Celtic Tree Calendar: Elder Moon To Release Regret

"Everybody, soon or late, sits down to a banquet of consequences" -Robert Lewis Stevenson

According to the Celtic Tree Calendar, an inspiration that came to Robert Graves while researching the Celtic Ogham Alphabet for his 1948 book The White Goddess, this full moon is the Elder Tree Moon.

The Elder Card from Voice of the Trees representing consequences and regret, featuring the Goddess Macha aka The Morrigan, available in The Official Voice of the Trees Etsy shop.

The Celtic month of the Elder corresponds with the Ogham letter Ruis. (pronounced roo-ish) This tree month is the time to examine things in our life that we may regret, that we might have done differently.  These can be transgressions committed by us, but also to us.  No one is perfect, and we must remember that from every mistake comes an opportunity to learn a valuable life lesson.  Sometimes instead of embracing the lesson, learning from it and moving on, we instead focus on the regret for the situation which can be counterproductive for our spiritual growth.  There is a purpose for regret, but we should use it for it's purpose which is to learn and then release it, not wallow in it and allow ourselves to spiral into self pity which can be self destructive. 

Working with the energies of the Elder Tree during the Celtic Elder month allows us to release past errors and go forward feeling lighter and renewed with life lessons added to our wisdom and joy in our hearts.  Elder reminds us to be ever vigilant and responsible for our actions,  to be wise and vigilant enough to help prevent others from committing wrongs to us, and to do the clearing work so that we can usher in a new phase in our lives.

If you don't have an elder tree near your home, you can still work with the elder tree energy.  Print photos of the tree, berries and foliage.  Elderberry tea, wine, and even preserves are available.  You can also find it as an herbal remedy in the vitamin section of your local drugstore.  It's color association is red, and it's also associated with the Goddess figure of the Elder Mother, and has long been connected to witches and witchcraft.  It is also associated with the plant diva Lady Ellhorn who woodsmen have long respected.  To prevent bad luck before taking wood from an elder tree this charm was spoken, "Lady Ellhorn, give me some of thy wood and I'll give you some of mine when it grows in the forest."

This year is a particularly good year to release regrets that you might need some extra mojo to dissipate because this Elder Moon also had a lunar eclipse going on, so more transformational Goddess energy is attached to it.

Elder Card Oval Compact Mirror, for those who feel a close association with the energies of the Elder, Macha or the Morrigan, available in the Official Voice of the Trees Etsy Shop.

For more lore and legend about the elder tree see the Voice of the Trees Companion book.

A Quick Elder Spell to Release Regret

Find a quiet place and ground and center.  Focus on elder energy, you can accomplish this by meditating on images of the elder tree, sipping elder tea or wine, perhaps light a red candle.   Divide a sheet of paper in to two columns.  Make a list of your regrets from the previous year in the left hand column, and the lesson learned from each experience in the right.  When you're done, fold the paper three times, making the folds away from you.  Draw the Ogham symbol for the Elder on the folded paper. (Find the symbol on the bottom right hand side of the Elder card illustration above) Feel the regret empty out of your heart into the paper.

You may recite the following charm,

"Elder Tree, I now cast away
All these regrets that stand in my way
I summon your power and keep lessons learned
As I banish regret my sorrow is spurned!"

Take the paper and bury it outside in the earth.  If you're drinking elder tea or wine you may pour some over the place you buried it.  Turn purposefully and walk away.  As the paper becomes one with the earth, your regrets will dissipate and your heart will heal.


In Other News- Celtic Tree Calendar Classes Starting Jan. 3

For those further interested, I will be offering a series of classes on celebrating the year through the Celtic Tree Calendar at Pathways in St. Louis during 2012. The series of 13 classes will be offered
throughout 2012, on a Tuesday near the first quarter of the moon, students will learn folklore, magical correspondences, and ways to work with each tree energy magically. I will teach you ways to connect to the Celtic Trees and to your own personal World Tree to gain insight, wisdom, healing, balance, and a positive outlook on your life and the world around you.  At the end of each class the group will participate in a ritual for the tree of that month.  At the end of this year long series, you'll have a full Book of Trees with spells, rituals and lots of tree info to celebrate the Celtic Tree Calendar any time you wish.  You can sign up at Pathways, click here for more info and to sign up.

If you don't live near St. Louis but would still like to experience the Celtic Tree Calendar Class, I will be offering an online version of the class, watch the Voice of the Trees website for details coming soon!  http://www.voiceofthetrees.com

Bright Blessings!

