Category Archives: Talismanic Art

Wyrd 2014

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My wyrd New Year’s resolution: Ecstasy and ease.

Sometimes, it is vital to do things the easy way. I work hard on my spirituality. That’s important. But we can get stuck in the idea that growth has to be all work, no play. The resulting experience sucks—I do not want to feel like God’s drone!—and does not always make for the most inner growth or power. So I constantly create fun modalities for inner change, for my students and myself.

Life and growth will not always be easy. When I’m counseling a trauma survivor, we may be in painful tears together. That is a good thing. Hard work, balanced by fun and ease, has been my ongoing approach.

Empowerment can be accomplished through joyful simplicities. Joy nurtures the spirit. For example, I receive commissions for fantasy portraits, which I paint in trance. They affirm the client’s wondrous essence, inner and outer beauty, and power. Below is one I did of myself. Scroll past it for the rest of the blog:

MddleManagment4ChaosGod2012WT

With the Divine, we can grow spiritually, and overcome obstacles, the easy way, sometimes. Heck, not just sometimes, but a lot of the time!

Recently, I asked one of my students to give me a spiritual challenge—whatever she felt I most needed to work on. Oddly enough, it was to do things the easy fun way. Huh? Me, who is already so good at that? I mean, I have a ball in my life. There is mega-laughter in the classes I teach. And my Gods have a great sense of humor, too—we have a blast together.

But you know what? My student was right. There’s always another level to reach toward. I’m forever wanting to achieve more for the community and in my private life. And I am not, right this second, referring to more fun and ease, but to what I want to accomplish overall.

After meditating on the assignment my student gave me, I realized that the progress I envisioned, for both my private life and what I want to accomplish as a community shaman, could only be achieved through a new devotion to fun and ease. Hah, what a great challenge—to have more fun than ever and go easier than ever!

2014 is my year of doing that.

With so many demands on our time and money, streamlining our lives and choosing pleasure may not seem possible. Nor may there seem time to get needed spiritual support. But here are three easy ways to do all that. There’s that word again—”easy!”

1) Ignore new year promotion-hype that sells you a lot of product, which is the same old stuff that never worked before. Stick with the tried-and-true. Sometimes, we blame the tools we have, instead of our use of them. If you’re not using a hammer, it’s not the hammer’s fault that the nail never gets driven in. Revisit one of your basic tools that has supported you in the past. Use it a little.

2) Ignore hyped up approaches that demand more time than any sane productive person has. Instead, take a moment. For example, keep your tarot deck or runes by your bed. When you wake up in the morning, pull one card or rune, as you’re scrambling out of bed to feed the kids. While you go about your morning routine, spend a few moments thinking about the card. I’m not suggesting you go into trance, sit in a lotus position, or have deep thoughts. I’m saying that, if you cannot do a lot, do not be discouraged and forsake all attempts—just do what you can. Giving a tarot card or rune some consideration, even for a few moments, can open us to Divine guidance, inner resolve, or peace, regarding the day ahead. It can really be a benefit.

3) When you finish reading this, keep heart open to fun, easy ways to: Grow, overcome life’s challenges, and have support for your life.

Here is a way to have all three. Enjoy a Spirit Portrait—it is a gentle, organic process of empowerment. And you give me a chance to fulfill my New Year’s resolution. I adore mirroring people’s wondrousness to them; it is truly some of the best fun. My spirit grows a bit with every painting. Together, we make a great 2014. . . . Wow, I love that idea! Providing joyful support, having a great time in the process, and our shared happiness? Yes! Info at http://www.outlawbunny.com/2012/03/16/fantasy-portrait/

May our fey-touched hearts enjoy 2014 to the max!

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Snow Faerie Snowflakes

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Updated 2021.

This post was written in the mythopoetic realm that I’m always building, that I might continue to inhabit it happily. It’s a lighthearted post overall, in hopes it helps keep our spirits bright during wintry days. Included are some more serious thoughts—which I believe also can keep life bright. Let me know what you think.

