Joining Hands :: A Doll in the Forest

Look at this tree root hand in the forest, don’t you love it?! It felt incredible to be back in the magical green Sherbrooke Forest where the spirit dolls began many years ago. A circle needed completing and as I prepared to return, I began making a small doll dressed in blue with a spiral over her belly to take as a gift to a little natural spring that flows from beneath the roots of a fern tree near Kallista.

The Forest Doll in my hand

The forest and spring was just as I remembered but it felt like I’d been away for much longer than 5 years. I placed the doll beside the spring and shared the post on my socials to let people know where she might be if they wanted to go seeking. Usually the dolls in nature are found quickly but the next day I still didn’t know if she’d been found or not. That evening I was contacted by Georgia, a young woman who told me she woke up in the night after seeing the post and felt the doll calling to her. She decided that the next day she would make a journey to the forest and see if the doll was still there. She was!

Georgia had been to see me for a personal Swan Ancestral Session a couple of years before and there were so many strange and wonderful gossamer threads connecting her story to this doll.

The Forest Doll in Georgia’s hand

One of the threads was that Georgia found the doll on an important day in her IVF journey. And that after finding the doll she also found a small hand knitted baby bootie just lying on the ground. I’m holding this dream with you through the spirit doll Georgia.

Vasilisa's Doll and Her Strange Magic

I’ve spent the last month slowly working on a new Vasilisa doll for my friend Sadie and her daughter. I love this image of her in the apple tree above. It’s a little bit like that at the moment isn’t it? Or the start of a big journey or pilgrimage. We know we must move forward but there are definitely new issues to think about and perhaps some wariness too. But when I look at Vasilisa she reminds me of how brave we can be in difficult times and situations.

She was so brave that she entered the dark forest to seek out the wild witch, Baba Yaga.

It was interesting to note just how many times this doll changed outfits before she felt ‘right’. We can relate to that too. There is a lot of change happening right now and perhaps there is an old ‘outfit’ or ‘personna’ that you feel you have outgrown. Truly, the best way forward is always with authenticity and we are growing and changing - maturing - do you feel as if you growing into a new stage too?

When I first dressed Vasilisa I had an outfit that was beautiful but just felt too ‘cute’. I wanted this doll to journey with her keeper into a very difficult situation and give her STRENGTH. And so I had to sit the doll aside for a couple of weeks, even though I did feel that time was important, and that she was needed by her keepers, I just had to wait until she was clear. I think that’s the best way to think about the spirit doll - when the energy is clear, it feels like a ‘knowing’ - the doll is now ready. And so, what you see here is her in her final form and importantly, she was finally ready to travel to her new home right on the day of the full moon eclipse.

You see we can get confused and think dolls are about OUR timing but they have their own path and story and timing. This timing is more important I feel and is linked to much bigger spirit stories and perhaps connections to the keeper even if they aren’t aware of it.

I see this cosmic timing as a big spirit gathering in the ‘otherworld’ where our human time is irrelevant but the threads of connection and meaning are of utmost importance.

Now here’s a strange little incident that I now see as being very important also. When the doll finally told me that she was ready to travel to Sadie, I took a small group of photos beside the candles in my studio. I was so focussed at looking through the lens of my camera that I didn’t realise that the doll had caught on fire!

The candle had singed her hair on the left side of her head just near her left eye. It was quick and weird - it had never happened before. But when I looked at Vasilisa, I thought about her pilgrimage to request fire from Baba Yaga. I see the element of fire in this story as the ‘getting of wisdom’ or intuition. She can only receive this from Baba Yaga when she has completed the tasks set out by the witch and is finally allowed to return home.

Interestingly the fire burnt the left side - the intuitive side or the witch side. I told Sadie about it and we laughed but I knew that this was the last piece of ‘medicine’ for the doll.

She was ‘initiated’ and ready to travel home to Sadie with her wisdom and bravery.

Little Bird in your Ear - Baba Yaga, Vasalisa and the doll archetype

Grandmother doll by Sacred Familiar

A few nights ago there was a strange tapping and scratching at our window. It was hard to work out where it was coming from but when Tony went outside he found a little finch trying with all it's might to come into the house. I went up to the window from inside and could see it's little outline just sitting there looking at me. I quickly went outside but heard him take flight in the dark night and he was gone. Later on I fell asleep and dreamt of a colourful bird trying to fly with a big heavy feather in it's mouth. I said hello to the bird and it said hello back to me before flying off.

