La Criatura Sonora

I know the time will come when I will have to go back to the desert. I use the phrase "have to" with much weight here. I am a desert creature, physically, spiritually, and emotionally. The desert is dry and I am oily. The desert is hot and I perspire easily and profusely. The sun is mighty and my skin glows copper as the desert floor. In that thin air I can communicate more freely between worlds - or maybe they through me. I can see what the physical eye normally does not see where the veil is less dense. The space is vast, the mountains are tall, the eye reaches far and I do not feel boxed in. My heart is open wide - wide as the distance between mountains or the visible curve of the earth. A gila monster would not thrive in the swamps, though it might take pleasure in the way the slick moss feels on its back. Soon it will start to rot and wither, maybe from the inside out as I have. And regardless of its love for those creatures of the mire, it would be time to return to the dust.

Valentines Day "La Bomba de Amor" Package

Here are some photos of the Valentines day products I created for Angelena. Better late then never!

Hypnosis and Sugar Pills

It is my belief that "placebo" is not necessarily to be written off - what heals heals! If the placebo produces the results that are desired, then it has done the job. I think of it being akin to using a back door route to allow a sick person to heal himself. Certainly not many people in our culture believe that they have the power to heal their own illness without pharmaceuticals. The placebo (or other methods which employ the "placebo effect") seems to create a sort of self-hypnosis that reminds our bodies that we already have chemicals inherently within ourselves that heal and aid in pain relief, including naturally occurring opioids, which you may know as endorphins. So, can I hypnotize myself well again? Franz Mesmer is unfortunately indisposed presently.


Listen to Radio Lab Program on Placebo effects here.:
With new research demonstrating the startling power of the placebo effect, this hour of Radiolab examines the chemical consequences of belief and imagination.

Opuntia Botanica

The Opuntia trailer is officially underway! I've finally busted through some spring cleaning, ripped out some crumbly particle board, scrubbed walls and pulled out random plywood boards, de-cobwebbed the windows ad screens and begun to move a few herbs and other accouterments into the space. After an almost-meltown while realizing how much work there actually is to be done to the trailer and having only little old me to put in the elbow grease - I decided, first I make the inside workable and pleasant, THEN paint and de-coup the outside and deal with other structural issues.

Realistically, this may be more of a stationary apothecary, rather than a roaming workspace. Logistics pertaining to the size of my car, the title, and the overall roadworthiness of the trailer are all concerns that I don't have the time or energy to take on presently - maybe in the future. But for now my top priorities are basically preparing the interior to be functional for my herb crafting and for guests to stay in if we should have any (and we will - SXSW is just around the corner). Exterior beautification comes next - and maybe will only take a day or two if I'm efficient.


Holy is the day! ... let's all go worship the sun!

*peek HERE to see my decided color scheme for the exterior.

Music to Make Your Beds By

Tasseomancy | A Take Away Show | Diana from La Blogotheque on Vimeo.

This video is taken directly from Lady Lavona's Cabinet of Curiosities (I provide a link to her page, which I particularly enjoy). She's a source of interesting artists and jewelers and musicians and sorcerers to be sure, but rarely does anything catch my attention as much as this enchanting song. Tasseomancy is a sister duo, and I haven't been so moved by new music in quite some time. Their voices are truly stirring and there is a distinct air of magic and something dark and alluring. Apparently their music is influenced by death ritual, hebraic song, war drums, ancestry and myth. Combined with Sari and Romy's rich, at times airy voices, Tasseomancy sound like they come from another time. And the mandolin lends itself to this effect even more.

I have a feeling I will be painting and likely dreaming to this band frequently this season. This is the kind of musical discovery that keeps my heart light and my ears ever perked to the possibility of new inspiring sounds - even when the prospect of other current music makes me feel like "what's the use."

The Big Fat "Before"

For now it's all and dreaming and drill bits.

The days aren't long enough to accomplish what I want in my desired time-line. There just aren't enough days of the week - and I am impatient. Just ask my roommates how nuts I go on my days off. I only have two days a week to get everything done that should take me an entire week. But, sigh, the rest of the week I work to realize the dream of someone else. So many projects bubbling in this dome, scratched across three calendars, rattling around in my head and nagging me in my sleep. Oh, the woes of a passionate woman! Don't feel bad, I wouldn't have it any other way. Stagnancy makes me ache for crunch time.

THIS weekend, I've committed myself to starting and finishing all of the preparations that need to be mailed (and with any luck they will be mailed tomorrow!)- priority to the Valentine's day package "commissioned" from me by Angelena Vargas. She gave me total freedom and so far as the time of this blog being written, this is what I imagine it will consist of (who knows what it will morph into by the time the day is done, these projects have a tendency to shape themselves).

- Damiana infused, warming massage oil.
- Lovers Tea
- Love Spell Herb and mineral bath

Angelena also has a long-time-coming "gypsy box" as she refers to it, that will be full of magical items and personal herbal confections such as feathers, talismans, desert dream salve (mugwort and chaparral infused oil, with essential oils of sage and rose, to encourage lucid dreaming), a hand bound book for keeping track of her own magical practices (and she is a very powerful witch indeed, whether or not she affords herself the title), and a solid perfumed cheek rouge, naturally tinted with beet - I call this one "Beetnick." Oh, the cleverness of me!


Photos of the finished projects will follow - maybe tomorrow? Along with "before" photos of the trailer. It will be in a state of "before" for quite a while. Check back soon!