Yule Goddess Spirit Doll

***NOT FOR SALE***

Yule Goddess Spirit Doll

The reborn Sun God held in the arms of Winter. Born into the darkness, bringing with him the hope of rebirth and growth for the coming season.

 The Sun God is also draped with Holly and Oak leaves to represent the battle between the Holly King and the Oak King at the Mid Winter Solstice.

And my friend made one with me! Although the Sun Gods are done in the same way, The dolls are totally different, with their own beauty and spirits shining through.

 What is a spirit doll?

Spirit dolls can be found all over the world in many different cultures. They can go by a variety of names such as Goddess dolls, art dolls, healing dolls or amulet dolls. They can be made of almost any material- wood, cloth, clay, stone, in various forms and can be made for almost any purpose.

In several countries in Africa, they have ‘fertility Goddess dolls’ which are prayed to not only for the safe birth of strong healthy babies but also the health and prosperity of the whole tribe.
Native American Kachina dolls which the Hopi use to embody the characters of the Kachinas, the powerful spirits of the earth, east, west, south, north, the sky and water.

What they all seem to have in common is the Goddess and femininity. Goddesses have been worshiped in Egyptian mythology, Norse, Celtic, Hinduism, Buddhism, Paganism, Gnosticism, Wicca and Christianity. African cultures, ancient India, the Caribbean and even European cultures all have sculptures and figures representing the Goddess and their history and beliefs systems. Dolls have been used as sacred items in religious ceremonies for many hundreds of years, normally made to represent the Gods/Goddesses that were worshiped.

A spirit doll can be made for any purpose. They can be an expression of Archetype or elemental energy, something you yearn or wish for, something to be used for inspiration, creativity or transformation, for protection and healing, the list really is endless. By giving the energy you wish to work with a form, you enable it to work consciously with you and you are able to have something tangible to work with, a focus for your intent, energy work and meditation. It becomes a physical representation of the energy you wish to work with or manifest. You can imbue it with your desires and hopes and it becomes a powerful tool for manifestation.
I would not recommend invoking an actual spirit/Goddess into the doll unless you are highly practiced in such things and are aware of, and prepared for, the consequences of this action.

I like to look at spirit dolls like this: Do you remember your favourite doll (or teddy, or toy) as a child? Did you whisper your secrets to it? Did you tell it your hopes and dreams and wished it could speak back to you? Did you take it everywhere with you? Did holding it give you courage or make you feel safe? That’s what you can have, on an adult level, with your spirit doll. Work with it, tell it your hopes and dreams, your fears and wishes and let the energy created between you help to manifest or banish them. The more you work with your doll, the more energy created, the stronger the link and the more powerful tool she will become to aid you in your magical workings and daily life.

 My Spirit dolls
Each doll is made to order so can take between two-four weeks to create. Payment for spirit dolls is required at time of order due to the personal aspects of the creation.Please message me for more details.
Spirit dolls: For spirit dolls I use branches and twigs, either fallen or cut responsibly, normally from my own garden, as the base of the doll. I then use wadding and fabric scraps and add beads, crystals, gems, wire, feathers, plant stuff, herbs, sigils and just about anything else that calls to me in the creation of these dolls. I use polymer clay faces and a variety of wool hair. If you have a specific requirement for your doll, for instance if you would like a special herbal blend to be added then this can be discussed. Prices will vary depending on materials used.

Blessings,

Luna

Rocking your world friday

Hello!

This will be a very short RYWF post as this is the first day I have managed to get out of bed since Christmas afternoon. What started out as a headache and stupid cough on the 23rd Dec, had turned into Bronchitis by Christmas day evening and I had to have the doctor out as I could not breathe. I have been in bed since, I don't think I have ever been this poorly before, its totally knocked the stuffing out of me!

Anyhow, enough of that, if you want to play along just put together a list of all your gratefuls in the last week and link up with our host Virginia.

(For some reason, any photos taken with my phone, even though I have edited them with my photo software, blogger still wants to put them on sideways and theres nothing I can do about it!)

* The 21st was Yule and Paige and me were up very early to walk up to the Long Stone to watch the sunrise with lots of other like minded people and the local Druids.

We were up by the stone at just before seven am and took part in the Druid ritual being celebrated, before watching the sun rise behind the stone.

 The view from the top of the hill

 The Stone with the sunrise behind

 Teresa and me

*After watching the sun come up we all went for breakfast together at Weatherspoons. You can't beat a nice veggie breakfast after you've climbed a huge hill in the dark!

