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.

Inspired by the Spirit of the Child

This beautiful wax doll was created by 11 year old Tilda after being inspired by our medicine dolls. Tilda and her mum sent me an email this week titled : inspired by you. The thought that I had made something that could inspire a child to create gave me the best and happiest feeling in my heart all weekend. Thank you Tilda! I am being inspired by YOU!

The spirit of the inner child has been something that has been on my mind for the last month especially after the full moon when I began feeling such a strong sense of fear and exhaustion that it lead me to create a Tarot spread called 'shining a light on the scary'. Through having a deep and honest look at the beliefs that were creating my fears and the practices I was engaged in that were making me so tired, I came to see that the wisest part of myself was being ignored - my inner child. When I asked her what she wanted it was a simple answer: to create and create and create! And so I have decided to have a long break from teaching and working with groups to focus only on dollmaking and working in one-on-one healing sessions. This decision feels incredibly freeing and full of creative possibilities.

When I began to make dolls for what I thought was the first time last year (67 weeks ago exactly) I had no idea of the door I would be opening to my own ancestral medicine. I didn't know that dollmaking would be become such an important practice for me, yes, almost an obsession. But a happy obsession! Since I began last year I have a doll almost every single day and yet I am still just as excited to be creating dolls for others. It is a way for my inner child to speak to the inner children of others and a bridge to share friendship, comfort and the healing herbs, plants & stones of the earth. The full moon this month was in Aquarius, my own sun sign and on that night I made a dedication to my inner child to let her play. I dedicated myself to the craft of dollmaking and to creating the very best vessels of healing and love that I could. This commitment to do only what I love feels like a whole new chapter of my life.

Tilda's letter came to me not long after I had made this dedication to my own inner child. It was just the confirmation I needed. Tilda told me that she has been saving up to buy her own medicine doll and this week I get the pleasure and honour to dream and weave her in. When I asked Tilda what intention she would like her doll to hold she told me,

'The real main reason I want one of your dolls is because I want her to be my friend.'

Thank you Tilda for speaking so beautifully and truthfully for every child inside of us all. Thank you for inviting me to play and create this special new friend just for you.

Over the last year I've had a few requests for medicine dolls for children, boys and girls, and they have a special sparkle about them. A twinkle. Here are some of the dolls that are now best friends to those wise little beings.

the beauty of Marigold plant medicine

Over the last 3 nights I have been working with the beautiful solar radiance of Marigold (Calendula) plant medicine. These particular Marigolds were grown in Egypt and the dolls that birthed to carry this plant wisdom were both so full of love and came with a similar message - to walk beside you as a light in the dark night. As it is believed that the magical Marigold brings prophetic dreams, I made these two dolls particularly to be placed beside your pillow or on your bedside table at night.  Marigold - Latin Name: Calendula officinalis, Catha officinalis Also known as: Holigold, Mary Bud, Solis Sponsa, Occulus Christi Calendulae means 'throughout the months' but the old Saxon name 'ymbglidegold' means 'it turns with the sun'. There is also a long association with the Virgin Mary. Healing Qualities: reducing inflammation, wound healing, improves blood flow, calming affect on ulcers and cramps, eases menstrual cramps and menopausal symptoms.  Magical Qualities: prophesy, prophetic dreams, psychic energy, seeing magical beings, love, clairvoyance, legal affairs and renewing personal energy.  'Golde is bitter in savour Fayr and yelow is his flouwr The golde flour is good to sene It makyth the syth (sight) brythe and clene Wyscely to lokyn on his flowris Drawyth out the heed wikked hirores (humors).' From Macer's Herbal (trans. John Lelamoure, 1373) Crow Shaman medicine doll Marigold Flowers and Crow Feathers Night Prophecy for the Children of the Sun Dreaming and Vision Receiving Doll

Rosella Faerie medicine doll Marigold and Hawthorn Flowers Rosella Feathers & Star worn over her Heart This doll was made on the Dark Moon and her medicine is simply: 'I will take care of you' Healing the Heart with Light and Colour