Are you a treasure hunter, always on the lookout for mystical wonders? Chunks of wood, precious gems, books, rough stones found on walks, a fallen leaf, visions, beloved friends—I endlessly but patiently search till I discover the gifts my Goddess sends me. I am a treasure hunter, and I love it!
Back in January or February, I began a quest for new stones with which to make talismans, often spending a few hours a day hunting. This lasted some months, then ended about two weeks ago.
It took a long time to find the right pieces. The hours upon hours spent are worth it. My buyers are going to be happy when they see the talismanic jewelry and wall hangings made with these stones! I love combining beauty and magic, and providing that for folks in whatever form I can—e.g., a talismanic necklace or a visualization I create for a shamanic class.
The two photos above show a magic necklace I made for myself. Its pendant is one of the stones I acquired. I wove in designer beads. I also spend forever searching for the right beads.
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The photo below shows another of the amazing stone carvings I acquired. It is fashioned out of a single piece of stone. I strung it on waxed cotton cord, along with designer beads.
I regularly bless my work spaces, and thought this carving, hung near the phone, would be a nice addition to that blessing. You see, a good portion of my shamanic community work is on the phone, giving psychic readings (spiritual guidance, shamanic counseling—they’re all the same, in my case) during witchcraft classes and one-on-one sessions. Now this fortuneteller talisman can bless me. (And, yup, I do a lot of different magical undertakings during my day. I’m a busy elf, happily working away on various enchanted projects, with a typical elf’s high standard for everything I do. This makes me one happy elf.)
With their luscious energy, stones make great amulets. Then to find stones carved with true artistry, each one-of-a-kind, oh my gosh.
I do major Faerie rituals to bless the talismans I make for my buyers and myself. Such carvings are perfect for that.
Rock and wood combined delights my Fey heart. I made a bead out of grapevine I had to cut back before it took over my garden. I suspect the large Pegasus in the photo above is carved of ribbon jasper. It’s a nice big chunk. Look at it next to the measuring tape.
One carving has already sold, but it is another example of these one-of-a-kind, amazing stone carvings. It seems to be a Snake Goddess, perfect for me to charge as a talisman to bring a grounded energy into the home. She seems to combine heaven and earth, the ethereal and the worldly:
She is carved of ribbon jasper, a stone that I find exudes happiness and contentment.
Copal (the large dark bead) is somewhat like amber and comes from trees, so for me it’s like wood, but with its own special traits. My experience is that copal is an ancient energy that is both solar and grounding. The light blue bead is Amazonite. The charm is strung on waxed cotton cord.
There are many reasons the gem hunt took so much of my time. I spent hours sorting through junk online to find treasure buried amidst it all. And it takes time to find one-of-a-kind, high quality carvings at a low enough cost that I don’t have to raise prices for my buyer. There are many other reasons treasure hunting has been wildly, crazily, time-consuming. For example, there’s a specific stone carver I became obsessed with, because her work is incomparable. For the life of me, I could not win the bidding on one of her horse carvings.
It was crazy. I was jumping through hoops to no avail. For example, a last minute offer often can win a bid. So, one time, I set my alarm so I didn’t miss the exact timing needed, put in a bid right before bidding ended, was told mine was the winning bid, then two minutes later received an email saying I’d lost the bid to one that was lower than mine. Huh?! Harrumph! Grumble. That would’ve been fine as an isolated incident, but it was one thing after another. I decided it was time to pray to Exu, Oxala, and Mercury for help. (I chose those Gods because of my specific relationships with Them.)
Prayer helped! I finally won the bid on a cameo-like, handcarved horse, handcrafted out of gemstone amazonite. I love the little flower at the bottom, gently juxtaposing itself against the sweet majesty of the horse.
Acquiring stones can be an obsession, but rocks sing to me the way wood does: in a compelling voice that is the river of life and that my very cells automatically answer, singing a song of self.
Perhaps it’s not an obsession but a lust for life. These carvings satisfy my passionate cravings for beauty and magic. In following photo, the pendant of a necklace I made for myself is ribbon jasper—carved to be a heart entwined with roses and thorns—and, oh, the colors of the stone!
A few pieces are not carvings. E.g., I acquired two pieces of serpentine in stichite, for necklaces, one for myself and one for a yet unknown buyer. These are likely the only serpentine in stichite I’ll get. I don’t want to be manufacturing, crafting the same piece over and over; I want to fashion distinct, special designs, each amulet suited to the buyer who recognizes it as theirs.
During my treasure hunt, I didn’t have as much time to make talismans. But not only has the hunt ended, I also completed writing a new shamanic curriculum, the creation of which required a substantial portion of my focus. Now I’m devoting a goodly amount of time to making talismans again: woodworking, designing—including pieces with these new stones—, crafting, blessing.
Pieces of wood have waited for me to get back to them for months. But there wasn’t much woodworking left to be done on some of them. Others are completed but not made into talismans. And yet others are in talismans, but need photographs taken and descriptions written. So they all should be available soon.
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