->lasered with the image of the Spring Goddess riding on a bear and embracing the sun, carrying distaff / besom, torch and seed, accompanied by rich illustrations of flowers and folkloristic motives referencing not only Imbolc traditions, but also other festivals of February, such as Lupercalia, Perchtenläufe and Fastnacht
-> perfect for storing smaller sacred objects such as paper sigils, stones, crystals, amulets, spells, candles etc.
-> made of birch wood (sacred to Brigid), measures ca. 14 cm x 12,5 cm x 2,5 cm and comes including:
Imbolc incense
blessed white cloth
3 beeswax candles
pressed lenten rose flowers
paper birch bark, for drawing spells upon
tumbled stones: purple-yellow ametrine, rutilated quartz (venus hair quartz), moss and tree agate
These boxes are made during the dark stormy winter days and nights that bridge the old and the new year. They are lasered with the sigil of Winter (Sacred Deer) and the sigil of Frau Holle. Each box is filled with sympathetic materials evocative of the wild hunt of winter and its goddess Frau Holle.
These boxes are perfect for storing smaller sacred objects such as paper sigils, stones, crystals, amulets, spells, candles etc. and can for example be placed beside or under the bed for inspired dreaming. The boxes measure ca. 14 cm x 12,5 cm x 3 cm and come including:
Holle Box
❄️ Holle Incense
❄️ phytograph with Holle sigil, hand-drawn on the backside
❄️ Birch bark, for drawing spells upon
❄️ Snowflake obisidian, Turmaline quartz, rare Charoit pendant stone
Wild Hunt of Winter Box
❄️ Winter Incense
❄️ phytograph with Sacred Deer sigil, hand-drawn on the backside, imbued with bone white, antler dust and ashes
❄️ Birch bark, for drawing spells upon
❄️ Clear rock crystal, tree agate, dark blue hawk’s-eye
In addition, the boxes are accompanied by my respective essays on the Wild Hunt of Winter/ the Haunted Hunter and Frau Holle/Mother Winter.
This blend for the winter solstice smells like a walk through the winter forest – resinous, coniferous and aerial. It contains a number of precious resins such as high grade Hojari frankincense, sandarak resin, spruce resin and baltic amber. White birch bark and chaga mushroom evoke the self-restoring powers of nature, ash leaf, metasequoia and yew needles bring forth the circling life energies of above and below, holly, juniper, mistletoe and wormwood call forth the protective spirits, mugwort and labrador tea open the third eye. Oakmoss, resinous white fir cone scales, pine, fire and spruce needles all add up to an evergreen winter blend, perfect for lighting up and guiding through the twelve longest nights of the year.
Beginning of this year I started a journey with a goddess I had always known from legend and fairy tales but never actually approached ritually. A simple request, whether my Rauhnächte incense could also be used for honoring her, lead me to change my perspective. Eventually I spent the whole year researching and gathering herbs that connect to her essence and bring out her different light and dark aspects to finally compose an incense which evokes the obscure deity in her wholeness.
Lacking any image representing her I also designed a new sigil for her, who…
resides on a white mountain top, at the depth of a well, in the clouds or in hell
is the goddess of spinning and weaving, winter and death, childbirth and vegetation
contains the souls of the unborn and stillborn in her well, grants fertility and receives the souls of the dying
governs legions of elves and gnomes, presides over witchcraft and the sending of nightmares
sends snow and hail, rain and frost over the land and leads the wild hunt
visits earth during the twelve coldest nights, blesses the diligent and punishes the indolent
appears as a beautiful virgin of the dawn, fertile mother of man at day, devil’s sorcerous grandmother at night
is the companion of the green-man during spring and summer and the spouse of Wode, the hunter, during the dark half of the year
She is known as Percht(a), Berchta and Bertha in upper Germany (who may have Celtic roots), Holle or Holda, holde Frau, Frau Venus in Middle Germany, Frau Herke/Harke or Gercke, Frau Gode/Gaude, in lower Germany, Murawa (a night demon in Saxony) and Spillaholle in Silesia. All these names are present throughout different parts of Germany and are expressions of an older omnipotent goddess.
In Bohemia she is also simply known as Frau Holle, a small and ugly old woman, who carries a batch of stinging nettles. During the twelve cold nights of winter (twelve yule nights) she visits earth and looks into the homes, to see, if the spinners have finished their work or are still spinning. The latter she punishes by beating them with the nettles. But those who have finished their spinning are blessed with a single nettle twig left in the home that protects the house from misfortune for the whole coming year.
A Silesian rhyme about the Spillaholle goes:
Spinnt, Kinderlein, spinnt, Die Spillalutsche kommt; Sie guckt zu allen Löchlein rein, Ob das Strähnlein wird bald fertig sein.
Spin, little children, spin, The Spillalutsche comes; She peeks through all the little gaps, If the little strand will be finished soon.