*Our friends had asked us to do some Yule stuff with them at their yoga studio so after breakfast we all went back to the studio where we did a Yule meditation, made pomanders with oranges and cloves and made wishes on a yule log. It was a lovely morning spent with wonderful friends.

*In the evening it was our Yule Celebration which went really well followed by a lovely dinner with my pagan family and exchanging Yule gifts. We each give something handmade, I received a scarf, clay ornaments with seeds inside-you plant the ornament and when the clay disintegrates the seeds start to grow and a bag with altar tools inside- really wonderful imaginative gifts!

 For the Yule gifts I gave, I made books of my pagan poetry and art work.The group I belong to always ask for copies of my poems so I thought I would put them all together in a book each for them. I had some help with the order of printing the pages as that really confused me, but other than that, all my own work! The book covers were done with grunge paper (I would have liked to use leather but couldn't afford it!)

 Front cover

 Inside front cover- we even put the copyright in!! Everybody had a different colour inside, relating to the elements.

 First poem

They went down really well and everyone seemed really pleased with them.

*On the 22nd it was my birthday. My children bought me some Montana acrylic paint pens, hubby gave me money as I am saving for an overlocker, my sister gave me a Quaich, which is a Celtic friendship bowl, I have wanted one for ages!!

My sister made me a beautiful chocolate birthday cake and came to my house and cooked dinner for me. My friend came in the afternoon and my parents so all in all a great day.

*Right, Carmen's secret Santa!!! This is the second year that Carmen has done this secret Santa swap, i enjoyed it so much last year that I signed up again this year.I was secret Santa to Virginia this year and I made her an art journal cover and a matching pen/brush roll/wrap. I also got her an art journal, pens, brushes and tools for inside the wrap, scrapbooking papers, journal cards, hand stamped tickets and of course some chocolate.

 And I guessed my secret Santa was Sarah because of the wonderful green man stencil and the handmade bracelet which I love and has had so much thought put into it with all the little charms.

 Loving all the sequin waste as well for my art journalling, the paints, ink and gorgeous buttons

 and some washi tape and a choccy snowman

Thank you so much Sarah, the whole gift was perfect and I love it!!!!!

*Christmas day- thankful to see my kids faces when they opened their gifts, thankful that my kids were grateful for everything they got. Thankful that our whole family spent the day together, thankful that my sister helped cooked the Christmas dinner with me, not so thankful that I had to go to bed by 4pm, extremely thankful that a wonderful doctor came out to me Christmas night and helped me breathe again!!

* Extremely thankful to my amazing, wonderful husband and my wonderful son who have been running around after me, checking on me, bringing me tablets and cups of tea, changing dvd's for me and doing anything else I have asked them to do. My daughter came down with a cold on the 27th so they have been running around after her as well, plus looking after our friends two dogs. Now my hubby has a cold and my son is not feeling great but they wont go to bed as they are still insisting on looking after me. They are the most amazing family in the world and I do not know what I would do without them.They are the ones that rock my world, not just this week, but every single day.

Well, the short post was a bit longer than expected! I hope you all had a fab Christmas and I wish you a happy new year!

Rocking your world friday

Hello! It's Friday again and that means taking a look at all the positives of the last week, no matter how big or small. If you would like to play along you need to link up with Virginia over at her blog.

Not a lot happening this week in the Scott household, I think its the lull before the storm that is Christmas as next week is going to be hectic!

 * Here is a photo of my Christmas tree,  I posted about putting my tree up last week but had not taken a photo.

* I decorated my altar for Yule this week. Now, I am going to post photos of it because it makes me happy. In the past when I have posted stuff about being pagan, I noticed I lost a couple of followers so I don't really post any pagan stuff now. But I thought, Sod it!! It's my blog, it's who I am and if i lose followers so be it! Hopefully most people are tolerant of other peoples beliefs and if they are not I don't want them following me anyway!!

Yule or the Winter Solstice as it is also known, celebrates the return of the sun to earth. The 21st Dec is the shortest day of the year and the longest night, but from this point on the days will get a little longer, the nights a little shorter until we reach Litha, the summer solstice when it will reverse again. At Yule we also acknowledge the end of the Holly Kings rule and the start of the Oak kings rule.

 My Yule altar

 I have made five of these little sun disks for my pagan friends for our Yule Celebration next week

 I made this candle spiral for our Yule celebrations next week as well.The spiral represents the never ending cycle of life and rebirth and the candles when lit will represent the return of the sun at Yule and its growing power throughout the next six months.