Whenever an animal comes out of the forest to communicate with us I pay careful attention - such a tiny, shy bird knocking at my window in the forest night - what did I need to be more aware of? I felt the message of a need for discernment.

Soon after, I began making a series of grandmother dolls like the doll above. They all have a piece of fossilised wood, an ancient tree over their hearts. When I received these beautiful stones I was drawn to their subtle colours - this subtlety flowed into the colours the dolls chose to dress themselves in and the fact that each had eyes that looked both open and closed at the same time. The all-seeing and dreaming spirit of the grandmother. I thought about the crone and spirit of the witch and how they teach us about discernment and the wild feminine.

thousand pronged antlers

One of the stories and archetypes that kept being brought to me just before I left for Spirit Weavers Gathering and all through the gathering was that of Vasalisa the Beautiful, her magical doll and Baba Yaga (the witch, the crone, the mother of us all). Here is a link to a beautiful retelling of the story and I made the doll above last year after reading it - I felt she held the energy of Vasalisa after her training with Baba Yaga and the helpful little doll. Perhaps this doll is carrying the 3 archetypes of doll, growing maiden and wisdom of the grandmother all at once.

With this story so alive and being brought up in many conversations, it led me to re-read Clarissa Pinkola Estes, PhD the renowned scholar, poet and cantadora (keeper of the old stories in the Latina tradition) rendition of this old, Russian story of the wise crone, and the young girl and her doll who come in search of fire. I am also very inspired by her writings on the magic of the doll:

"For centuries humans have felt that dolls emanate both a holiness and mana - an awesome and compelling presence which acts upon persons, changing them spiritually. Dolls are believed to be infused with life by their makers.

The Doll is the symbolic homunculi, little life. It is the symbol of what lies buried in humans that is numinous. It is a small and glowing facsimile of the original Self. Superficially, it is just a doll. But inversely, there is a little piece of soul that carries all the knowledge of the larger soul-Self.

The Doll is related to the symbols of leprechaun, elf, pixie, fairy, and dwarf. In fairy tales these represent a deep throb of wisdom within the culture of the psyche. They are those creatures which go on with the canny and interior work, who are tireless. In this way the doll represents the inner spirit of women; the voice of inner reason, inner knowing, and inner consciousness.

The doll is like the little bird in fairy tales who comes and whispers in the heroine's ear, the one who reveals the hidden enemy and what to do about it all. This is the wisdom of homunculus, the small being within. It is our helper which is not seeable, but which is always accessible.

The dolls serve as talismans. Talismans are reminders of what is felt but not seen, what is so, but is not immediately obvious. The talismanic numen of the doll is that it reminds us, tells us, sees ahead for us. This intuitive function belongs to all women. It is a massive and fundamental receptivity. Not receptivity as once touted in classical psychology, that is as a passive vessel. But receptivity as in possessing immediate access to a profound wisdom that reaches to women's very bones.”

Clarissa Pinkola Estes, 'Women Who Run with the Wolves'

I love that this ancient story keeps circling and returning when it is needed. I feel ready now to create a Baba Yaga for myself to learn more about discernment and the message from the little bird at my window too - what if it was not trying to come in but beckoning me into the dark forest? I think I have been working at my desk too much and like Vasalisa I need to cross the threshold into 'the green world' to feed the wild.

You are already what you Seek - Spirit Doll as Mirror

Wizard doll by Sacred Familiar

"I wanted a doll that would remind him of who he really is, and oh my goodnes, I could not have orchestrated it more perfectly myself! When Lachlan saw his doll he was beside himself with excitement. He then started connecting with the doll and looked at me and said... "Hey Mum, this doll is ME. It is a wizard, just like me. It has a dinosaur tooth, and I love dinosaurs. It has nature, and I like nature. It has green, and green is my favourite colour, and it was made in Sherbrooke forest, and we love Sherbrooke forest!"

Wizard medicine doll made for Lachlan's 9th birthday

Over the weekend I received this beautiful message and it couldn't have come at a better time. To know that a doll has made a child feel this way is all the confirmation and praise I need. Thank you so much Lachlan and Nat - these words make my heart explode with happiness!

