Monthly Archives: October 2014

Absinthe Tea Fairies

Absinthe Tea Fairies

Some time ago, while connecting with some family history, I discovered that some ancestors of mine were the original creators of Absinthe. It was in a tiny shop in Switzerland that a mother and her two daughters developed the tisane, and tincture, originally for medicinal purposes. The women later sold the recipe to the man who eventually developed it into the liquor that we know today. I imagine these woman similar to myself. They would love to grow and harvest herbs, maybe during the full moon or at other times when the magic is high. They would dry, crush and mix the plants to create tasty and helpful concoctions for the people in their village. They must have been the witches of their time.

After much research, I decided to honor them and recreate the recipe as it was originally, a tisane or tea. I make a mean absinthe tea. The herbs I use are those featured above with their fairy guardians. The green and golden colors these herbs produce when steeped along with their spicy and floral smells leave no doubt that there is magic in it.

There are five fairies in all and now they are available as prints, posters, iphone cases, ipad cases, throw pillows and more. You can check them all out HERE.

The Surcadian Oracle Coloring Book

The Surcadian Oracle Coloring Book

Road Trip

Road Trip

road trip

There’s nothing like the feeling of putting your last $20 into your gas tank and just driving.  I love road trips. We spent a good 8 hours driving up north today. There were heavy clouds in the morning with the sun breaking through in the afternoon. It felt amazingly good to get away. Much needed.

My Read on the Day

My Read on the Day

isidore tarot reading 3 card

I was thinking of my friend Beth today who created this beautiful Tarot Deck. I thought I would pull my Card for the Day, and well, I ended up pulling three. I guess I needed a bit more information!

In my head, my three card reading went a bit like this: Card 1: Where are you right now? (emotionally, situation-ally, etc) For that one I pulled the fwo of coins. Card 2: Whatcha gonna do about it? That ended up being the Priestess. And finally, Card 3: What will be the result? And there I have the four of swords.

The two of coins is all about balance. Something I do struggle with. The juggling metaphor is not lost on me. I think it is a curse of our society that we are expected to work so much. We work through our lunch ours, we don’t take vacations, we often hold down more than one job in order to survive. We are judged and looked at as being lazy if we do anything less. As someone who works for myself, I don’t follow the 40 hour a week, 9-5 schedule. Sometimes I think it is worse. I feel guilty if I relax. I work all hours of the day and night and weekends? What are those? Those social ideals that have been ingrained in me have taken a monstrous turn and I simply have way too many balls in the air.  Balance is not just important it is vital. If we push and push and push, life has a way of forcing us to slow down, usually by way of illness. Seeing the two of coins today reminded me that I am pushing too hard, particularly in the financial realm. I am being short sighted. I may gain something quickly but long term I will lose because I will not have my health or the energy to grab that big opportunity that presents itself down the road. Time to pace myself.

The Priestess showing up told me a couple of different things. The first one being, you know what you have to do so you better get to doing it. The other thing was it reminded me of who I am. If I am a Priestess, then I need to act like one. I need to be strong, wise, knowledgeable. I need to express that confidence and attitude with grace. My Aunt used to say to me, “Think steak, even if you have to eat hamburger”.  There is alot to be said about the energy of faith, confidence, “knowing”. Sometimes that act of assuming without a doubt that something will be a certain way, it will be that way. You work toward that goal with that knowledge but you don’t have to go at it like a crazy fool and deplete yourself in the process. Work smart, use your knowledge, use your experience, use your magic.

If I am to do this, what will be my outcome? The four of swords. Looks like I catch a break, yay me! Yes there are things I’ll still  have to deal with. Life is like that, there always will be. But by putting them into perspective, prioritizing, working in a steady calm manner and KNOWING, it will result in success. It will result in the ability to focus, to complete projects and to afford some time to take a breather and bring some joy into life. It’s all about the balance.

The Chair Affair

The Chair Affair

A couple of days a week, I get to go to work teaching class to the disabled for Arts in Motion Studios. They do amazing work there bringing the arts in all forms to those who may not otherwise get it. Every year they have a fundraiser called The Chair Affair. Artist in the community will take an old chair and transform it to be auctioned off on Nov, 11th. This is my entry this year. It highlights the story of the Dragon and the Phoenix.