 Another sun ornament I made for my altar, a wand of sunstone crystal, Holly, oak and ivy leaves

 Paintings of the holly king and the Oak king, painted on wood for my altar.

I find most of my inspiration for my art and creativity comes from my beliefs and the nature all around me. Making the candle spiral and the little suns for instance, such fun but I didn't want to post them on here for fear of what people will think. A lot of the stuff on my altar has been handmade by me, like the painting, the Goddess dolls and the clay Goddess statue and prayer beads. So now I am coming out of the broom closet and I hope I don't offend anyone by showing things I have created for my beliefs, as I would like to be able post ALL the things I make.

* We recieved a good news postcard home from Shelbys school this week for all her hard work in ICT and a good news letter for her excellent 'work of the week' in maths. Way to go Shelby, we are so proud of you!

* I have had fun playing with the gelli arts prints I made last week. I have doodled feathers on a couple of the pages..

 ...and made some mail art postcards with others. I just need to sign up for the mail art challenge over at collabor-art now.

 * An article about the group that I run has been featured in this months One Island magazine. You can read the article here if you are interested.(It is in the December 2012 edition on page 7-PDF file)

 * On Saturday I dragged my Son to St. Thomas church to make a Christmas wreath. We have been doing this for the last three years now but I was not going to bother this year until I saw that I had a comment on last weeks blog post from the lovely Janette (check out her blog to see her amazing art journals)Janette lives in the same town as me, just around the corner from the house I grew up in, but we have never met although we have been following each others blogs for a while now. She mentioned in her comment that she was going to be at the wreath making all day and was taking her art journals along to see how much interest there would be for a workshop she is running next year. Well, I couldn't miss the opportunity of meeting her and seeing, in real life, her fantastic art journals so I went along and am so glad I did! Janette was so lovely and we had a great chat about her journals and the art retreat she had been on where she took classes with Teesha Moore. I got to spend ages looking and touching all her journals, which was amazing. Hopefully we are going to meet up for a coffee and chat some more, it will be so nice to have an art journal friend in real life!!!!

 * My fairy is coming along nicely at Fairy club. She is painted now and I have started adding the clothes. I have also bought some purple hair for her. She is nothing like what I wanted to create. I wanted her to be a green lady of the forest with green flowing robes and oak leaf shaped wings with leaves painted onto her face. Instead she is turning into a mischievous fairy with a huge padded bum and great boobies! She is going to have big stompy DM style boots, a leather under corset with see through blouse underneath so you can still catch a glimpse of her boobies and hopefully dragonfly shaped wings. Menna, the lady who teaches us, says the fairy emerges as she wants to emerge and she is definitely right.Paige also said that she feels there is an aspect of your personality that comes through as well, sort of like an alter ego and I have to say-Yes! If I could dress like my fairy and stomp around the woods all day I would!

 Close up of her face and boobies!

 * I ordered this book from Amazon last week and it came on Thursday. It's nice to see other peoples work and their motivation behind it, but I found the techniques all a bit samey and nothing I hadn't tried already. Still, a great book for inspiration!

* I made peppermint melts on Tuesday for the kids to give as gifts to their friends for Xmas. They tasted yummy and looked sweet all packaged up.

* I received some lovely Xmas cards from ladies from the Wednesday Whine group on Facebook. Thank you ladies, they cheered me up!

* My hubby did all the hoovering and mopped the floors for me this week as I have been feeling a little poorly, I think I have a kidney infection. He is a star and I am so lucky to be married to such a wonderful guy.

* Finishing the last of the Xmas present shopping, it just all needs to be wrapped now.

* Watching the new series of Big Bang with the kids, always has us in stitches.

* I am grateful for my kids, my hubby, my family and my wonderful friends

* I am grateful for my heating, it is so cold this week!

Well, that's enough from me this week! I probably won't post again until after Christmas as next Friday it is Yule and I will be up at stupid o clock to walk up to the Longstone and watch the sunrise with friends, then we are off to have breakfast at Weatherspoons to celebrate my birthday, followed by a meditation in the afternoon and Yule celebrations in the evening, on the Saturday it's my birthday so I am going to chill out with family and friends and then my sister is making me dinner, on Sunday we will have to battle Tesco for the Xmas food shopping and then its Xmas eve!!

I hope you all have a wonderful and peaceful Christmas, however you celebrate and a good start to the New Year!

Blessed Be!

Sami x