 There is no denying it. The veil is thinner the ancestors are waiting. And so is the spirit world. As I am walking the earth, I can sense the excitement of the nature spirits. The fairy world, the little people, the devas, the earth sprits, and elementals are dancing.
🖤 ✨🖤 ✨ The sacred portal is open for this night of prayer and dance. 💀🌙 💀🌙 When the day rises, I will begin the preparation. I will stir the sacred fire and leave offerings. Gather my herbal medicine. We will cook food for the ancestors, the spirit world and ourselves. This year I feel especially grateful for this time. After spending precious time with my family, I can feel the ancestors gathering with even more joy. 💀🌙 Tonight when dusk settles we will gather, light candles, build a fire in the cauldron, gather the ancestors, both from our human and spirit tribe. We will sing, tell stories, pray, laugh, cry and sit in silence to let the heart speak. We will give offerings and gratitude. 🖤 ✨ This sacred portal of Samhain marks the change of seasons, when we truly let go of this year’s cycle and begin the journey into the depth of our soul. Gathering the gifts of the ancestors, our heritage. Becoming still and listening to our soul song to emerge from deep within us. Remember who we are. Following this song to our destiny. 🖤 ✨ I carry the spirit of the Gypsy Witch and as such encourage you – today, on this day of Samhain, in this year when we are called to drop the old and find the new. Be free, sit, listen, call on your ancestor spirits, your heritage and your soul mission. And celebrate! If you have never done this before, let your ancestors show you. Know that when you light the sacred fire of your ceremony, your inner fire is ignited. You may dance, you may sing, you may sit in silence, alone or with others. You may write, or draw, or paint, or craft. You will cook your favorite food, feast, or fast (although the spirits really, really like a feast!!!!) You may drum, or play the rattle, or burn incense, or cast a circle of salt. But know this! When you are done, when your body is nourished, the dancing has stopped, the voice is quiet. When the spirits have received your offering and the fire has died down. 🖤 ✨ You will feel the hand of your ancestors leading you towards your destiny deeper into the magical, mystical depth of knowing. And then all you need to do is listen! 🖤 ✨
0 Comments
 My skin – my sister, my lifelong friend. She walks me through this life. She protects me. I nourish her. She hugs me. I celebrate her. Together we meet the spring breeze. Together we dance in the winter rain. Together we greet the summer sun and shiver beneath the blankets on snowy winter mornings. I celebrate her, my Goddess, my protecter, my skin. Protect – Nourish – pamper / simply raw natural – for healthy Skin All products are selected to give your skin exactly what it needs for each season
And here they are, your heroes, your favorites, chosen by you, again and again, over the last years. Put together into seasonal collections completed by special additions, available only in this collection.Available as a year subscription delivered directly to your home at the beginning of each season.
  Cedar – local ingredients – collaboration of local artisans and artists  I am so excited to be able to present the result of this project. I feel the conditions of our lives in 2020 brings us to cherish more than ever local resources and encourages us to support our local community. I felt rather than doing it myself alone I wanted to collaborate with women in my community and showcase their knowledge and creativity. Geneviève from Savonnerie Alizé accommodated my dreaming and with enthusiasm and patience created three wonderful products. The shampoo bar, a cedar and active charcoal soap and exfoliation soap. Thank you! I hope we can expand our projects. When I saw Mélika art for the first time I loved the way she brings to live the spirit of the plant in her illustrations. Thank you for bringing alive the Cedar for the label design.
And now most importantly. The active ingredients.
