focus on our Gods role. And while many practitioners will set up a Brigid bed or symbol, there are many who will also set a priapic wand right next to it drawing on the energy of the God and Goddess for blessing for the year to come. Many people chose to make their own priapic wand for Imbolc. However, if you find yourself wanting to include this tradition in your celebration but don’t feel artistic enough or are short on time…..Cynnamon Charmed has some beautiful wands in stock now in our Imbolc/Valentine’s Day section in the shop. Click HERE to visit the store. This beautiful, POWERFUL, love/romance ball will be the perfect addition to your spell work during Imbolc, full moon, anniversaries, weddings, or any other time you need it. Many potent herbs for drawing and promoting love, such as, myrtle, lavender, rose petals, cloves, cinnamon, etc. Black salt for purity and protection, bergamot for clarity and echinacea to make the spell more powerful. Amethyst and the rune Gebo is included for their properties involving love/partnership. The bottle is sealed with 3 colors of wax and tied with ribbons so that anything bound to the ribbons is also attached to the working spell inside. A great way to use this is by tying papers with names, phrases or other things to the hanging strings so that you can personalize manifest workings to fit your needs. This bottle could be hung, saved, buried, etc. as you see fit. Each ball is handmade and may vary slightly from the picture. Look through the pictures above to see our creation process. Not photographed is the charging and setting of intent so they are ready for your use.
CLICK HERE TO SEE IN SHOP As always....be careful what you wish for )0( Imbolc Ritual Kit--CLICK HERE to view in shop Everything you need for your Imbolc ritual or Valentine's Day manifestations. IMBOLIC RITUAL KIT Love Herbal Blend Natural paper to write out intentions Charcoal disk for burning herbs White chime candle Eros Smudge Spray -4oz Aphrodite Bar- Homemade soap mini Love Blend This blend would be great at Imbolc, when you want to bring love your way, or when you want to strengthen the love already present in your life. Ingredients: Cinnamon, Rose, Wild Rose, Vervain, Yarrow, Marjoram, Lavender Our herbal mixtures have multiple uses for working within listed intention. Some our favorite uses are: • Sprinkled on altar • Used as offering • Used to stuff poppets (Poppets also available in shop after September 1, 2017) • Infusing and/or ringing candles • Added to baths – wrap and tie in cheese cloth/steep in a tea pot to add to bath water or tie cheese cloth containing herbs to shower head to allow water to run through it while you shower. • Added to sachets to carry with you (sachets also available in shop) • Added to charm necklaces • Added to pillows (pillows also available in shop after Oct. 1, 2017) • As a fire throw • Made into infused oils or potions • Burnt on charcoal disks as incense (disk included in this kit) Eros Smudge Spray This smudge spray was created as a complement to our Aphrodite Dreams Bar with all the herbal benefits but draws are more of the Suns energy where Eros is in charge. In combination we are able to bring the energies of the God and the Goddess together for those extra powerful love workings. Alone this would be the perfect tool to use Imbolc through Ostara, as we observe natures rebirth. It could even be used through Midsummer as we celebrate the budding love of the God and Goddess. Spiritual Attributes: Clove: protection, love, attracts opposite sex, drives away negative forces and purifies Lavender: attracts love, protection, promotes peaceful sleep. Folklore says its conducive to long life when smelled Yarrow: courage, love, physic powers Violet: Protection, Luck, Love, Lust, Wishes, Peace, Healing Orange: love, luck, and good fortune Geranium: Fertility, love, luck, protection Rose: powerful love properties, luck, protection Vervain: Love, protection, purification, peace, youth, sleep, healing Aphrodite Bar –Mini This bar is perfect to get you into the mood before your workings. A powerful combination of flowers, herbs and essential oils make this soap a must have! This is a harder soap made with our physical, mental and spiritual well-being in mind. You are getting a bar that cleanses and moisturizes your skin at the same time with oils sourced responsibly. You will not find any artificial colors or additives that are not needed just for color. In addition this bar doesn’t contain fragrance oils. You get a highly aromatic scent from the finest essential oils on the market. All my oils are obtained through Young Living, DoTerra or Eden’s Garden depending on the oil and my preference. And all the flowers, herbs and natural ingredients are grown and or harvested locally by me. Just a dash of black salt is added to clear negative energy we have stored up. We then invite in love, passion, and inner calmness and peace. This is the perfect combination to bring in the energy of Aphrodite, especially around Imbolc or Ostara, while also honoring the returning Sun with the incorporation of orange in the recipe. Depending on when you decide to celebrate your New Year date, you either are well into or just starting your new year’s resolutions. Some start at Samhain, some at Yule, and some follow the calendar year just for convenience. For me, I think I start at Samhain and transition through the end