BACK IN BUSINESS

"I like this place and could willingly waste my time in it"- Shakespeare

The cabin is finally finished! The landscaping is finally finished! And, the decorating is nearly finished! (That will be a work in progress for awhile yet). It was a little over two years ago that Tom and I began this project, and I put my business on hold.  I wanted to devote my time and energy to building and decorating the cabin.  Now that it is pretty much completed,  I have been itching to get back to creating my Spirit Dolls. Last week I re-opened my Etsy Shop,  and this week I have been busy posting our (Kristin has stuck with me) latest creations!

Take a look at 'The Shaman'. He might be my favorite Spirit Doll thus far, and is the first one I chose to list in our 'new' Etsy Shop.

Please come back and visit often in the coming weeks. We have many new dolls to share!

*Shamanism organically arose all over the world, all throughout history, as a response to the needs of people. Shamanism is an ancient collection of traditions based on the act of voluntarily accessing and connecting to non-ordinary states — or spirit realms — for wisdom and healing.

The word “shaman” comes from the Siberian Tungus tribe, and it directly means “spiritual healer,” or, more cleverly, “one who sees in the dark.”

Generally, there is one shaman per community. These shamans access the spirit realm for the purpose of individual and communal growth and healing — they do this by restoring and removing energetic pathways, recovering soul parts, and communicating with non-physical helpers to discover the spiritual aspects of illness and find answers to life’s seemingly impossible questions. This reality-penetrating ability marks them as the world’s very first doctors, storytellers, mystics, and even psychotherapists.

Shamanism comes with a great responsibility. Alongside simply accessing these worlds, they must possess the ability to transform what they have learned and experienced into a concrete change in the physical world.

Shamans also act as great teachers, for they teach that everything is spirited; that all things are interconnected and alive, including (but certainly not limited to) the Earth itself, the stars in the sky, and even the wind in the air. For this, it is also the shaman’s role in a community to demonstrate and maintain the harmonious balance of humankind, nature, and spirit.
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* 'The Shaman' is made of salvaged, recycled vintage fabrics, textiles, ribbons, yarns, jewels, crystals, beads, buttons, furs, feathers, twigs, bones and stones. His face is hand formed, hand painted polymer clay.

* He is approximately 18” L

* He is an original and one-of-a-kind, collectible art doll

* He comes with his own stand, or he can be hung on the wall.
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 https://www.etsy.com/shop/rhinestonegypsy

(or, click on the ETSY link on the right hand side of this blog to go directly to our storefront).

MABON APPROACHES

As a child I understood the season changes through the portends of nature....the black and orange fuzz of a wooly bear caterpillar foretold the nearness of Halloween, and legend had it that the thickness of her coat foretold how cold the upcoming winter would be. Apple picking meant the end of summer and the beginning of crisp, sweet Autumn. To this day, Fall remains my favorite season. And, I now also know this season-shifting time as 'Mabon', or The Autumn Equinox.

'Mea'n Fo mhair' (which is what the Druids called Mabon), honors the Green Man, God of the Forest. Offerings of libations to the trees in the way of cidars, wines, herbs and fertilizers are appropriate at this time. 

At Mabon the light and dark once again sit facing each other with equal sway. The coolness of the darkness has come to soothe our sun-drenched brows, but we have not yet descended into the dark half of the year. Here in Wisconsin, we are nearing our first frost, but, the days are still balmy and pleasant; yet on the wind I can smell Autumn.

There is something quite alive about Autumn, even though it marks the first 'deaths' as the tilt of the earth takes the northern hemisphere away from the sun. The summer dogs days have passed and it is time to snuggle in, in preparation for winter's coming chill.