New Beginnings

I'm still vibrating from the Blue Moon ritual I did along with a beautiful circle of women. The glamorous goddess Athena Perrakis of Sage Goddess knows how to throw down!

She cast an AMAZING circle on a virtual level. Being able to connect with women from all over the world in real time was ELECTRIFYING. The currents of energy were felt by us all.

Prior to the ritual I got in my 'mojo zone' by painting. Something that always relaxes me and puts me into a trance like state. When I gift myself time with brushes and color I let the process happen organically. This is what came out.

My Blue Moon goddess. I can't wait to see what becomes of her....(metaphorically)

 

 

I created a portable altar for this particular ritual. I wasn't sure what my wild tribe would be up to during that time so I opted for a something that could take me where ever I could get some sacred space.

Thank )O( goddess my husband was home to keep the kids occupied while I worked some much needed magic.

 

The previous day I set my intentions for the ritual of New Beginnings (see post here). I thought more about what my intentions actually were. I went back and forth over what I thought I needed, what I thought others expected of me and what I really needed.

 

In a moment of clarity my intentions set themselves:

 

Take inspired action

Make time for healing

Connect with my spirit guides.

 

With that settled I threw my intentions into the cauldron and lit the fire!

 

During part of the ritual Athena led us to meet our guide. My guide came in the form of an old woman. Draped in old tattered shawls, wild haired and the kind of face with wrinkles only a woman of wisdom can wear gracefully. She rode atop a large black horse as I walked next to her down a long old growth path. I kept thinking to myself, "I know this woman". She seemed so familiar, yet not.

She placed a shawl around my shoulders and then it happened. Emotional release.

Tears were running like hot knives down my face, I was cold and shivering but felt so comforted by her warm gesture.

I knew in that moment, without a doubt, this woman was me.

 

Wisdom doesn't speak. It's always the gesture that is heard the most.

 

Happy Blue Moon and cheers to New Beginnings!

 

 

 

 

Don't forget to enter the giveaway I am having here. It's full of magic and love.

While your at it, visit Sage Goddess on ETSY and use coupon code moonmagic15 for 15% off!


...and enjoy a music video;)

 

 

 

The Scent-ual Life

I was so excited when Athena graciously agreed to let me interview her about her magical life. Athena's products are so beautifully crafted.

Opening a package from Sage Goddess is like opening up an ancient book of secrets- full of magic and wonder and the most tantalizing scents! Athena's products will invoke your inner goddess!

Since today is the Blue Moon I am honored to share with you the magic of Sage Goddess. Enjoy!



The Scent-ual life with Athena Perrakis of Sage Goddess

1. How did you get started creating and concocting your delicious offerings?

I love this question – I actually had to stop and think about when I began because I’ve been creating magical items for a long time. When I was 18 and living in Los Angeles I took a variety of metaphysical courses in aromatherapy, soap making, Wicca, and even a course called “sacred connections” where we studied ancient correspondences. I also interned at night helping a spiritual friend launch her own business in a beautiful store in Redondo Beach, CA near where I was living at the time. I made bath salts and soaps for her and packaged her items with ribbons and flowers. She gave me total freedom to experiment and engaged my creativity. I learned the bulk of what I do today in those courses and through those experiences.

2. You are a descendant of healers and gypsies? How do you honor your heritage?

Yes, I’m very lucky – I have strong healing roots. On my paternal side, I’m the great-granddaughter of the chief medicine woman of Crete, a Greek island south of the mainland where all of my father’s family comes from. My great-grandmother had apprentices who came to live near and work with/learn from her. People sailed seas to see her. It’s humbling to be in her line. On my maternal side I have equally magical things happening; my mother descends from Massasoit, the sachem of the Wampanoag tribe in the northeastern United States. All the women in her line have had strong psychic abilities, including among other things the ability to do automatic writing and remote viewing. So you could say that what I do is most definitely in my blood! I honor my heritage through keeping of Old Ways that resonate with both my Mediterranean and Native American lineage. This requires deep meditation, disciplined practice, familial story-sharing, and the ability to listen exquisitely and exclusively to my own voice. More than 90% of my products were born in dreamstate, where the specific recipes, ingredients, and poetry for the candle labels have been given to me verbatim.

