It is my guess that humans from all cultures have always been drawn to the magic of a special item. In this way, these items become tools for comfort and balance.
When it comes to your lunar-rhythmic body, finding balance and comfort is key for your health and wellbeing. Because your body has a monthly pattern that is easy to predict (once you have charted for a few months and have the hang of it), having tools for your balance and comfort in place is vital. Tools may look like music, movies, activities, people to talk with, essential oils, or objects that you know you can count on to balance your feelings. In this blog we're going to focus on the objects.
Helpful objects come in a variety of forms. How they are identified can only be determined by their unique purpose or your intention. Something might come to you in the form of stone, feather, coin, family heirloom, or piece of clothing. It may show itself to you as a symbol that you see over and over again, which causes you to investigate further. One of the most common ways to find balance and comfort is through adorning ourselves with jewelry or tattoos. We think we wear bracelets, pendants, rings, earrings, or even dangle things from our hair because we like them - but the reality is that we generally wear these things because they make us feel powerful in some way---stronger or more beautiful perhaps.
In the long run, it doesn't really matter why you are attracted to a certain pendant or object. As long as you like it and you feel good wearing it, carrying it, or placing it somewhere where you can view or access it, then it is serving you; it is grounding you.
If you'd like to take your interest deeper, then ask yourself how the piece makes you feel. Do you feel protected, powerful, or comforted, for instance? It will help you to determine what it is within you that you are trying to heal, or where you need ongoing assistance in order to stay balanced.
A lot of terms are thrown around in a similar way, so let's straighten a few of them out.
There is a big difference between an amulet, a talisman, and a medicine piece, so let's go over those differences.
Amulet: An amulet is a power piece that provides protection.
Talisman: A talisman is a power piece that provides power, energy, and specific benefits.
Medicine Piece: These are spiritual in nature; a portal for your spirit guides and/or ancestors to reach you, or work through you. It is often a piece that will help you stay aligned with your divine essence and assist in helping you to access your true healer within. If you discover this piece yourself, then it would generally be used privately for your personal benefit. If it is a piece that has been passed down to you, either as a family heirloom of importance or by a powerful healer through a sacred lineage, then this would be considered to be a great honor, and a code of trust and respect must be adhered to. Most likely it would be important for this medicine piece to be used at family events or in ceremony and for the good of the community.
In any of the cases, a medicine piece is not something that you own, but something that you carry; something that you are the trusted steward of. It would be your responsibility to pass it on to someone if you felt it was time or could no longer carry this piece with the energy required or in a good way.
Suggestion: Look at your jewelry or other items and think about how they serve you. What can you let go of and what do you need to obtain to help you feel more like the real you? What tools help you to feel aligned and in your joy and purpose? This is where love and strength, balance and comfort lies. These items will evolve as you do. Some will stay with you as long as you walk the earth.
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Below is a really great article on amulets, talismans, and charms by Richard Webster for Llewellyn Press.
http://www.llewellyn.com/journal/article/583
Photo: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AAmuletter_i_brons_-_Hallwylska_museet_-_98636.tif
Hallwyl Museum / Jens Mohr / CC BY-SA [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
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What I did not consciously know then but recognize now is that I refused to override the perfect balance of Original Design with baptism into Patriarchy, the most dangerous imbalance our world has known.