Isn’t it amazing how someone can spot a wonderful part of you that you’ve overlooked? William Dreamdancer, an online friend who is an astute fellow, noticed that I’m a snow faerie.

Here I am, one of Santa’s Yule elves, but I never noticed I was a snow faerie. How could I have missed that? . . . I mean, you don’t have to be a snow faerie to be a Yule elf. Santa gives different jobs to different elves. But still …

Informed of William’s insight, Santa made me one of his official Snow Fairies this year. That is the job title for elves who tend the snow. (If you wonder why I’ve spelled it Faeries earlier in the post, and now I’m spelling it Fairies, check out this post:
https://stardrenched.com/2020/09/08/fairy-faerie-faery-fey-fay/)

My job as a Snow Fairy is creating snowflakes. I’ve gotten to make a lot of them. Making them makes me very happy.

Some Snow Fairies fashion snowflakes, and other Snow Fairies tend the snow in different ways, e.g., ensuring snowflakes don’t melt before they have a chance to fall from the sky. (I love making up the facts of my mythopoetic realm. And once I make them up, they’re true.)

On the mundane plane: I did a series of paintings that involved my drawing approximately one-hundred unique snowflakes. This post has three of those paintings.

A single snowfall uses up a lot of snowflakes. However, as I said, I’m not the only one of Santa’s elves who creates snowflakes.

In fact, every time you create paper cuttings of snowflakes to adorn a Yule tree, tape to a window, or otherwise decorate your home, you’re automatically one of the Yule elves helping make snow. Ditto your children when they start cutting the paper.

During a snowfall, I love watching Wind Fairies blow my snowflakes hither and thither.

Wind Fairies also make snowflakes drift lazily down. When they fall on you, look carefully and remember that Snow Fairies make each snowflake unique, especially for you.

Drawing snowflakes is a meditation that centers me into sanity and sacredness, which keeps me from going down the rabbit hole of dysfunction aka America’s holiday craziness. One of many perks of working for Santa is getting to do jobs that maintain joy, not only mine but that of others.

Popular culture, which as a whole considers magic nonsense, embraces it this time of year.

For one thing, during winter, many people who would humbug magic the rest of the year become open to miracle transforming their lives.

Also, the population as a whole becomes more open to extravagant decor. They forsake bourgeois restraint and the bland decor that results, replacing it with sparkling lights, bright red clothing, and gaudy displays. Typical holiday decor, with its exuberant fun, fills the air with magic. (Christmas decor is Pagan at heart and often has Pagan roots historically.)

Plus every year, folks everywhere are excited about a jolly elf who flies through the air, mysteriously managing to give gifts all over the world in a single night. If he isn’t wondrous and magical, nothing is, and I love seeing people suspend their disbelief (even if it’s only long enough to watch a Santa Claus movie).

Popular culture’s indulgence in magic this time of year is such happy, satisfying fun for me.

Want rituals that foster happiness and sheer joy in you?

Please join me in my free upcoming winter rituals.

There will be two rites. Attend one or both. One ceremony will meet in person in the San Francisco Bay Area. The other will meet worldwide via teleseminar aka group phone call.

We’ll drink in the season’s wonders, enchantments, and joys that they may lift our spirits and transform our lives. This will include an imaginary visit with Santa, to foster our happiness, joyfulness, and transformation even further.

Full details will be in my newsletter. Click the banner below to subscribe.

Click here to subscribe to my newsletter, for Fairy freebies, enchanted upcoming events, and stardust

Faerie Tea Party

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Faerie tale, mystic art, and bedtime story for Pagan children of all ages. Do you drink moon tea? I wanted star tea, so made up a recipe for it.

TeaPartyOBOnce upon a time, two people went on a picnic. After a yummy meal, they noticed: They were falling in love! Mooning into each other’s eyes, they wiled away the afternoon, talking about butterflies, truth, moonlight, the meaning of life, and other important topics.

When it started to get dark, they packed up the picnic. Captured by each other’s eyes, they overlooked a teacup and saucer.

