Happy Samhain & Halloween

From my princess and me. We hope your holiday was bewitching and full of treats!

Custom sets are coming to my Etsy boutique!

I am so excited to offer all new sets on Etsy of all the healing items I make. I've been blending essential oils and creating a new line of perfumes that are coming soon; for now, I'm offering the blends one by one as part of larger sets that include my handmade beeswax candles, white sage bundles, and a mix of gemstones from my private collection. I'm also teaching a class in December on how to make your own perfume products using essential oils. Everyone who attends will take home three products they hand-create and blend, including hydrosols, bath salts, massage oils, perfume oils, shower gels, and a few other options. So far my favorite perfume blend is neroli (orange blossom) and ginger. It's heavenly. Every time I wear it people stop and ask me about it. It's a very sexy blend too!

The BEST part of all of this is ... I am finding incredible balance and joy between my hectic day job, the demands of family life, and creative work that fuels my soul. It's deeply gratifying and healing, and I really do believe that in every product I create there's just a bit of magic. I am blessed by my growing customer base of people who support my products and offer me the resources I need to keep on creating!

Wearing your crystals

This week my daughter and I organized my "treasures" as she calls them. I jokingly refer to her as their future owner. Lucky girl. In the course of studying crystal healing for 20 years I've amassed quite a collection of loose and set gems, all of which actually will be hers one day apart from the few pieces to which dear friends and other family members have laid claim. I cleaned all the pieces above and then took a snapshot of them as they waited to be returned to their armoire. A lovely sight to behold.

But I wear my gems with intention - each piece a decision made on the basis of the energetic level I'm at and how much I have to raise or lower that energetic frequency to achieve the desired balance in my field. I always tell people when they are buying jewelry to acquire the pieces they are most initially drawn to and then learn about the healing properties after the fact; 90% of the time the properties are related to some need - conscious or subconscious - of that person or the person to whom the piece will ultimately be given. That's the case with the gorgeous Navajo cuff in the photo above, a gift that I treasure. As such I didn't choose it but it clearly chose me. It has intense native energies attached to it and turquoise is a healing stone; for women, it reminds us of our inner power and demands that we engage our authenticity in relationships. Both of these energies were of great use to me this year. It's gotten a lot of wear lately.

Crystals and gems should be worn close to the skin. If you purchase a piece of jewelry, check to make sure that as you wear the piece the stone will come in direct physical contact with you. That's how to best make the energetic connection with it such that it can alter your frequencies. If a stone is outside your auric boundary, it can raise the vibration of your physical space but it won't be doing much for you physically or psychically (though a balanced living environment feels really good, as people attest when they visit my home).

Wear your jewels and treasures, as my daughter calls them, in perfect health!

You gotta have friends

The end of October is always a time of deep reflection for me. This year the reflection seems especially intense as the last 12 months have brought massive tides of endings and beginnings - a full-tilt career transition, a tectonic shift in my primary relationship, the loss of several significant friendships, the deepening of other friendships (I would argue, as a result). Not all of this movement is negative; it simply is. When the sand shifts under your feet, you can't trust your foundation. This is when you have to look up, and out, and around you. Turn to God or Source or however you imagine the great Being at the Center of the Universe who created you. Turn to your family who will, hopefully, keep your best interests in heart and mind at all times. And turn to your friends, those men and women in your life who can be called upon even in the most shadowy moments. I think of those people in my life who know all my secrets, my hopes, my fears. I share all with my Circle. And the people who inhabit that space have my lifelong and unyielding loyalty. It's a sacred trust. There is very little movement in that inner sanctum of my life. But you have to earn your way in.

I laugh a little as I write this - I have a massive outer circle (like 1500 contacts between Facebook, Linked In, and Twitter), and engage in regular communication with about 200 people a week. I run an executive leadership training program in the private sector and travel extensively in that role, which adds another several hundred people to the list of regular contacts. And yet that innermost circle, my tribal council, totals about 12 people. The contrast is stark. I am one of those people who everybody thinks they know, and yet there is much I never reveal to anyone but a select few. That's the witch in me, I suppose - the part of me that allows myself to be widely consumed in a vague sense but only narrowly consumed in Truth.

I am deeply grateful for the presence of the people who have walked that long way with me. They share my love of life, my passion for adventure and creation, my belief in things unseen, my distaste for judgment. We meditate together, sit in silence together, talk for hours about nothing together, laugh together, cry together, hold space for each other when we are separated by time or space. They text me at 11:11 with a happy face. And they know that I'll walk to the ends of the Earth for them. And back. Because to me, love is how you show up when life is hard.

Giveaway WINNERS (TWO!) announced

I decided to give away both of the Wishing Moon candles I made at this month's full moon (I made 2, 1 for the giveaway and 1 to keep). I just felt drawn to do so. They are slightly different with different stones but they were made under the same magical light on the same night.

I put your names on folded pieces of paper and let Zoe choose the winners out of a hat. And the winners are ... Jacque Hansen and Laura Sabin! Ladies, please send me your mailing addresses and I'll get them off to the mail to you. Talk about a fun package to receive :). I know you will love and enjoy them.

Thank you all for entering and for making wishes not only for yourself but for those you love. You've inspired me this week. 

Make a wish giveaway!

I *love* giveaways, and this is a good one my friends ... a candle I hand-made with a heart full of love on the night of the full Wishing Moon (10.11.11), all in shades of lavender and white, wrapped with a custom-blended Wishing Oil (lavender, rose, vanilla, orange blossom among other yummy ingredients), lavender blossoms and rose petals, and TWO gemstones, an amethyst and a piece of blue kyanite. Amethyst promotes dreams and visions, while kyanite balances chakras and connects you to Source energy. The label I created is a dreamy one, designed to be a constant reminder to dream big dreams and speak your wishes aloud. This candle is one-of-a-kind, specially made just for this giveaway to honor your wishes.

To enter the drawing and be eligible for the giveaway, you have to do two simple things: First, at the top right side of the blog, enter your email to "follow" the blog and second, comment on THIS POST with your biggest wish for the month. It can be a wish for you or someone you love. Please forward this post via Facebook or Twitter to friends you know who love candles! Anyone can enter for the giveaway by following the two steps outlined above. The winner will be announced right here on the blog next Thursday, October 20. One entry per person, please.

October is a magical month from start to finish, the end of the Celtic year and the time when the veil between the spirit realms and the physical world is thinnest. Hence the reason this month's moon was a wishing moon. I believe that wishes are intentions and that by setting intentions we co-create the course of our lives. I believe that dreams come true. I believe in wishing on the moon and stars. And I celebrate you, all month long. Enjoy!