Fairy Friday: When Life Gives You Cicadas...Fairy ACEO Cards

When Life Gives You Lemons Make Lemonade- 
When Life Gives You Cicadas...Make Fairies Of Course!

Toadstool ACEO, this one is sold already!

During the past spring and summer of 2011 the midwest was decended upon by a hoard of cicadas!  They danced with revelry through the air around our oak tree and passed into the next realm of natural causes, all over the place.  You couldn't go outside without hearing the endless humming and buzzzing and being dive-bombed at our house, they were everywhere.  Apparently they really like oaks, and we have tons in our neighborhood.  These were not the usual cicadas that we get every year, these were the periodical cicadas that emerge from the ground for mating in 13 and 17 year cycles. This particular brood of 13-year cicada is known as the Great Southern Brood.  They make chimney-like exit holes in the ground in preparation for their lives above-ground. Then they crack out of their shells with a new set of wings and fly all over the place.  They die off in about five weeks, at which time their eggs hatched, sending a brood of nymphs underground, to emerge in 2024.

I think their wings are beautiful...

...but this many is a little much!

I stood on my porch surveying the cicada shells and bodies that littered my yard.  What a summer!  I thought to myself, what to do about all of this?!  Then it occured to me that when life gives you lemons you should make lemonade.  But this time life had given me dead cicadas that had finished their lifecycle all over my yard!  Then it dawned on me, make fairies! 

I gathered up as many good ones that I could find and put them in a cauldron in the shed to await my creative energy that would allow them to be reborn with honor as fairies!

Drawing, painting, cutting, scrapbooking!

Here are the first of my new original fairy illustration ACEO cards featuring real cicada wings; created with Berol Prismacolor pencils on illustration board, mounted on scrapbook paper, accented with watercolor.  Each one is a unique one of a kind piece of art.

This one called "Morning Has Broken" is still waiting for a loving home.  Available in our Etsy shop.

What's an ACEO card?   For those of you new to ACEOs, they are ACEO (Art Cards Editions and Originals) measure 2 1/2 x 3 1/2 inches and are miniature pieces of art that make it easy for customers to collect original art at an affordable price. ACEO collecting is becoming very popular throughout the world. ACEOs can be kept in a trading card book with sleeves, or displayed on small easels in curio cabinets. These new fairy ACEO cards are all original, one of a kind, hand signed, and created in my studio by hand.

Each one has the title and are hand signed on the back.

Daylilly, this one is still available in our Etsy shop too.

What makes these ACEOs special?

They were drawn by hand by lil 'ole me, then carefully cut out and mounted on a piece of decorative scrapbook paper with glitter acents. I included included real insect wings as part of the design.  I'm having so much fun making these, I'm sure to have many in the future for you to collect.

In Other News:   A Nice Review for Voice of the Trees

Today there is a great review for my Voice of the Trees deck over at Tarot News Blog!  I was delighted and honored, I loved the pics the took of the deck in a tree!  Here is the link, she has a great blog, lots of wonderful posts about the world of tarot. http://tarotnotes-majorandminor.blogspot.com/2011/12/review-voice-of-trees.html

Also in Voice of the Trees news, I'll be at Pathways in St. Louis click for the link doing readings from 2-5pm, so if you're local and would like a Voice of the Trees reading before the new year, now it the time to stop in! Sunday, December 11.  $35 for 1/2 hour appointment, call to reserve your space today!

Bright Blessings,

Voice of the Trees: Decked Out for the Holidays!

Dan and I have been hard at work in the studio filling orders and adding new items to our Fantasy and Fairy art Etsy shop at http://www.etsy.com/shop/MickieMuellerStudio

We've Been Stocking Up Our Voice of the Trees Shop Too!

Our brand new holiday decorations, trees for your tree! Click here for more info   

I wanted to take this time to introduce you to our other Etsy shop, The Voice of the Trees Official Shop http://www.etsy.com/shop/VoiceOfTheTrees where you can get beautiful gifts created from the art of "Voice of the Trees, a Celtic Ogham Divination Oracle" including Mugs, Satin Card Bags, Jewelry, Prints etc. handmade right in our studio. You can also get the deck from Llewellyn, Barnes & Noble, and Amazon

Voice of the Trees- A Celtic Divination Oracle

Drawing upon the ancient legends of the Celts and tree lore, I set forth to bring the Ogham teaching into a format for modern practitioners to use in intuitive card readings, meditation and ritual.  Learn more about this unique deck at http://www.voiceofthetrees.com  The deck is published with Llewellyn and can be purchased on Amazon, in bookstores, or if you want me to sign a copy for you, purchase from from voiceofthetrees.com

Magical Art From the Trees


When I created the art for this deck, I used infusions of each tree to combine with the paint, I did this with the magical intention that every copy made from the original would carry the same magical vibration.  That includes the items made in our studio from this magical art.