Love enchants everything it touches. So the tea cup and saucer were now magic. Stars came down from the sky to dance in and around the forsaken china.

Faeries joined in, because they are the stars’ best friends—not to mention close relatives.

And that would end the story of a Faerie tea party, except all good fairy tales have a warning: Don’t ever boil stars in water to make star tea. You’ll hurt the stars. And make them angry. You don’t want to know what happens when stars get angry at you. Instead, here’s my personal recipe for star tea:

TeaPartyOBWhen it gets dark, I put room temperature water in a jar, outside if possible. Then I say, “Stars in the sky, please bless this tea tonight.” Then I let the water sit for at least an hour. The stars will happily fill the water with starlight for you. This makes very yummy tea that fills you with magic.

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Limited first edition prints of the painting in this story are available at https://www.etsy.com/listing/171580248/faerie-tea-party-limited-first-edition

Fantasy Faerie Portrait

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I finished a fantasy portrait. I call it The Faerie Future.
TheFutureI was so happy with how this came out, I’ve been dying to post it.

It’s a painting of one of my caretakers. She’s been generous and kind to me, and this was a birthday present to her. I secretly waited till I had a chance to paint it. It was fun to surprise her with it.

SCrfDone4WOBHere is the photo I worked from. (If the style of her clothing looks familiar: She’s wearing a scarf and dress I hand-painted. (Ahem, my original designs.)

Usually people give me photos to work from when they hire me as their portraitist. But she kindly modeled my wearable art for a blog, and I used a photo from that session so that her portrait could be a surprise.

I was put on this planet to mirror back—and strengthen—the beauty and power I see in people. I do this as a shamanic guide, but I also do it through my spirit paintings, which I create while in trance. (So I guess my painting is another way of being a guide. Wow, there are so many ways that we can empower each other.)

When I see someone’s reaction to my painting of them, it is a gift to me. Portraying the unique spirit in someone makes me happy.

PortraitBotmBnr

Safe and Powerful

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Safe and Powerful, digital painting, Francesca De Grandis. 2013

Safe and Powerful, digital painting, Francesca De Grandis. 2013

The Bear encompasses all with love. This painting is called Safe and Powerful. The Divine Parent takes care of me. Click on the pic to see it unblurred and larger.

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥
For limited edition prints that depict the Faerie realm and call magic forth, check out https://www.etsy.com/shop/outlawbunny

Solstice Snow-Kitty

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The kitten almost knocked over huge houseplants trying to get a good view out the window. I figure that was pretty clear guidance from the Universe to take a break from shipping books and go outside with my kitten into the snow.

Our venture probably lasted only ten minutes, and was just us hanging out. But I felt joy and wonder.

Cosmic Cat Nap, Francesca De Grandis

I feel blessed today that I find immense joy in small things, despite daily challenges that would’ve killed many people in both spirit and body. I also feel the hope that my classes impart the same sense of miracle in the wee gifts amidst enormous difficulties. That is not necessarily spelled out in my curriculum descriptions, but it is innate in an authentic spiritual teaching and methodology: life brings challenges, and with them great sorrow; life also brings us great joy if we open to it despite our struggles.

There are, of course, times when trauma or other challenges will overwhelm. Then my job during class or a counseling session is not to be a Pollyanna who callously insists, “If you were really spiritual, you would be cheerful anyway!” The recent deaths of Connecticut children has us deeply grieving. At such times, I share coping and grieving tools, ways to heal, and methods to overcome problems.

We cannot always have the joy the World Tree offers us, and must face inevitable pain. My hope, in my heart today, is that I help my students and clients do that and also help them find as much joy as possible, when it is possible. I am an ecstatic, in love with the world tree, and I believe, deep in the cells of my heart, that the world tree is in love with each of us, so It wants to celebrate existence with us.

On solstice day, I smile thinking about my little faerie kitten looking up at the snow, studying it thoughtfully, and I wish you happy solstice.