3. What does soul work mean to you?
Soul work to me means honoring your roots and seeking your soul’s purpose in this particular lifetime. It’s the process of finding out who you are and differentiating your authentic self from the versions of you that others have imposed on or expected from you over time. And it’s never done. When you start thinking you’re close to finished, like “yeah I’ve got this soul work thing figured out!” the Universe comes along to remind you that yeah, you don’t. When you’re done, you’ll transition to the next realm. That’s how you’ll know!



4. What is your favorite offering in your shop?

Ha! Each time I create something new and bring an idea to life it becomes my favorite thing. I’d have to say that the recent oils I’ve created in what has become the Magica line (there’s a Magica Rosa, Magica Luna, and coming in October a Magica Nocta or Night Magic). Each one is complex and contains rare oils that I sourced from all over the planet, including some very remote locations. I spared no expense in creating them because I was called to make something exotic and completely different from anything I had ever seen or smelled or worn before. My other favorite thing is my Dea perfume, which is my personal scent. I’ve worn that oil for 25 years. People who know me well can attest that Dea is “me”. It’s fun to share my personal scent with my customer base.



5. What crystal is your favorite and why?

An impossible question but I’ll try to answer. I should tell you that I love the rare and exotic, but I also love my “workhorse” stones like black tourmaline and red jasper – they never fail me. They are look old trusted advisors who I turn to when I need wise counsel. My favorite of all time is labradorite. It’s the stone of the dark moon and it completely intoxicates me. I have a gorgeous pendant that I bought decades ago. I feel like Queen of Everything when I wear that pendant! I often give labradorite as gifts and prescribe it as medicine to those who need a self-esteem boost, men and women alike.

6. When did you discover you had a calling to create magical tools for sacred practice?

I have known since I was a small child that I was different from other people. The calling to make magic began in middle school and was affirmed in later teenage years. I’m 39 now and sometimes find it jarring to say that I have more than two decades of experience as a magical practitioner, but I do. My first creation was the perfume oil now known as Dea that has been my signature scent since high school. I have always been a spiritual and creative trend-setter. I am good at sourcing and building ideas, things, and products that others who are “my kind” will also love and appreciate. I have my finger on the kindred pulse.

7. How would you encourage women to honor the goddess within?

The goddess within us often resides in the parts of ourselves society rejects or which have gotten us “in trouble” so we repress them. The goddess is an amalgam of your best self and your base instincts, your light and your shadow.

To do goddess work (and it really is work) you have to first be willing to the soul archaeology necessary to dig up the bones and fossils of your spirit. Where I come in is in helping to put all the piece back together and polish them to a bright shining finish.


8. You travel as a part of your "day job", how do you create sacred space away from home?

I always travel with white sage because I spend so much time in hotel rooms, and you have to clear that stuck energy out! I also travel with a few gems and my perfume oil. I bring my meditation playlist in iTunes as well as my crystal signing bowl soundtrack. I carve out 15” a night to reconnect to the divine. Interestingly, I almost always travel at the full moon. I’m still trying to figure out the meaning behind that coincidence!




9. You are lost in a foreign city. What do you do?

If it’s domestic, I search “metaphysical” in Yelp and cab my way to the nearest crystal/gem/pagan store I can find. If it’s international, I find my way to one of those shops or I seek the nearest garden space and get barefoot on grass. I actually do get lost from time to time - rarely on accident. Not all who wander …

10. Sage Goddess just launched a beautiful website. What does the future hold for your business?

Incredible courses and live rituals that I hope will be attended by people on all continents and from all walks of life. New lines of products. An apprenticeship opportunity. And The Book. I’ve been carrying around The Book in my mind and heart for a decade and it’s itching to be set free. I’d like to say this is all in my one-year plan but I’m trying not to impose a linear time structure on the process and just be with what unfolds.



 

Connect with Sage Goddess:

Facebook www.facebook.com/sagegoddess

Etsy www.etsy.com/shop/aperrakis

Website www.sagegoddess.com

 

Be sure to enter the giveaway here, for a chance to win a basket a magical offerings featuring a sage wand by Sage Goddess!