It's a hard one to put into words. People often ask me how to 'use' a spirit doll and I have come to understand that a doll is always personal, there are no rules. They are holders and vessels for love, for healing and for your intentions. They can be powerful links to ancestors, especially when adorned with sacred family treasures. A spirit doll can help you to access the child within, help you face your deepest fears and when placed beside your bed they can have a strong presence in your dreaming.

And the medicine doll can become a mirror or a bridge to a powerful part of yourself that you might not always be able to express or feel - but you're getting there! Essentially I feel like a medicine doll is a friend and the more time you spend with this friend the more you love them. Perhaps you begin to tell the doll the secrets that you hold in your heart and cannot share with others. Here is a doll that helped me overcome my own fear. The doll lives with you daily - through good times and bad - the doll is always accepting. And then a funny thing happens - you realise that this friend is also a part of you, perhaps the most deepest and honest part of yourself. And this little vessel has become a being that knows you so well and accepts you completely. Then, that love that you have for this little doll begins to flow back to yourself. You see that you are also a beautiful, magical and creative being. You heal yourself.

Thank you Nadia Turner for this drawing of Fox and I dreaming in a doll together - I’ll treasure it.

Julia Inglis, Dollmaker - Sacred Familiar

I feel like I am at the very beginning of a long apprenticeship in the craft of dollmaker. I'm grateful to the lineage of ancestral doll makers of the past and for the opportunities to pass this craft on to future dollmakers. And while I am still trying to find the words to describe the ancient connection that humans have always felt for the doll, I have been looking at vintage photographs of children and their beloved dolls on Pinterest.  It might just be me, but I am starting to see that all dolls are medicine.

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Crave vs Need - listening to the still, quiet voice within

I don't know about you but I'm changing - a lot. There are so many behaviours and beliefs I held in the past that I just can't relate to any more. And the great part of being where I am now - making dolls in the forest every day - is that I'm not worrying about it. Now THAT'S the strange part. In the past when I've gone through times like this I've almost worked myself into a panic trying to find or name the next 'stage' or 'path'. But for the first time in my life, I am accepting this strange period of change and a kind of nothingness. Why? Because the Lyrebird told me this time would be coming - if I let myself get there.

Three weeks ago I found myself in an environment with lots and lots of people. It was a confused environment and I was aware that there was a huge part of myself just not enjoying it but there was an old side of me that thought I should push myself out there amongst it, to step out of the hermit cave and find out what's going on in different circles, how things are being done differently by others. But I just found the whole experience hard work! I kept missing Tony, Fox, the forest and craved to be making a new doll.

On the second night I had a dream of standing looking at a huge messy freeway system that was looped and tied around itself like 10 different snakes. Cars and people were speeding along madly. It was very frenetic. And then I saw the lyrebird standing in the middle of what could only be described as a traffic island. He was standing in a small circle of grass in the middle of it all. The lyrebird pulled out one of his two beautiful tiger-striped lyre feathers and placed it in the circle and told me he was leaving it there for me but I had to come and get it soon because it would not be there for long and it definitely wouldn't be there forever.

The next morning I packed up early and came home. As I walked down the pathway to our house I looked out at the forest and it was as if the leaves and trees were glittering, shimmering... I felt the forest was happy to see me! And I was definitely happy to see the forest. I sat with the whole experience and especially the dream and I began to understand that I had changed and that there was nothing wrong with that or me - I just had to start making some new choices.

I have slowed down so much, honing everything down to the singular practice of dollmaking and now it is very hard for me to feel grounded in very chaotic environments. I interpreted the fast moving freeways as other 'movements' perhaps movements that I had felt the need to be a part of before or just trying to 'keep up' with the outside world and the way others are choosing to be. The Lyrebird was giving me permission to just step out of it all and come and receive the gift of sanctuary.

It's interesting to have a look at what we need vs what we crave - it's a good place to start if it feels like there are too many 'voices' in you head haha! Let's turn off all of the voices and opinions coming at us from every direction from the outside world and listen to the quiet voice within.

Crave vs Need Tarot Spread

This is a simple Tarot spread that I created in the dark moon this week to help me listen to all aspects of myself: body, heart, mind and spirit. Take a moment and breathe deeply as you shuffle your cards and simply pull one card for Need and one card for Crave and sit them beside each other. Are they similar in their focus or at odds with each other? If you need to, you might want to pull a third card to act as a 'bridge' in the middle to show you a way of creating a balance between the two or a step to take to towards honouring your needs more than your craving.