Magical coffee mugs, this one is perfect for a hazelnut cappuchino to bring you inspiration! Click here for more info

Many of you who already have this deck have told me that you've discovered that when working with this deck you found one or more cards that you have a strong connection to, sometimes it's a favorite tree, a tree energy that you work with often, or even a card the represents something that you want to manifest in your life.  

We have prints of every card, plus the back design (shown here) and the cover art for the Voice of the Trees Companion book.

Focusing on that card is a great way to connect further with the energy, but for those who want more, we offer crystal pendants, oval wall tiles, coffee mugs and even beer steins with your favorite images so that you can bring the tree magic into your everyday life.  

We love these bags for keeping your cards in, custom pressed with your favorite design, the ribbons and beads added by hand. Click here for more info

We also created a line of satin art bags to keep your deck in, and you get to choose your favorite image on the bag, each one is custom made!  

Our glass crystal pendants are a classy way to keep the energy of your favorite Celtic tree with you all day! Click here for more info

When you order from Voice of the Trees Official Shop, if you would like a different image than the one shown on any item, send us a message when you order and let us know which card you would like, ALL of the cards are available on every item. Look through your deck or images in the print gallery (click here) in our shop or on the voiceofthetrees.com website and see which one speaks to you, and we'll make you a custom item just for you!

These beer steins are very cool, Dan uses the Alder one for his favorite brew! Click here for more info

Choose from:
Birch • Rowan • Alder • Willow • Ash • Hawthorn • Oak • Holly • Hazel • Apple • Vine • Ivy • Broom/Reed • Blackthorn • Elder • Silverfir/Elm • Gorse • Heather • Aspen • Yew • Grove • Spindle • Gooseberry • Woodbine • Beech • The Ogham Shield (Book Cover)

If you think these gifts in the pictures look cool, just wait until you have your own!

These affordable ceramic tiles look great hanging in your home and bless it with it's good tree vibes! Click here for more info

We are really proud of the high quality gifts that we've been able to make available for you from this unique magical art.  We hope that you enjoy browsing through them, and remember, we can put any card image you wish on any item that you see in the shop, so don't hesitate to send us a convo and ask if you don't see what you're looking for.    Also keep in mind that if you find something you want to give as a gift, in order to get your order by Christmas, place your order by Dec. 19 if you're in the continental U.S. and by Dec. 15 for international orders.

If you like the look of this compact, you should see it in person!  Choose the art that speaks to you. Click here for more info

We'll be adding more items over the next several days, be sure to watch for them!


Brightest Blessings!

Manly Steins Made With a Bolt and Wrench!

We have a cool new item that we're making in the studio (and the kitchen) These ceramic beer steins are a real favorite among beer enthusiasts.  These German style Steins have the look and feel of a stein from the old country. These steins are white ceramic with gold trim, and dishwasher safe, but shouldn't go in the microwave due to the gold trim.

We've made a few of these for friends and every dude that's received one says it's his favorite drinking vessel!

While we were pressing the images on some steins to put in our Etsy shop for the holiday shoppers, we thought you might like to see the process, it's pretty cool.  Most of our dye sublimation products are made on heat presses in our studio, but the shape of the steins require a slightly different technique.

Mickie has created designs from her art using Photoshop Elements, we print the design backwards on "Frankenprinter" our special printer we use for our dye sublimation, it uses dyes that can bond with the ceramics.  We also use a stein from one of our dye sub suppliers that's been coated to accept the dye. 

The design is positioned on the stein.

Next Dan puts on the oven wrap.  He has to tighten it up with a wrench to make sure there is sufficient pressure to transfer the design.

The stein is paced in a 400 degree oven.

When it comes out, that bad boy is hot!  Dan has to move it quickly to a work surface because the heat goes through the O've Glove quickly!

He carefully removes the oven wrap...hot, hot... and then the paper revealing the design on the stein.

It's like magic every time!

The stein is submerged in a tub of water to cool.

It's done and ready to hold your icy cold brew, mead or beverage of your choice!

 We thought you might enjoy seeing how we make them, they are really great to own, and even cooler when you see the process.

