Sacred Talismans and Amulets

“Adorn your body like an altar.” -unknown

“A talisman can be viewed as any object made to serve a specific end-usually to bring good fortune in some area of life or to help in the achievement of a goal. It has a suggestive effect upon the mind. An amulet is not much different, other than that it is usually worn for protection and for health. Both are usually consecrated or “charged” through some ritual or meditative act. This can be accomplished as simply as by applying concentrated focus while constructing them.”

“Feathers, fetishes, and other sacred objects are often used as tools. They can be used to help us connect with the more ethereal energies of life. They can be antennae to the spirit realm. They can be a physical expression of reverence and prayer, or they can be a tool for protection and healing.”

-Ted Andrews, Animal Speak: The Spiritual and Magical Powers of Creatures Great and Small

I began making these little bottle necklaces and earrings to hold tiny beautiful treasures from the earth that I have found outside while on walks in my Mom’s garden, with my Dad and my two beagles, while walking alone to clear my thoughts. I carefully place each gift inside the bottle, then hold it in my hands and bless them with love and Reiki energy, intending that whoever is close to these bottles, that they receive love, peace and protection if they need it. This practice intuitively flows and evolves as I sit in silence and feel. Sometimes I am inspired to pull an oracle card or write in my journal as connections, questions and insights swirl and weave together inside me. Sometimes I am guided to wear one of these during a particular Reiki session with a client or during a shamanic journey. This is a gentle practice of creating wearable peace, wearable love, wearable blessings on my body.

Roses…

In a shamanic journey I went on, a wise teacher guided me to a place in the Upper World with tall stone steps. As I climbed up, I reached the top where a temple stood, in the shape of a rose. I walked through the door and smelled rose oil. Beings were there who I couldn’t fully see but could feel their peaceful, soft, feminine presence around me. They gently dipped my head into a pool of water filled with rose petals and anointed my forehead with rose oil…it was extraordinary and profoundly beautiful.

Sometime before or after the journey, I was drawn to the roses in my Mom’s garden like a magnet, like they were speaking to me and asking me to come closer to them, to feel their energy. I had lived among them for years and appreciated their beauty but something was different now, something felt different inside me, something was calling to me…I gathered a few of the roses, dried the petals and created necklaces with them.

Feathers, Wings and the Wind…

For many years now, feathers have appeared on my path as signs and omens. I carefully pick them up when I feel called to and place them in vases on my art table and in my Reiki healing room. When I found these tiny bottles, I knew I wanted to place some of the tiniest feathers I have found inside them…the hummingbird feathers I found while working with my Mom in her garden….the little cardinal feathers on top of our car that my Dad told me he noticed and thought I might like to keep…the tiny insect wing I noticed in the grass in the summer…

I have been exploring the deeper spiritual meaning of feathers, wings and the wind as these little gifts touch my heart so deeply and ask me to learn more, seek more.

Hummingbird

“Despite being so little, hummingbirds are great journeyers, migrating between North and Central America to feed from the summer nectar. This gentle creature can be fiercely territorial to protect its home. Hummingbirds teach us to be gentle to ourselves and protect our personal space. Hummingbirds invite you to embark on your epic quest and learn to trust the calling you hear ever so softly. The buzzing you feel is the sound of your hummingbird wings preparing you to say yes to a new adventure.”

-Mystical Shaman Oracle by Alberto Villoldo, Colette Baron-Reid and Marcela Lobos

Moth

I found a tiny, iridescent moth one day when I was outside in my yard. As I gently picked it up in my hands, I moved it around in the sunlight and could see the shimmer of rainbow colors on its tiny body. How incredible these tiny creatures are who know journey through the darkness, who are pulled by the light.

The Upper World

“Angels, divine helpers, the Ancient Ones, and all varieties of luminous beings populate the upper world.”

-Mystical Shaman Oracle

In shamanism, The Upper World is one of the hidden realms that any of us can travel to through meditation to receive healing, guidance and support that can affect our lives in very practical and tangible ways. I have been slowly exploring these hidden realms and feel a beautiful connection between my pull to shamanism and my inspiration to create these talismans and amulets with tiny feathers.

Sage

“The burnt embers of blessings made.” I heard this as I was creating this amulet necklace with the embers of sage I have used during Reiki sessions to cleanse and bless my space, myself and my clients. As I created this amulet, I listened to shamanic drumming and could smell the faint fragrance of the sage wafting up to meet me. Memories of healings, energies transmuted and washed away, hopes whispered into sacred space and silence to be held ever so gently and lovingly…

I said this blessing as I gently blew inside the bottle before sealing it closed:

May this amulet carry blessings of peace and protection to all those who wear it or are near it, always. May love continue to light the way forward for us all.

Pine

I have felt drawn to the pine trees in our yard for years and find myself talking with them, going up and touching them, loving watching them dance with the sunlight and wind and twinkly snow. I picked up a few needles underneath one of my pine tree friends on a very cold January day and created an amulet necklace with them. I listened to enchanting forest music as I created it, which felt so calming and peaceful.

The artist, Laura Doctor writes about Deep Time being one of her core guiding principles. I love that. I feel a sense of deep time when I connect with nature, when I create these amulets, when I write, when I offer Reiki, when I sit and look out my window at the woods. Time expands and deepens way down to the essence of things, stretching out and offering space for me to touch what can’t be reached within shallow time.

Birch

I love birch trees, there is one in our yard that I started to say, “Hello, my friend” when I walk past since I moved back to my childhood home in Wisconsin 5 years ago. The trees have given me such a sense of peace, comfort and steadiness as I have journeyed through a lot of emotional upheaval and transition. Over the years, I have picked up birch bark off the ground and created art with it in a variety of ways, connecting to my friend’s grounding spirit and energy.

On New Year’s Eve in 2024, I traveled with a friend to northern Wisconsin and it was a very significant and special time for me. I went on a walk by myself that morning, wandering along an icy road and into the woods where there were birch, pine and other tree friends and little birds chirping and flying around. I found myself quietly whispering to them and to myself. Then I softly decided in the moment to perform a threshold ceremony where I stepped between two trees, acknowledging all that the previous year had taught me, all that I am carrying forward with me into the new year and what I am ready to release and let go of. Then I simply stepped forward…and I cried. It was beautiful and private and deep.

I picked up a piece of birch bark off a log on the ground with the intention to create an amulet necklace for the person who hosted us. When I got home, I created one for her and then felt inspired to create one for myself, blending birch bark from that experience and some from my friend in my yard.

I’ve learned that birch can represent renewal and rebirth in many cultures and spiritual traditions. How perfect.