Magic

What magic awaits...

 

 

 

I have always been a believer in magic.

 I pulled 3 cards from my trusted Tarot deck this afternoon. A simple, yet effective way to help guide my intentions. I did a simple 3 card spread- Past, Present and Future.

 

 

The Past

 

Represented by Four of Wands - Completion

 

What could be more perfect than a card that depicts the male and female. Back to back in mutual support, arms raise high towards the heavens. To me this card says "We made it"! After many years of struggles, my husband and I have turned our daydreams into REALity!

Hard earned wisdom was gained along the way and we both have so much to be grateful for.

Though there are days I dread  trudging through chicken and goat poo at 5 o'clock in the morning.

 I have never been happier.

 

The Present

Represented by The Chariot - Triumph

 

I self identify with this card on many levels.

A warrior maiden rides triumphantly atop her reindeer steed.

Self assured, she rides fearlessly in the face of opposition. Though she wears a mask of bravery, for she knows that this is only one moment in the cycle of life. She must reign in her emotions, think logically and prepare for any battles that may lay ahead of her.

Those battles, I'm afraid, are  internal.

If this card teaches me anything, it's that I must triumph over my own demons.

  

 

 

The Future

 

Represented by Seven of Hearts - Illusion

 

A young winged woman stands beneath a sky filled with  radiating hearts.

Arms reach towards the sky, she attempts to gather the hearts that have become caught in a net of rainbows. Above the entangled hearts is a glowing golden shell  representing higher truth.

It is easy to get lost in a world of sleeping dreams and wishful thinking. I can admit, that I have a tendency to escape from my reality and go beyond the veil of illusion. To me though this cards speaks to my creative endeavors. Creativity does not dwell in a practical world. It thrives on daydreams.

I can spend days wishing on stars and reaching towards the sky or I can put thought into action and make tangible 'creative' goals rooted in reality.

 

 

My intentions are set.

 

Trust the process.

 

 

 

 

::Blue Moon:: GIVEAWAY!

GIVEAWAY IS CLOSED

 

 

A Blue Moon is a rare occurrence and it is said that a Blue Moon can add extra power to desired goals.

 

I have teamed up with several amazing women who have generously donated some of their own creative magical offerings.

 

  The winner of this giveaway will recieve:

 

Sage Wand  by Sage Goddess

Botanical Perfume  by Gatheress

'Blue Moon Dream' necklace by Gypsy Rebel

and Vegan Chocolate delights by Amy's Coco Balls

RULES:

1. You must click "like" on my Facebook fan page, here.
2. Become a follower of this blog here

3. You must leave a comment on this blog post  so you can be contacted if you are the winner!

::BONUS ENTRIES::

 

TWEET this giveaway

SHARE on your facebook

BLOG this giveaway
BUY something

CREATE an Etsy Treasury featuring items from
 

Sage Goddess

Gatheress

Amy's Coco Balls

Gypsy Rebel

Use code BLUEMOON15 and receive 15%0ff your order from GYPSY REBEL

Please leave one comment for your mandatory entry, and an extra comment for you bonus entries, thank you! Winner will be chosen at random and announced September 15th!

Contest will run for 14 days

 and ends on Friday,September 14th.
Winner will be announced here at 10am so please check back!

Good luck!

 

 

The Animal Inside

When she's WILD...

 

When she's FIERCE...

 

When she's FREE...

 

She is AMAZING

 

 

 

 

Bittersweet Endings...

Summers ending is always bittersweet. The months were filled with visitors, road trips and never ending yard work.

As the days begin to cool down and the anticipation for autumn season fills our home with school supplies, new shoes and pumpkin spice scented candles.

The light is always the first thing I notice. How the warm bright sun rays of summer become soft and golden . The air cools and smells richly of decaying earth.
The leaves are in their first stages of transition and are beginning to yellow. A sign that they to are ready for their descent inward.
Eventide washes over earlier and earlier and dawn is no longer full of airy light.

This time of year parts the misty veils of magic and i welcome the sweetest decline into the underworld.

There is a Blue Moon gracing us with a potent supply of magic on August 31st. It is the perfect time to start a new project and create new intentions.

