Void Medicine
This elixir was made to be an ally in consciously stepping into the void. It is a spell of protection designed to support trust in oneself. It is a map to authentic pleasure through play, sweetness, openness, and a conscious dance with darkness. I made it out of a deep need to create support for my own experience of opening up my relationship and healing old internalized wounds of sexual violence in patriarchy.
The potion is a magpies nest of objects that bear witness to, amplify, and alchemize my intentions for radical joy and transformation on an auspicious day. It was crafted while I danced to the Wild Tchoupitoulas on WWOZ New Orleans in the void of the New Snow Moon, the first day of the Lunar Year of the Fire Monkey, which in 2016 was also Mardi Gras Day. It is magic because it chooses joy without ignoring pain - rather, it alchemizes, directing laughter and feelings of freedom in the body towards calcified wounds.
Ingredients
Glass Mardi Gras Beads are an offering to the Fool and the Magician, 0 & 1 in the Major Arcana of the Tarot. The Masked Reveler of Carnival is both the Fool and the Magician - the Chaos of All Possibility & the Spark of Transformation - and both archetypes are contained in the spirit of the Fire Monkey, who honors the wisdom in play and the revelation of mischief.
Citrine Quartz for manifestation and the soothing of fear and anxiety.
A Eucalyptus Branch that has been drying in my kitchen for a year brings healing and protection along with clarity and transformation to the remembrance of things past.
A Rattlesnake Rattle speaks to the folk magic of my ancestors in Appalachia and brings bravery and luck.
A Fir Bough from the tree in my backyard brings strength and perspective and keeps the spell Evergreen.
This assemblage was steeped in volcanic rock filtered vodka for 40 days and was decanted on Easter Sunday. I mixed it with raw honeycomb from my homeland of North Carolina to ground the potion and sweeten the deal.
Altar: Bird Mask for Carnival and Psychic Flight aka Entry to the Masked Ball of the Mind / Horse Tooth because Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken / Milky Quartz and Selenite activate the Third Eye and Crown, putting the angels on speed dial and amplifying mental clarity and authentic joy / Homemade Fir Smudge Stick for Enduring Love / Atop boxes containing rainbow spools of thread passed down from my Grandmother to my Mother to me.
Bird Mask for Carnival and Psychic Flight aka Entry to the Masked Ball of the Mind.
Horse Tooth because Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken.
Milky Quartz and Selenite activate the Third Eye and Crown, putting the angels on speed dial and amplifying mental clarity & authentic joy.
Homemade Fir Smudge stick for Enduring Love.
All set on boxes containing rainbow spools of thread passed down from my Grandmother to my Mother to me.
Amy Von Harrington tarot spread shows joy supporting surrender & spiritual initiation into new realms.
8 of Cups / Present // Eights are a number of change and inspiration. The 8 of Cups is change on a feeling level and calls for solitude and inner exploration to process the change.
10 of Cups / Recent Past // Tens are a number of transition. The 10 of Cups is a communion with Source Energy, a feeling of relief, abundance and great joy.
The Hanged Man / Near Future // The Hanged Man is the ultimate spiritual letting go. It is surrender to the high self and initiation into the realm of the mystic All. A joyful free fall that transforms and can only be accessed with a relaxed and open mind.