Amulets
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 of light 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 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 amulet 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 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 feathers I found in my Mom's garden
Hummingbird feathers I can carry with me
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 journey through the darkness, who are pulled by the light.
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, worries and fears whispered into sacred space 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.
I feel a sense of deep, sacred time when I connect with nature and when I create these amulets. 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 the surface of things.
Birch
Renewal and rebirth
I love birch trees, there is one in our yard that I started to say, “Hello, my friend” when I walk past. 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.
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 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 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, intimate 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 birch friend in my yard.