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I experience profound love from—and connectivity with—the Divine. Do you want spiritual reading that reflects accessible Divine love? How about that honors your idea of Divinity (e.g., God, Goddess, God within, World Tree, Universe)? Read Sprinkling Faerie Dust on Breakfast. Available here: https://www.etsy.com/listing/114317006/sprinkling-faerie-dust-on-breakfast

Amulets, in Gratitude

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With enormous gratitude, I hand-made amulets for financial supporters who gave $100 or more toward my book. Each talisman is one of a kind, and channeled for the person who’ll receive it. I love these kind folks—and making simple, elegant, powerful charms—so much! This post is so they can read about their specific talisman. Keep reading to see why it is also posted in love of my whole sweet community.

Click on a pic to see it full-size and without the blurring that happens when WordPress shrinks a pic to fit into a blog.

Though each talisman is unique, there’s also a visual theme throughout the charms, to represent that all of us made this book happen. Community is all! The blessing I put on each is different too, but there’s a magical theme throughout. (I liked it so much I had to channel one for moi.)

Creating visual and magical themes also represents everyone who helped, financially or otherwise—and my community members not in a position to contribute. Community is all!

To use: Simply wear your amulet around your neck, hang it in your home, or put it on an altar. Looks great worn on a 16-18″ cord. The delicate lack of weight may not hang well on a long cord.

I know God talks to me when I channel art, but God talks to everyone. So when we combine our perspectives, we fully hear God. So if you think the amulet I made you isn’t right for you visually or magically, and/or you think one of the others is “yours,” do please tell me. I upcycle, so can’t vouch for all materials, but will make informed guesses. Numbered 1 to 5, left to right:
1) This is for a secret German donor who studies with me. The small, red, faceted bead hanging from the top loop is probably Swarovski Crystal. I can’t say what the bear bead on the main stem is. I would’ve guessed glass except that it came with a bunch of stone totem beads. It is a gorgeous material, perhaps moonstone, which I’m not sure the photograph picks up. Below it seems to be a black pearl. The gorgeous smokey beads on the bottom dangle are from a necklace that I plundered, and probably crystal.

2) For Julie N. The little dangle that I made to hang from the top loop is probably rose quartz (for self-love) and Swarovski crystal. The pink tube on the main stem is vintage glass (see, sometimes I know what my materials are, LOL), followed by another probable Swarovski crystal, then a dangle with another probable Swarovski. At the bottom of that dangle I wrapped the wire into a spiral.

3) This one is for me. I thought it was for one of my contributors, but realized it was mine, an expression of us all making this project possible. (For my own records: The blue bead on the main stem is vintage glass, both dangles probably have Swarovski.)

4) For Donnalee Dermady-Minney of Laughing Dakini Music LLC, this talisman has an evil eye dangling from the bottom with two probable Swarovski crystals. The eye bead is a traditional protection amulet. The main stem has a vintage glass tube, and the two faceted beads seem to be fire polished glass. The top dangle is probably Swarovski and rose quartz.

5) This is for an anonymous German donor new in my life. On the main stem, we probably have Swarovski and rainbow obsidian. The latter has a subtle luminescence in it that the photograph will not show. The three beads on the bottom dangle are probably more Swarovski. The top dangle is a mother of pearl teardrop, and probably Swarovski.

6) Finally, for Chicot. The two beads that I used to make the top dangle are probably tiger’s eye, which I read somewhere is both grounding and solar. On the main stem, the top bead with golden flecks (which I’m not sure show on this photo) might be goldstone, a man-made “stone” that I am fond of. Then comes a bead with an exclamation point on it, ending with a gorgeous, green probably Swarovski crystal. The bottom dangle is probably rose quartz, a stone for self-love.

Let me know if your amulet is right for you. Post here, email me, or comment on my Facebook page. 

If you bought a copy of my book, that is pivotal support! Thank you so much!!!! If you’d like to buy a copy, yes, go here! Only available from the author. Thank you to my sweet sweet community!