I have been working on a project that I will unveil in honor of the Blue Moon. I hope you will join me here for the first of my SOULplume interviews.

I will also be re-launching my Etsy shop with new adornments and having a MAGICAL giveaway that will be announced with the interview.

Until then...Be Wild. Be Soulful. Be Whimsical.

"The foliage has been losing its freshness through the month of August, and here and there a yellow leaf
shows itself like the first gray hair amidst the locks of a beauty who has seen one season too many."- Oliver Wendell Holmes

Lamplighter

"Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around."

Leo Buscaglia

It is so true how often the smallest act of kindness can change a persons mood...sometimes even their entire life can be altered.

There is a big world of people out there who go unseen everyday. They are the ones who love unconditionally, serve others without expecting anything in return, sacrifice their dreams for the pursuits of others. They are a neighbor or a friend or even a stranger on the street.

There are days when I get so lost in my own world that I forget about these beautiful beings whose light may not be the brightest, but they sure have the power to bring out the light within someone else.

Today, go out into the world and be the lamplighter in someone else's soul.

 

Self

I came to a realization in the wee hours while the babes are sleeping and coyotes are yipping away outside my window.

Give credit to your self.

I don't do this much.

So here is a list:

I have birthed both my boys naturally. One who came into this world prematurely and one who was born in water.

I have been raising a child not of my blood (but of my soul) for the past 5 years.

I have stood by my husband through custody litigation's, custody evaluations and a slew of heinous accusations regarding our character (and yes, we have custody of his son).

I have survived postpartum depression...twice.

I have lived through divorce (my first marriage).

I have been a witness and victim of abuse

I survived being a latch key kid to a single parent

Left my career to be a full time SAHM

Created a line of jewelry (to stay sane;)

There is more. There always is once you give yourself time to reflect on life.

 Have you given credit to yourself lately?

 For all you offer to this world. It doesn't have to be a business or an identity. Little things, like making dinner every night, or kissing your children before bed. Having courage to speak out loud and not being ashamed of who you are or where you come from.

Give yourself some credit. You are AMAZING.

The Kingdom

Wow.

It's all I have to say about seeing Jesca Hoop live.

Inspiration

Inspiration can come in many forms...

As I work on some new Gypsy Rebel designs my inspiration for creating is coming from music...

...Enjoy

Running with Wolves or from

There is a part of my self that once I sit in silence I can hear a scratching at my soul. An unbearable ache dwells deep.

Women who deny their true identity will inevitably dry up and disappear.

Clarissa Pinkola Estes wrote that, "when a woman begins to dry out it becomes harder an harder for her to function in the hearty wildish nature".

At some point a woman will hit a wall in her life where that scratching will become so loud she needs to heed its calling....

...but how does a woman respond to that call when the tether of husbands and children seem to tug at her heart strings?

We sacrifice so much of ourselves for the people we love and tend to tame our wildish nature. But, if we love ourselves shouldn't we make some room to honor our wild ways?

I have been doing some serious soul work since spring session of SouLodge. I have awakened within me a well of wisdom and new rivers continue to flow in.

I am consistently inspired by the beautiful voices that pour from one sister to another. Among them I find too, that I have a voice and I shall be heard.

I've walked a solitary path for so many years that allowing people to come take a seat inside my head has taken more courage than I thought I had. It feels good to finally open up and say what's in my heart without feeling like I am making a mistakes or offending someone.

For the first time in my life I am making the choice to run with the Wolves rather than run from them...

Defining Soulwork

How does one define soul work?

For me it has been a walk in hell...and I don't think that is necessarily a bad thing either.

Embarking on a journey through the self inevitably brings up the dark shit we try to hide from ourselves and those around us. We walk along in this life wearing masks we "think" others want to see us in.

What would the world be like if we were able to truly be our authentic self? Would our families and peers still accept us as we truly are? A walk in hell can certainly teach us a thing or two about what we are made of - our strengths and weaknesses.

I challenge anyone who reads this to take off their mask and walk tall through the fires of hell... You may end up surprising yourself when those fires you find yourself amidst are actually of your own creating.

What is your SOUL saying to you today?

Hope, is the thing...

Welcome to my new blog home.