Blessings,

Lovely Decadance: Easy German Apple Pancake Recipe

Dan and I had a little sweet tooth yesterday evening after I snuggled into my fuzzy celestial pajama pants and made a cup of Tension Tamer tea with honey to soothe my evening to a relaxing close.  I got to thinking about the recipe my mother-in-law was telling me about for a German Apple Pancake.  This is not like the thin little pancakes you're used to, it's more like a big ole delicious apple cake.  She had been at Costco during the Black Friday shopping invasion and got a free cookbook they were passing out.  In this cookbook she found the recipe for this delicious apple cinnamon wonder and tried it at home.  She was raving about how simple and delicious it was, all made in the microwave, and I thought it sounded intriguing so I got online and found the Costco recipe myself.  After making sure I had all the ingredients I figured I'd give it a try.  She was right, it was super easy and really good.  I didn't have the Krusteaz pancake mix they suggested, but I did have an off-brand one that I used.  I had to add a little more water than the recipe called for to get the batter the right consistency, the Krusteaz brand mint be different, but it worked out great in the end.  I used a mandolin slicer to do the apples and that made it really easy to get them thin. 

My Apple Pancake and a cup of tea, both warm and delicious!  (Magic is Afoot mug available in my Etsy shop http://www.etsy.com/shop/MickieMuellerStudio but you'll have to make your won Apple Pancake!)

The only problem is, now I have it in my house and I may just make it vanish little sliver by little sliver, oh well, it did warm our hearts and our tummy's last night.

German Apple Pancake

Apple topping
1/2 cup of butter (or margarine)
2 cups peeled, thinly sliced apples
1/4 cup sugar (or splenda)
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Pancake Batter
1 cup Krusteaz Buttermilk Complete Pancake Mix
1/4 cup water
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

To prepare topping, place butter in a 9 inch microwave safe pie pan.  Microwave on high for 45-60 seconds.  Stir in apples, sugar and cinnamon.  Cover with plastic wrap and microwave on high 3-4 minutes or until apples are tender.

To prepare batter, place pancake mix, water, vanilla and cinnamon in a medium bowl using a wire whisk.  Pour evenly over the cooked apples in the pie pan.

Microwave uncovered on high 3-5 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.  Let stand 3-5 minutes. Place a plate on top of the pie pan and using hot mits flip it upside down onto the plate and remove the pie pan.  If you wish sprinkle with cinnamon sugar or powdered sugar. 

Blessings,

Fairy Friday: Join Me For an Interview on Blogtalk Radio Tonight

Hi All! 

Well in 45 minutes I'll be doing an interview on Pagan Perspectives a Blogtalk Radio show!  I'm pretty excited to chat about art, magic, fairies, Voice of the Trees and who knows what else!  It should be a really good time, so I hope you can join me live at 6:00 PM central time, or listen later on at your convenience.

Sitting on a log, waiting to talk on Blogtalk Radio!

UPDATE:

Had a great time with Rev. Sylvanis last night on Pagan Perspectives, we talked about art, fairies, creating oracle decks, music, inspiration and more!  He played some really excellent music too, it made me feel like he was listening at my art table because it's the kind of music I love to listen to while creating!  Also, congratulations to J.P. Plank for winning the Voice of the Trees deck and satin art bag giveaway!  Super nice people, and had a great time!
Here's the link, enjoy!

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/pagan-perspectives/2011/11/12/an-evening-of-art-and-magic-with-mickie-mueller

Blessings!

Fairy Friday: Sacred Source, Even Better in Person!

A box arrived the other day, and inside were my two Celtic Oak Fairy Plaques, my first look at the new line of hand painted limited edition plaques from Sacred Source!  I carefully opened up the carton and then opened one of the boxes containing the plaque, and even after having seen the pictures, I was floored.  If you think the pictures of this piece in their catalog and on the website look good, I'm here to tell you, you will be even more impressed seeing it in person!  Their artisans did such a great job creating this piece based on my artwork!  The sculpting and painting is exquisite.  I've tried my best to capture it here showing different angles so you can get the full effect of the work and detail.

I've sent energy for every one of these fairy plaques to bless the home she comes to rest in with vibrations of abundance an prosperity she carries a golden coin with the ogham for oak and an acorn for all the potential of growth and harvest!  I suggest waving her through some patchouli, saffron or your favorite prosperity incense to bless her and add a little extra magical boost before hanging her up!

I love how they did her face!

I can't wait to see the rest of the line in person, I'll share detail shots of them also as soon as I get my hot little hands on them!  :o)  Enjoy!

Even her little toes!

I have to figure out where I'm  going to hang mine...no probably not in the tree!  LOL

Fairy Blessings!