‘ve been a busy witch working away at incenses, ointments, and talismans for the online shop and then shipping them all out to magic workers around the world. I also took a trip to Vancouver Island with the Poisoner sailing the ocean past beautiful island chains of mountains and tall evergreen trees. It was a lovely little vacation and it’s too bad we couldn’t stay longer to explore ancient sites, petroglyphs, and the old growth forests. Amongst all of this I’ve been working on original illustrations to be exclusive to the soon-to-be-released Pagan Bundle.
If you haven’t heard of the Pagan Bundle yet, it is essentially a digital collection of writings, artwork, tattoo designs, music, and online teachings from some of your favourite Pagan personalities including Brendan Myers, Sharon Knight, T. Thorn Coyle, Morpheus Ravenna, Amelia Hogan, Drew Jacob, Seb Barnett, and, of course, myself. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting all of the contributors except for Drew (who I’ve enjoyed emailing), and most are dear friends along with the bundle’s creator. For those of us involved, our spiritual path is our day job and the bundle is one way you can show your support for our work, whether it is music, art, or writing.
How does a bundle work? The Pagan Bundle is based on the “Humble Bundles” you see around the internet often supporting indie artists and businesses. For a modest fee your receive hundreds of dollars worth of goodies that you otherwise may not be able to afford. You can follow the Pagan Bundle’s progress on its main website, its blog, and its facebook page or twitter.
For the Pagan Bundle I’ve been working on five original illustrations that can be printed out at home for personal use as art prints to hang on your wall or to license as tattoo designs to put somewhere on your body. These pieces of art will only be available through the Bundle and not my website or any other source. I only have one left to complete. I will reveal them in their full glory once the Bundle is launched. Each illustration has the themes of sigils, insects, bones, and the occult. You’d expect nothing less from me I believe!
In other news, strange curiosities keep appearing in my mail box: skeleton keys and hag stones from collectors and toad skulls and crow feet from taxidermists. It is talisman-making time again. I surround myself with bones, sinew, cords, leather, beads, traditional charms, and my tools and set to work crafting piece after piece while watching re-runs of Supernatural (only up to season five though as, let’s be honest, it’s really gone downhill since then) or cheesy occult movies. It gets me in the magical mood.
More supplies are on their way to restock the flying ointments in the apothecary which ever sell out. From now on I will only be making Mandrake, Sabbat, and Witches’ Ointments on a regular basis. Any other recipes will be limited editions and only available a few times a year. I know some people are sad I’m discontinuing the Aves Flying Ointment. It is unfortunately the most expensive and labour intensive ointment I make. It is no longer feasible for me to make it on a regular basis, but I will make small batches as one of the limited edition ointments.
My goal with the new website has always been to minimize the amount of apothecary products I make and maximize the amount of artwork and artisan crafts available. It’s been a difficult task as the ointments alone have kept me very busy with the crafting and shipping of them! Minus the three main flying ointments I offer, other apothecary items (like the recently sold out incense blends) will be limited editions only, created when I have the resources and time to make them.
On a fun witchy note, I’ve been collecting roots for over a year now to turn into alraun talismans with be-sigiled coffin boxes for them to rest in. Now that I have a good collection of roots including datura, henbane, wormwood, and oak, I am starting on the boxes which will feature pyrographed runes, sigils, and original artwork. When ready, they’ll be placed for sale in the online shop to find their new homes.
I’ve had to accept that my life is incredibly busy and it’s about to only get more insane (woo Saturn return!). This realization means I am reducing my online presence which will hopefully result in more blog updates and new artwork instead of an abundance of tumblr and facecrack posts. Sorry for any confusion this may cause! The motto is simplify! I’ve removed my accounts from Tumblr and have reduced my Facebook presence to one page – which you can find here:
http://www.facebook.com/sarahannelawless.blackartsfoundry