Now that you know what you Need. Place this card as the central card of your reading. Put the Craving card back into the deck (pay special attention if this card turns up again in any other position).

1. Central card: What you Need

2. Bottom left card : Voice of the Body

3. Top left card: Voice of the Heart

4. Bottom right card: Voice of the Mind

5. Top right card: Voice of the Spirit (Still quiet voice within)

On the doll making table today.

Hawai'ian Ancestor Doll - why we cannot wait to be perfect

Recently I was asked by a friend who is also a maker and artist if it is a good thing to create something for someone else when we ourselves are feeling down or unwell. I understand this question, I used to worry about the same thing and very strictly only created when in my utmost health. But one day I created a doll for a woman in great need of assistance, she was suffering panic attacks and I wanted to make her a doll right then when she needed it most.

On that weekend I was in a state of grieving for someone in my own life but as I sat with the soft wool in my hands with all that colour around me - my favourite part of doll making is playing with colour - I realised that I began to feel a lot brighter and happier. What I discovered at the end of the creation process was that not only had I made a very beautiful and joyful doll, I was feeling so much better. I have found this to be one of the significant benefits of creating a healing doll for someone else - we receive that healing too. We heal ourselves through the practice of creating and I feel especially that in the act of sending good wishes and intentions to another, we receive the same blessing. A blessing doubled.

Recently I have been dealing with an old back injury that I used to get when I was much younger. I have come to understand it is emotional and caused from 'holding on' and 'holding back'.  Just before the full moon I felt whatever was lurking down there in the depths for too long suddenly and terrifyingly rise to the surface - it was as if a sleeping volcano had suddenly awoken. At the same time, I was weaving a doll for a Hawai'ian friend, Wai'ala.

I asked myself: can I make this doll when I am feeling so much of my own fear? Hesitantly I began preparing the plant bundle to go inside her doll. As I did, I kept hearing the word orchid and getting the message to include this flower for her. I knew I had 2 orchids grown with love by Tony's mother but for the life of me I couldn't find them. Finally I gave up and began to close up the bundle. But I kept hearing a woman's voice very firmly telling me to keep looking! I looked again and finally found the orchids - in the last place of course! I placed them inside the bundle and I could feel right away the doll was happy.

When I shared the message with the Wai'ala about being told to find the orchid, she wrote:

'It's local folklore that our Hawai'ian goddess Pele loves and treasures orchids and it's been said she moves her lava flow around certain ones to save them and consumes everything else around them; preserving them alive in a surrounding sea of lava. I have great joy that the medicine doll requested one'.

Orchids grown by Tony’s Mum

ancient oceans - sea fossils

On the night before the full moon I dreamt of an elderly man coming forward with a carefully wrapped box. Inside the box he said was an ancient crustacean. I felt very honoured but also scared to be it's keeper as if it was too precious and I was not worthy. I was also unsure how to keep it. I was then shown through a series of lessons on how to care for myself more and how to honour and protect the precious animal and mineral gifts that I receive. I was also shown how to release what I had been holding on to. When I awoke from the dream it was as if I was still living in it, it was full moon and I was aware that I had work to do and instructions to follow from the dream.

I woke up and began to finish the spirit doll and as I wove the colours into her dress I saw that she would be holding a crystal skull to represent her ancestors and adorned with fossils of ancient oceans. As I placed the fossils into her dress I realised that the elder in my dream was one of Wai'ala's ancestors. In the weaving of the doll for his granddaughter I had created a space where he could enter my dream and assist me.

On completion, the doll told me her name was FireOrchid Flowing Water. At first I thought that her name was too long, I tried to shorten it to just Fire Orchid but the doll was adamant again, she was also Flowing Water. I placed her in a large circle with all of the dolls, my personal dolls too and also all of the animal, plant and minerals that go into the creation of each doll. I held a simple ceremony at the full moon giving gratitude to every creature, every being, and spirit that helps me in the creation of the dolls.

The next morning I awoke to read a new message from Wai'ala:

'I am so greatly honored, and full of bliss that while bringing her into creation my ancestors visited you and helped heal you and grow your natural talents. Their gift of the crustacean is so beautiful and inspiring. I've been seeking a stronger or more open connection with them, and felt a doll would facilitate that amongst many other things, but I think that facilitation alone maybe most healing. It sounds like that connection was forged in many many ways. I have so many blisssful comments on all the details and beautiful work....but I'll only ask; Did I ever tell you what my name Wai'ala means?? It's my grandmothers Hawai'ian name and it translates to English as, fragrant flowing water; flower water, or commonly known as Flowing Water.'