of the calendar year. I am not good at just stopping or changing dramatically. I can’t feel like I am being neglected or left out or missing out on something. I have to build up motivation and often times it take a few trials and failures. So, I wind up doing “warm up’s” through the last couple months and then get serious at the calendar New Year. A couple years ago I began dieting seriously and I ended up losing over 75 lbs. My next task was to quit smoking and so last March (the 15th) I had my last cigarette. I knew I had started smoking twice as much when I started dieting and that would be an issue for me. Well, it’s been 9 months of no smoking and I have put about half the weight I lost back on. It seems I trade one habit for another. I know that I need to find something more productive to do, especially when I am stressing out or under pressure. I tried chewing gum, that didn’t do anything for me. I hated mint candies. They messed up the taste of my other vice….Dt. Coke. For a while I did well with cinnamon jolly ranchers and Fireball jawbreakers. However, after a couple months of that, I started knocking fillings loose and my dentist wasn’t too happy with me. So that bit of my “bad habits” history was so that I could talk about my resolution for rebirthing the new me this sun cycle. I am not going to count calories and consume myself with time consuming nutrition info on every meal. I know how to lose weight and how to keep it off. What I need to work on is the mental part of it. How to control my emotions, my stress level and my response to stress with something other than munching or smoking. I could journal or something similar as a stress reliever but I don’t know that I would commit well to that. My plan is to do some really deep shadow work. I struggle, like many, to cope with the winter months. The lost connection to the outdoors is a welcome break at first but after a few weeks I feel lost, disconnected and drained. Negative temperatures don’t afford the opportunity to get out daily with bare feet on the bare ground. I need that connection to the Earth. Without that I feel ungrounded regardless of other techniques I have tried. I am most at home with my hands and feet in the dirt and there just isn’t a suitable substitute that I have found. The holiday season swamps an empath with more emotions that I can handle. All the work I done all year on being a more positive person feels lost out the window. I struggle not to serve judgment, criticism or negatively respond to things I normally gracefully look the other way of. I start to feel myself sink into a hole. Communicating with other people gets difficult. I find judgment in everything they say which only adds to the struggle that I already face. I start to fold inward on myself and find a safety net within my own mind, cutting myself off from others, even sometimes completely avoiding or withdrawing from things I normally would enjoy. This is what I refer to as my sun cycle of life. I go through it yearly and during the same times. Now is the time for rebirthing the me that I have hidden away. To be born again better than the time before. Build on my tools throughout the year for a more graceful cycle the next time around. Hoping to acquire skills that will build a suit of armor strong enough to shield an empath from long winter days without too much collateral damage to have to spend the rest of the year repairing. This is the time of year that I hear people talking about letting go of relationships that don’t serve you well, negative people, etc. For me, this is the worst time of the year for that. It’s easy to find fault in other people and their actions when you are not grounded and centered yourself. These are decisions I find best to make when I am in my emotional, mental, spiritual prime and that is during summer. I feel that I am best at that time to make sound judgment and decisions with an open mind and heart that is perceptive to other possibilities and points of view. However, there are times that this cannot be avoided and we do find ourselves in damaged relationships during unplanned times. It’s a good idea to revisit the whole ordeal later on. Look at how I acted and reacted and I will work on ways to handle things better in the future and apologize, if I feel I was in the wrong. As part of my resolution of shadow work, I will study myself. People make a mistake to think they are complete and their work is done. We are always evolving, changing and growing. To think of you as a completed work is to neglect yourself. We are works of art. We should always strive to make ourselves better through knowledge and understanding of how and why we tick like we do. These are basic concepts that many of us don’t even know about ourselves. So, in 2018 I will continue my shadow work to try and bring myself closer yet with the divine….. all the while being content to love the me of today! Priapic Wands for Imbolc ---Now available in the shop in our Imbolc/ Valentine's Day section. Follow along with the pics to see the production process. Look out on 1/9 for our blog post on how these are used and their symbology. http://etsy.me/2CatZBj, https://www.etsy.com//…/priapic-wand-14-pan-priapus-fertilit
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Keri Nichol
Founder, Artist, Herbalist, and Writer Archives
August 2018
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