* Carding, Painting and Journalling ...

Hi to all YOU lovelies who read these pages.  You make me smile! I'm happy you have dropped in.  I'm experimenting with Christmas cards at the moment.  Have had a couple of garbage incidents, however this vintage one has possibilities.  I found my inspiration over at Cindy Atkins blog.  She has some fabulous vintage Christmas ideas for us there.  This was a test run because I have a certain vintage label image in mind to use and didn't want to wreck it if it didn't turn out.

The label I am hoping to use is of a girl on an old fashioned sleigh.  I have some miniature sleighs I will tie to the ribbon.  

Next I sat with Medicine Woman for awhile.  She is revealing herself to me in ways the others have not.  She asked that her medicine bowl to be wrapped in a celtic knot.  When I researched the meaning of the Celtic knot, the basics are this:

"The Celtic knot symbol, is also referred to as the mystic knot, or the endless knot. The more esoteric or spiritual meaning of this symbol eludes to beginnings and endings. In viewing these beautiful knots, we cannot see a beginning or and end, and therefore we are reminded of the timeless nature of our spirit. This translation harkens to our most primal selves as we contemplate the infinite cycles of birth and rebirth in both physical and ethereal realms."  As an added point of interest, they began appearing in Celtic history after approximately 450 AD.  (hold that date)

The next thing she asked for was shamrocks.  This is what I found out about shamrocks in the ancient Celtic lore.

Ancient Celts revered the clover because of the trinity of its leaves. These people had a deep understanding of their connection with nature, and had a myriad of powerful beliefs based on triads, as we see in the triskelion, triple spiral, triquetra, Druid marks, and various knot-work illustrated by the artists of the time. The occurrence of three's, depending on how they were depicted, indicated aspects of goddesses, gods, time, and balance of energies pertaining to the triple mark. 

The symbolism of the shamrock actually changed tremendously when St. Patrick came along and pitched Christianity to the Irish people.  Since she has told me she is an "Ancient Celt", I am going with the ancient interpretations.

That was my big clue ... the other day when I was sitting with her, she indicated she was an "Ancient Celtic Healer".  I instantly googled those exact words and up popped the Goddess Bridgid who existed about 450 AD. (told you to hold that date!)   I will tell you more about her as the painting progresses.  It is a little complicated.  Suffice it to say, she exists in the Ancient Celtic lore.  I LOVE IT!

There is still a lot to do on the painting, however we did make progress today.

More and more, I feel her becoming part of the earth and part of ancient knowledge.

Tonight I was really restless.  I KNOW ... this post is getting LONG.  I'll cut to the chase.  I went back to the studio and did a double spread in my journal.  I was shocked at what appeared on the page.  It's exactly what I'm feeling like.  

... like I'm going to explode if I don't 'do something'.

I'm going to STOP now!  You are all saying "FINALLY"!  Thanks for dropping by ... thanks for bearing with me.  Take care, and come back soon.  xxoo  Donna

Sara Paddison, The Hidden Power of the Heart
Stress is inner biofeedback, signaling you that frequencies are fighting within your system. The purpose of stress isn't to hurt you, but to let you know it's time to go back to the heart and start loving.