for leonard

i made this piece to honor the magnificent leonard cohen.  to me, some of his most meaningful words were "ring the bell that still can ring.  forget your perfect offering.  there is a crack in everything.  that's how the light gets in."  when i showed this necklace to my daughter she asked what those lyrics meant.  i told her it means to appreciate the good things you have in your life, rather than wishing for something you've lost or don't have; give up on trying to do things perfectly; and that everyone is flawed and flaws are beautiful. terrifically fabulous advice as you start the new year, yes?

hawk

when i returned home from a rather tumultuous trip, i was troubled to find a dead juvenile red-tailed hawk in our front yard.  he (i say he, although i do not know the gender.  this bird is too majestic to refer to as "it) did not appear to have been attacked and killed, more likely he had inadvertently flown into the glass of the window and broken his neck.  i never take the visitation of a potential spirit animal lightly, and despite (or maybe especially intrigued because of) the fact that he had chosen to present himself in death rather than life, i sought answers.  what i found astounded me.  a red-tailed hawk is said to: offer clear-sightedness, facilitate long distance memory, reveal messages from the universe, offer guardianship & courage, inspire a creative life purpose, *help you to realign with the original intention of your soul*.   furthermore, i discovered that a dead spirit animal, as opposed to a live one, can indicate that there is a part of yourself, in relation to these aspects, that has died or that you have lost.  although i couldn't find any documentation to support it, i also feel that the fact that this bird was not yet full-grown was indicative of the issues i've carried from my own childhood, unresolved.  to me, this was such a very clear message from the universe, and just in time for the new year.  so what did i do first?  i made a red-tailed hawk totem bracelet.  i added an opal to the sky.  opals offer comfort and enhance unconditional love, they ease transitions and offer strength and courage in times of change.  my hawk is now residing on my left wrist, forever in flight, to encourage me on my current journey of self-discovery, growth, and transition.

manifest

happy new year!  i consider the new year to be a time to reset yourself, not to make yourself better as so many claim, "new year, new you", as if the old you was flawed and faulty and you need to upgrade yourself, but just a time to realign yourself, make sure you still know what's important to you, what you want to achieve, where you're headed and how you may get there.   i see it as a time to remind myself what it is i want to attract to myself in the coming months, what i want to manifest.  i made this bracelet as a constant reminder to myself to keep my intentions at the surface.

this is my intention for 2017.  i always remember to state my intentions as if they are already happening.  i have found that this is the quickest way to bring them about.  i made several other manifestation reminders as well.

(this one has a tag that says "manifest" and a four-sided bar that says "love makes everything better".

and these.  manifestation stones.  rather than a worry stone, where you rub and worry and stress about problems, why not a manifestation stone, where you rub and intend and trust and believe that what you need will come to you?  i paired stones with properties meant to bring about certain qualities with specific things folks may want to attract.

we had a wonderful holiday season, and i hope you all did as well!

what will you be manifesting in 2017?