I was blown away by this - I had no idea of the meaning of Wai'ala's Hawai'ian name or that this doll was intended to open the pathways of ancestral medicine. To receive this message was the just one part of the huge healing I received from Wai'ala and her ancestors. They have been walking with me this whole week and they are strong teachers of protocol!

I am happy to say that I am practicing more gratitude and discipline around my doll making practices and have even released my hold on certain items that I was informed were not for me. It has left me with a memory of ancient creatures who are no longer existing in the same way on our earth but are still here in other forms.

I think sometimes we wait to be perfect to make something beautiful. If we do this, perhaps we will never create anything at all, thinking that we aren't there yet or aren't worthy. I feel that would be very sad for all of us. In these changing times there is so much healing and assistance available to us, especially when we create with the intention of helping another.

We are all a little broken at times, we are flawed and a little ragged. We are all human and we are all in this together. Our shadow helps us to keep connected to compassion and empathy and when someone comes to us and they are facing their own dark night of the soul, we may know what is needed. Because we have have been through it ourselves, we can give them hope to keep moving forward.  

Deep gratitude to Wai'ala and your ancestors. Thank you FireOrchid Flowing Water.

Spirit Dolls Made in our Workshop!

Spirit Doll made at Sacred Familiar workshop

One of my favourite things about teaching dollmaking is to see the photos of the dolls made during and after our gatherings. This month we held a full moon doll workshop in the forest and look at the results! How amazing are these dolls?!  

Their new dollmakers also received many messages and assistance for their own path even when they created dolls for their loved ones. That's the beauty of creating with intention to give to another - we receive the blessing too.  And I particularly love that the tradition is already being passed on to the families and children of the participants - weaving the new circle. Thank you to everyone who joined us in our dollmaking circle in the forest and thank you to Louise, Lee, Robyn and Eliene for sharing photographs and stories of your beautiful dolls and their healing stories. We will hold our next dollmaker circle early in the new year.

The dolls above and below were created by Louise. The doll above was made during our workshop:

'Meet Fireya resting in my beautiful elephants ear plant. She brings messages of courage and trust to all who walk their own path," Louise.

Medicine Doll made at Sacred Familiar workshop

Medicine Doll made at Sacred Familiar workshop

The dolls above and below were created by Lee. Lee created the doll above for her friend Betsy in our workshop:

'I feel her message is about making yourself a priority and from that all will flow. I loved learning with you, thank you again for sharing,' Lee.

And below are the dolls that Lee created with her youngest daughter Lilia. Lilia's doll is the one in blue - she's so wise and beautiful Lilia, thank you for sharing!

Medicine Doll made at Sacred Familiar workshop

Medicine Doll made at Sacred Familiar workshop

Meet Daisy and Monkey - medicine dolls created by Robyn. She made a doll for herself in the workshop and a doll for her husband Geoff when she got home and is looking forward to creating dolls for her children.

"Here is the start of our family. Meet Daisy again and Monkey. This is Geoff's doll. He's a lovely wizard that wears the earth as a coat. His coat bears ocean and earth, cloud, lightening and storms, yet underneath on his base there is a peace symbol to represent all the calmness. His heart is the sun which is full of love and radiates across the world. Geoff has always been my personal weather man. He has a magic citrine wand on a staff of sage  sticks and wears a Tibetan sanskrit writing pendant of hung meaning walk the talk. Inside there is a turquoise to help speak the truth with love and integrity, herbs for sleeping, bottlebrush for changes,purple peace symbol for inner peace and tolerance, skin herbs for healthy skin. Thanks again. Daisy is Strong and her medicine has been working with instant effect,' Robyn.

Medicine Doll made at Sacred Familiar workshop

And finally we share 2 potent medicine dolls created by Eliene. The doll above was created for her beloved, Catherine.

'Hi Julia, I loved the workshop... the doll I started at the workshop changed a lot over the next 24 hours. During this time she told me that was The Herbalist. She became rugged up (scarfs etc) and I knew she came from a very cold country... Catherine loves her. The one for myself didn't as for any more than rose leaves. Her spirit is strong. Thanks for the experience as I am enjoying connecting with my inner child...' Eliene.