Spillaholle occurs as an especially cruel and mean version of Frau Holle, since she kills the children, that she has caught spinning at night. She also scares people to death. She is accompanied by wood sprites, a tomcat and a goat.
This incense blend is dedicated to seasonal feast day of Mabon, September feast days and the Autumn equinox in particular. It is part of the Teufelskunst “wheel of the year” incense series and is dedicated to the second of the harvest festivals (the first being Lughnasadh and the third being Samhain). It is all about the rituals of autumn, for example the celebration of the Autumn Equinox and blot rituals / harvest blessing and sacrificial rituals. It smells earthy, warm and sweet, but also resinous. It unifies dark and light aspects. It contains aromatic and warming ingredients, such as cinnamon, coriander, nutmeg, precious saffron, storax bark and vetiver root. The resins in this fiery blend are powerful protective agents, such as dragon’s blood, dark copal and pine resin. Sweet myrrh, oakmoss and sticky labdanum in turn revere the scents of autumn and bind the herbs. Fragrant herbs such as mugwort and mullein complete this special composition. Lastly, freshly gathered nettle is included as a reference to the goddesses of spinning and weaving, but also enhances the protective qualities of this magical Mabon blend.
The sigil adorning the blend has been desgined especially for Mabon (read more in my next post).
I made new designs for them, especially for the qliphotic blends. Step by step I am also re-doing the feast day sigils. It’s a pile of work, but ultimately it will be easier to simply print and fill these than cleansing, labeling and packing up glass jars, which also always meant more packing waste. Also, the production of the silver foil labels wasn’t particularly environmental friendly either. So…
These are meant to be smelled and burnt.
I may still do special editions in glass jars every once in a blue moon. I have in fact been gifted a big pile of small miron violet glass jars…
But for now, it’s paper bags! How do you like them?
Upon request, I am offering here some dried mandrake roots, which I have grown and harvested over the past years. For reference, the leave is ca 12 cm long. These roots are talismans. They are not meant to be made into incense. They can be oiled and/or fed with traditional offerings, such as red wine, milk and honey, herbal essences, bread, incense or tobacco smoke, coins, stones etc. If you purchase one, you agree to stay in touch about your work with the root. I am happy to give you guidance and set up a ritual practice with you based on your personal magical background.
Pricing from top left to bottom right:
93 € top left – sold prices for the 2 small roots are negotiable (they are suitable to wear in a glass amulet with other herbs – a custom amulet can be made for you) – sold 83 € top second from right 111 € top right – sold 88 € bottom left – sold center – sold 108 € bottom second from right – sold 131 € bottom right – reserved
Handdrawn mandrake root phytographs can be purchased along with the roots and start at 100 € per phytograph. If you commission a phytograph together with the root I will give 10% discount.
photo by David Simmonsphoto by David Simmons / art by Teufelskunst
It’s wonderful to be receiving such feedback! Remember last year`s mandrake post about “Alien Monstress” and “Crippled Astronaut”? Well, who would have guessed that! First photo shows a recent post by obviously blessed and knowledgable David ‘Mr. Mandrake’ Simmons. Second photo is of the same root about a year ago and third is of my ink portrait, now framed and adorning D. Simmon’s wall. Thanks David!
For those who missed out on the virtual event, you can still order the VGS publication featuring my essay on Phytography (introducing the term) and my encounter with the guardian of the witch hazel, as well as two illustrations by me: https://viridisgenii.com/product/viridis-genii-series-7-vol-2/
My gratitude goes to the organizers Catamara and Marcus as well as the team of people that made it all possible, especially Kim, Katrink and Prof. Porterfield. Huge thanks also to the people that attended and took part in the workshops, especially David. We made it work, despite catching Covid, despite hurricanes and despite all the other obstacles. I am looking forward to the next point in time when the portals open for communing with the genii of the plant kingdom. Below is a summary of my presentation and workshop.
1 hour live presentation with Q&A
Creating Magical Images of Plants – Combining Phytography and Ritual Magic
1 hour lecture + 3 hour workshop included the following topics:
methods of ritual magic, sympathetic magic and planetary magic
indepth information on plant pigments
short history of nature printing
alternative photography processes feat. work by Malin Fabbri and Kristina Feldhammer
Datura wrightii flower at Pinwheel Cave California
examples of phytographs created with coffee and plants
workshop guides through the ritual creation of your own magical plant paper talismans
question & answer on anything plant/ritual related
Workshop materials provided to attendents included:
ritually harvested, pressed flowers and plants
absorbent paper
signed print of the witch hazel seal
Phytographs created during the 3 hour workshop:
Magnolia, hour of Venus
Fennel, hour of Mercury
California Poppy, hour of Mercury + Moon
Blue Lotus, hour of Moon
Witch Hazel, hour of Saturn
Phytographs created during VGS VII workshop, using planetary hours
