being your authentic self & refusing to hide it, with Shana

What better day than today, following a Friday lunch date at Peter's café with Shana, to finally write the piece I've been telling my dear witchy friend I was going to write about her for over a month.

For it has indeed been more than a lunar cycle now since Shana gifted me a pair of the spell jar earrings for abundance she made as one of her newest divine offerings for her phenomenally magical and inspired brand and boutique, Black Cat Alchemy Company.

And nearly a month since Jonelle and I took these photos in the sunroom at the Chamberlin Inn, featuring the spell jar earrings to go along with the story I'd write to spread the earrings' magic and the good word of Shana's creations with the world.

Shana and I had decided it would be a beautiful trade: spell jar earrings for a story.

At this point, though, I've shared so much about those earrings in person and through social media that I no longer feel this need be a "sponsored post," and besides, I honestly want to tell you more about the abundance of the fierce unapologetic inspiration with which Shana provides me.

That being said, a couple more things about these actually magical earrings, though, should you wish to invite in a pair for yourself or a friend, because I can actually assure you, they work. (see how they did for me --- indeed creating the abundance they were intended to create --- below).

Here's a little about the spell jar earrings in the words of their magical maker, Shana Estes:

"I made these earrings with five different intentions: abundance, courage, love and affection, pick-me-up, and protection. I start with the jar, and I speak words aimed at the intention into the jar. I then fill it with stone chips, salts, herbs, and flower petals indicated for that particular goal. The ones I brought you [i.e. me, Virginia] in particular are intended to manifest abundance, and they are filled with peridot chips, elderberries, and decorative moss."

the actual working magic of abundance in a spell jar (earring)

Now, here a few ways in which my Black Cat Alchemy abundance spell jar earrings worked their magic for me, for real:

1) On the very first full day I wore them, which just so happened to be a couple days after the Spring Equinox, I found a newly-deceased (from impact with a car, I could only presume) Great Horned Owl on the side of sage creek road. The Owl being one of my most sacred totems and teachers, this was literally one of the most abundant, devastating, impactful, beautiful, sacred, magical, and meaningful offerings the Universe ever could have offered me. Much more coming on The Owl Who Called My Name, and the magic I worked with this holy, mystical bodily offering.

2) When Jonelle came down from Missoula to visit back in early April (which was when we did the spell jar earring photoshoot featured above), we each wore one of the earrings during our time together. During those few days, Jonelle landed an abundantly kick ass new job at Mountain Sky Guest Ranch as a yoga teacher and assistant wellness coordinator, where she now is. She and I also filmed the first of my divine dialogues youtube series during this time (you can see I'm wearing an abundance earring in the video). And I received an abundance of courage to become way more real in my writing and messaging than I ever had been. When Jonelle left to head back to Missoula, she took one of the abundance spell jar earrings with her, and I kept the other.

3) On the New Moon in Aries on Sunday, April 11, I went up the North Fork of the Shoshone River and intuitively created my own little magical ceremony to invite in the abundance of new beginnings and release all that wasn't serving me. Following this article on amulet making Jonelle shared with me, I created and amulet which I left buried in a symbolic place of "the old path" to make room for the new. My spell jar earring is in that amulet, continuing to work its magic ... which has included me indeed living in my new home as well as rocking my new haircut and overall new badass being-ness (if I do say so myself ... and I do. OH I DO!).

now to the REAL magic: Shana the Good Witch

As Shana said today at lunch, "be true to your vibe, find your tribe." (or something along those lines lol).

And this witchy woman is truly tribe (and coven!!!). We found each other and connected as deeply as we have only from the place of putting our real, magical and witchy and feminine-empowered and tall-ass-giant-woman selves OUT THERE for all to see.

Seriously, Shana is just such a freaking inspiration for putting yourTRUEself out there, judgement of small-minded-folk-who-wanna-keep-you-small be damned, so that you can find and help and be helped by and love and be loved by the people waiting to connect with you --- THE REAL YOU.

Being who you were made to be --- i.e., in Shana's case, a magical mystical mountain witch --- and SHOWING IT is not a small thing in a small conservative community like Cody, Wyoming. It can feel not just scary, but straight up unsafe.

And yet here Shana is doing it anyway --- living her powerful magical witchy truth and feeling happier and more fulfilled and real and SEEN and wildly empowered than ever before, the more of herself she reveals and offers in service to the world.

And in that, she is inspiring others to do the same.

What a fearless badass, y'all.

Here's what Shana had to say "on magick and community":

"I feel like I've always observed magic in the universe in some form or another. This last year was a rough one for so many. I decided to channel all that time isolated into creative endeavors. So it started simply with finally realizing that dream of having the neat little witchy shop from practical magic, and turned into finding my people. I've been truly pleasantly surprised at the number of people who respond to my authentic self and my refusal to hide it.

It turns out that there are a great number of people out there, who are searching, who want to believe that there's something bigger.

So whenever I create something, I focus on infusing it with my positive energy and the intention that whoever it finds a home with, will I have their life made better in some way.”

Not only has Shana genuinely made my life better by fearlessly and fiercely and authentically and lovingly (to herself and others!!!) showing and sharing who she really is in her magical heart of hearts, she is setting an example for and connecting a community of strong, magical women right here in this small western town and far, far beyond.

She's doing things like making affirmation decks with her photography and self-publishing books of poetry and memoir like the one she brought me a the proof copy of today Following A Boy and a Dog: The Journey of a Love Addict, gifting me that book as well as this kitty totem of a card.

You can find Shana's other two published books here on Amazon.

As I was writing this piece, I received this text from Shana:

"Okay I don't know how it's possible that just a simple lunch with you leaves me feeling 10 ft tall and bulletproof and like I can take on the whole world, but I greatly appreciate it :-)" 

Sometimes the Universe really does just provide the best mirror for us, doesn't it? Because I couldn't have put into better words how being in Shana's evermore authentic, magical, and inspirational energy makes me feel.

The abundance of love and acceptance is right there waiting for you, waiting to shower you with inspiration and feeling-10-ft-tallness. All that is required to receive it is sharing the abundance of WHO YOU REALLY ARE in exchange for being accepted and loved unconditionally for just that.

Trust me and Shana and the kind of real-say-and-be-anything-you-ARE authentic friendship that results from this showing and sharing of your true self ... terrifying as it is ... it's worth it.

...

find Shana here on her Black Cat Alchemy Co. website

follow Shana and Black Cat Alchemy Co. here on instagram

follow Shana and Black Cat Alchemy Co. here on Facebook