* keeping your immune system strong 🍁 and you mood happy and confidentWhen you live here in Québec, you cannot miss the call of the seasonal change! This year frost came early and not just one night. But nature makes up for it by displaying the most spectacular show of colours, and every day of it reminds us to get ready. Around here we have been busy with the harvest, canning vegetables and making herbal tinctures and medicinal honeys to be ready for the coming season. This year more than ever, we need to do what we can to have a healthy body, strong immune system and keeping our spirits high. 🧡 🍂 💛 🍁 ❤️ ✨ 🧡 🍂 💛 🍁 ❤️ ✨ 🧡 🍂 💛 🍁 ❤️ ✨  So, let me share some of the things I am doing. Of course, I will give you ideas on how to protect your skin, especially your hands. The skin is part of our protection and it is important to look after it. I will share some practises from Ayurveda which uses warm oils on the skin, herbal infusions to warm the body and aromatics herbs in soups, all of which ensure that our bodies stay balanced and able to transition well. I make a reference to Ayurveda because, this ancient system of heath and wellbeing, takes in consideration our individual constitutions,, our way of reacting to the changing environment and considers lifestyle influences. Ayurveda also make a link between our personal body type and the way our environment effects our emotions, vitality and mood. The principal idea for autumn dynamics in Ayurveda draws attention to Vata, the element of air. The effects of high or aggravated Vata element is: dry and chapped skin, cold hands and feet, light interrupted sleep, irritability, lack of concentration, disturbed digestion and bloating, nervousness (imbalances in the nervous system), joint pains and anxiety to name just a view. It is recommended to establish a regular routine, stay warm, avoid physical exertion, eat warm foods like soups, apply warm oil to the skin, practise regular meditation.  🧡 🍂 💛 🍁 ❤️ ✨ 🧡 🍂 💛 🍁 ❤️ ✨ 🧡 🍂 💛 🍁 ❤️ ✨ How to take care of your skin during the transition into autumn The change of weather, with windy conditions and cold temperature has a tendency to dehydrate your skin. In addition, we are turning on the heating which all aggravates Vata dosha even more. Ayurveda encourages us to stay warm and keep our skin oiled. Hydration of the skin is managed through application of 'oily' and 'creasy' substances. In addition to your daily skin care routine it is recommended to apply of warm oil to the whole body once per week. Ayurveda encourages the use of sesame oil. I apply it in the evening after a warm shower. On very cold days I allow myself a warm bath and apply the oil generously all over the body before relaxing in the warmth of the bath.  🧡 🍂 💛 🍁 ❤️ ✨ 🧡 🍂 💛 🍁 ❤️ ✨ 🧡 🍂 💛 🍁 ❤️ ✨ I have created a moisturizing lotion bar for the purpose of deep hydrating effects. It is a rich blend of shea butter, sunflower oil and beeswax. I personally choose the one with orange and ylang-ylang, a fresh and flowery blend of fragrance and uplifting to my mood. Apply it to the warm skin after your shower and it is a perfect protection to the windy cold climate of this season and the drying effects of heating. Recent times have put a lot of stress on the skin of our hands. Frequent hand washing with soap makes the skin even dryer and the hand sanitizers we are required to use multiple times in the day are doing the rest All natural butters will repair and protect, so you can avoid cracks and irritations and risk of infection. Use it morning and evening as a treatment. During the day, use the hydrating body lotion to hydrate your skin after each hand washing. It has a light creamy texture and absorbs quickly.
🧡 🍂 💛 🍁 ❤️ ✨ 🧡 🍂 💛 🍁 ❤️ ✨ 🧡 🍂 💛 🍁 ❤️ ✨ Keeping your body and all systems warm, will calm the nervous system and allow a healthy digestion. I make myself infusions throughout the day, using herbs and spices which are warming and calming. My favorite is coriander (seeds), cardamon (seeds) and fresh orange peel. Other herbs can be Anis, Ginger, Cinnamon and cumin. You can explore them and make your own favorite blends.
🧡 🍂 💛 🍁 ❤️ ✨ 🧡 🍂 💛 🍁 ❤️ ✨ 🧡 🍂 💛 🍁 ❤️ ✨ Autumn calls us to consume more warm foods. It is the time of harvest, so right now my cellar is overflowing with garlic, potato, squash, pumpkin, carrots, cabbage, kale and the very last zucchinis. It is now the time to be creative and create your own favorite soups. I love a mix of veggies with a good portion of garlic, nutmeg, ginger and one apple for sweetness.
Magic cream for kids age 5 - 12 . Inspired and tested by Arya, 7
This is how Abracadabra was created:
Like any 7-year-old, Arya fills her days with adventure and as any parent knows, chasing chickens and catching frogs is a dangerous business that results in a variety of bumps, bruises, bites and mysterious pains that that only seem to get better with treatment. Arya was always asking for something to put on her bug-bites and scrapes. She often emptied boxes of band aids to cover-up seemingly invisible wounds. That’s why we invented Abracadabra! Magic crème. Better than a band-aid, Abracadabra can be used liberally, and its proprietary blend of herbs soothes, hydrates and treats even all types of wounds and bites whether they exist, or not. At the beginning of the Covid crisis, Arya, like many other kids her age, developed an itchy rash on her hands from washing them so often. She went straight to her magic cream and applied it religiously for 2 days. When her rash was gone, she said “It’s a good thing I had that magic cream because there’s NO WAY regular cream would have worked!” These days, when Arya trips trying to steal a stick from the dog, or accidently twists her toe in a daring trampoline stunt, she doesn’t reach for a band aid – she just treats it with some all natural, small batch, local, handmade MAGIC. |
Gita, Nicola Schneider Archives
October 2021
Categories |
RSS Feed