Medicine Doll made at Sacred Familiar workshop

The Dream, the Eye and The Dark Crystal

Recently I remembered a dream that I had about 7 years ago where I was walking along a dirt road in a forest carrying a doll that looked like a wizard or Merlin. I kept staring into the doll's amazing blue eyes that were incredibly ALIVE! I came to a little shop in the forest and a woman asked me if I would like to sell this rare doll. Even though I loved it I was also comfortable in parting with it and gave the doll to her. When I remembered this dream I was blown away.  When I dreamt it I was living in a tiny flat in the inner city of Melbourne, in a job I hated and even though I felt the dream was important for some reason, I thought the messages was merely symbolic. Thank goodness I write so many of my dreams down because I have proof now of their prophetic nature and that helps me to keep trusting and following my intuition.

When I recalled the dream, I was brought again and again back to the eyes of the doll and then I journeyed right back to being a small child and remembered that I loved to stare into the glass eyes of my dolls for hours and hours. I began to think about dolls and puppets that had a similar enchanted look and I recalled the Jim Henson film, The Dark Crystal. I came very late to this film after a friend suggested that I watch it for the message it held : 'where mountains talk to each other and rivers sing'. So this week I watched The Dark Crystal again as I made a medicine doll and I was entranced by every aspect, especially the craft and detail in each puppet and sets and the overall design and look of the film created by artists, Brian and Wendy Froud.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBUEGrIcfzw

And now here's the weaving magic of this story of the dream, the eye and The Dark Crystal: when I posted a photo on our Facebook page and  Instagram of The Dark Crystal, I received comments from so many people telling me how the film had influenced and enchanted them as children and how it is still so beloved to them. And then I heard from master toy designer, Tim Clarke, who worked on and built all of the Mystics in The Dark Crystal! Tim built the 7 foot beings, the Mystics, directly from the drawings of Brian Froud. I love these ancient and gentle creatures, their wrinkles forming spirals and symbols on their cheeks. My favourite Mystic is of course urUtt the Weaver. Tim said he was happy that The Dark Crystal was still inspiring people twenty years later. Well, last night I caught the final golden thread when I read that the genesis of the creation of The Dark Crystal came about when Jim Henson discovered a taxidermist's glass eye! He said: 'It got me interested in doing creatures that really looked alive'. And that is what dollmaking is all about for me, finding ways to enchant the doll with so much spirit that it fills with life. I want children particularly to feel and see that the doll is there as a living, breathing friend.

This week was a lovely reminder to trust the dreaming, even if it is many years old - so much of that dream has already come true - I now live in Sherbrooke Forest, my home is on a dirt road and close by is a magical shop called Epoch that looks like it was handmade by elves. Some of my dolls have found their new keepers there.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQY8Ei3cda0

Poem for the OwlKeeper's Daughter - Barn Owl doll

Owls are magical creatures and there is something so gentle in the heart-shaped face of the Barn Owl. We were gifted feathers of the barn owl from a friend who lives in Queensland and they are the softest feathers I have ever held. When we offered The OwlKeeper's Daughter, we received this beautiful poem from Fiona Lewis, another Sherbrooke Forest inhabitant :

The owl keepers daughter offers trust in the night The owl keepers daughter brings vision as a light The owl keepers daughter lodges a crystal in the heart where the wisdom of foresight pierces illusion like a dart The owl keepers daughter so gentle and quiet whispers peaceful incantations in the fading twilight The owl keepers daughter brings the oracle to life and ever so still cuts through fear like a knife

Thank you Fiona! We're very happy that she is already inspiring creativity - your words tell her story so well. Blessings and love on your owl wing journeys in the forest x

StagWoman Medicine Doll Drawn by Alice Savage

This week I received the finished drawing of our StagWoman medicine doll by Italian artist, Alice Savage. And of course she came at a time when I really needed it. She is magnificent and this photo doesn't do her full justice - she is drawn with diamond ink and shimmers in the light. The StagWoman was a personal medicine doll that I created for myself last year when I first moved to the forest and now she lives with Alice and is working her magic across the oceans. I feel this doll helped me to grow stronger and more resilient in the forest - I wonder what she is sharing now?

I'm so happy to be involved in this collaboration with Alice!