the magic circle. lily dale pentacle.

months after my visit, finally my lily dale pentacle necklace is finished! 

although pentacles in general are often mis-associated with "evil", in contrary, among their many other uses, are thought to ward off "evil" and protect it's wearer. they are amulets, typically worn around the neck during ritual and have also appear in the tarot, marking them as a divinatory tools as well

the five pointed star represents the four recognizable elements, fire, water, air and earth, and the fifth being spirit. in this way, it is also a symbol of balance as each of these elements is perfectly balanced within the crossing lines of the star. it is also seen as a circle of life, as the circle has no end and no beginning, hence my use of snake rib bones as a wink to the ouroboros, another ancient, magical symbol that is shown as a circular snake eating it's own tail, the eternal return.

another special element is the twig used to form the star. i gathered this twig in the olde and psychically charged woods on the grounds. " The Leolyn Woods is a rare gem of remaining “old growth” forest in New York State. Many of its ancient trees were seedlings before the white man walked this land. The spirits of Native Americans still come to touch some of those who walk through this area." It is also considered to have elementals roaming in it and is the place where there are daily spiritualist messages given to those who come. 

beneath the bell jar. . . .or lily dale pt. ii.

polly morgan.

whilst in lily dale, i met privately with a medium. over the last 2 years i've had several significant losses. everyone loses to death!

but in lily dale, no one dies.

there is no dead and no death.

when i first heard the above words, i too was skeptical. but these words are the foundations of an entire faith, and other religions are based on equally dismaying claims, so why not go check it out? it's beautiful in upstate new york & lily dale is a lakeside community & it's the summer, why not? even the 9 hour car ride was filled with short stops to places filled with treasures. ( a goat farm that sold the most amazing honey lavender challah bread, an ice cream shop that had a giant ring....)

despite all this, i truly went to lily dale for messages from the beyond, to know that my loved ones who passed were all right and still thinking well of me. but i didn't get any, not one. a complete blank. but, i did receive the most comforting answer to a question that's darkly haunted me these two years; what happens when you die?

well, as i mentioned, in lily dale, or in the spiritualist tradition in general, no one dies. they simply move on to the spirit world where they continue to learn and grow & communicate. as my medium told me when i asked, 'at the moment of death one of our spirit guides takes us by the hand before our last breath to a giant dome, where inside, our families and loved ones are gathered. it is within this bell jar, a place where we are loved and protected, that we review our lives. we see the books we have written and those we are written in.'

xo.

lily dale part i.

last night at the maplewood hotel.

i'll have much much more to say about lily dale soon, (including the details of a 6-7 piece collection inspired by the trip) but for now, I'd like to just thank everyone who bought something during my sale and helped me to take this much needed road trip. hopefully the bulk of it will be shipped friday!

xx

the hidden place.

i've booked a room within in lily dale with a lovely pair of dear friends & will be making a serious road trip up to the world's largest community of mediums. i feel i've been haunted too long by unanswered questions from the dead / myself /& want to see if i can find some peace. besides this driving force, i've always been interested in spiritualism and it will be interesting to observe such a large formallized group of the religion in practice. due to all of the recent travelling i've had to do and the long journey ahead, i decided to offer 20% off of bloodmilk from this friday-sunday! this is the first time i've ever offered a discount on my work & will be a rare offering. this would be a great time to pick up that piece that maybe you've been eyeing or a gift for a special person in your life, while helping me out at the same time.

the above photos of lily dale were taken by shannon taggart. her entire cataloug is equally mezmerizing.

xo

in the eye of the needle on the eve of the storm.

i've been wanting to take a road trip to upstate new york for quite some time to go see the grounds at lily dale. it's a far drive from philly, but something is pulling me there & i suppose after all this work is done here, i will go. i want to see a medium (s) there and hopefully find some peace. i've been dreaming of speaking with the dead and forgetting what was said by morning. have any of you had any experiences there or with mediums in general?

xo.

image conjured from tumblr, source unknown. if you know, please email me.