How I Got Started: Paganism and Witchcraft

This is part IV, the last of the How I Got Started series. Each part can be read on their own but if you want to read part I, part II, or part III click the links.

An old altar set up of mine.

That Paganism would draw me into a field of work I never even thought of is kind of an amazing thing to look back on. And it hasn't even been that long.When I graduated from undergrad I had a stable job and decided that my next step would be to start exploring various Pagan religions to see if that way lay a place where my spirituality was comfortable. It was. In the process of learning I was drawn to nature-based religions. They teach that all around us in energy is various forms and that we can connect with those energies to enhance our own. Those that follow nature-based religions often venerate or worship nature in its various forms; the how and why differing from religion to religion. Because of that I some of the classes or lessons I took were about topics like herbalism and natural healing. I learned about common herbs, spices, oils, roots and resins and the various ways to use them.

I was taught that these and other elements of the earth each have their own natural energies as well as a history of associations that humans have created over the years. These things could be used individually, like essential oils in a diffuser, or combined, in an oil blend, to enhance my own or others personal energies and workings so that we can affect change. I also learned how lots of plants are the basis for our modern medicine and have healing and therapeutic properties. I became particularly interested in those that helped with allergies and those that could be used topically, or on the skin, our body's biggest organ. I will add this, as much as I learned then, I am still learning now and as a friend likes to say, I am not a doctor, nor do I play one on TV.

Not too long after these lessons started the natural hair movement for black women in the United States started gaining traction. I was interested in this and had been considering going natural for awhile since I didn't like the process of straightening my hair at all (in fact I hate having to go to a hair salon at all). After doing a bit of research I realized that I can use many of the natural ingredients that I had been learning about in my pagan lessons and using in my personal practice and take it one step further by using them to improve my health. Keeping my hair and skin healthy by no longer using products that had chemicals I was allergic too and starting to make my own hair and body care mixtures was so freeing. As I mentioned in my Allergies post, I am allergic to a lot of things and while this is more annoying than hazardous, it can be distracting and stressful after awhile. These natural ingredients helped take some of the load off. I wound up learning more about myself and my spiritual path.

As I mentioned previously, a friend (a witchy friend to be more specific) told me about Etsy where people can sell their handmade items. After I decided that this was a path I wanted to take another witchy friend agreed to be my business consultant. I talked in a previous post about the 'homework' she would give me. One such assignment was to think about myself and all the different facets and how I can use some or all of them to personalize my products. How can I make them stick out. She suggested I try to include my spirituality in some way. After looking around Etsy, I decided not to do that. There were tons of witches and other pagans selling their wares, spells, potions, etc. They all seemed more experienced and knowledgeable than me at the time. Nowadays things are different on Etsy due to some of their policy changes.

However, now after being a part of the Etsy and pagan communities online and in the real world I better understand finding your niche and selling something you love. As I continue to learn about herbs, skin care, aromatherapy and expanding my knowledge into related areas such as body care, self care, Reiki, chemistry, perfumery, aromachology and more, I see more connections with my spirituality. And vise-versa. I am inspired by my own spiritual journey as well as that of those around me. Right now as I am on the cusp of revealing two new product lines that have been years in the making, I keep jotting down new product ideas I want to explore. 

I had my first ever tarot card business reading recently and everything pointed to my including my spirituality in my business and using my business to clarify and expand my personal practice as nothing but a good thing. Now, I'm not one to believe in fate and having your whole life being predestined to the point where there is no choice. But I do believe in reading the signs, of weighing your options and choosing from the many possibilities. I feel we are both independent beings and connected to those around us. That every choice we make can lead us somewhere different. At this time I've made the choice to longer make such an effort to keep my businesses and my spirituality apart. I think they can only enhance each other as they have already. 

So that's how I got started. And its also how I plan to go on. 
~Lashette
Scarlet Moon Creations

How I Got Started: Creativity

This is part III of the How I Got Started series. Each part can be read on their own but if you want to read part I and part II, click the links.

As I mentioned in my last post about my business name, I like to create. While I do have a very logical and analytical mind I still love getting lost in the process of creating something. To me there is no difference between figuring out body butters and figuring out math problems. I think its the focus part of things. If something is interesting I will focus and block everything else out. And the reward when you finalize a project is addicting. But I bet you wouldn't be surprised that even after realizing this I didn't get around to making anything again for awhile. Things at first got busy again at work and then I lost my job out of the blue.

I wound up being unemployed for two and a half years. I had jobs here and there but nothing lasted and nothing made me happy so in my head it was one long dark period. I had some of the worst anxiety attacks I have ever experienced in my life and I got to experience depression for a good long time as well. IT was towards the end of this period of employment when some bits of desperation set in that a mentor suggested I try and sell some of the bath salts and body scrubs I had made at their up and coming street festival. I would get free table space in exchange for helping them plan the festival. This did not turn out well (believe me you do not want to know the details) but it did remind me that hey I have this other stuff I can do.

Sensual Massage n' Bath Oil

I got back into researching and spent time after that period mixing up new products (my massage n' bath oil line came out of that time) and remaking old ones. I tried selling at another craft fair that was a bust on the whole but the important part was I was making again. I had a friend tell me about Etsy, this online place where crafters can sell their wares. I thought this is perfect, I don't have the money for table space, let alone any of the other things I'd need to make my products enticing at a craft fair but I don't need that for an online shop.

Let me tell you I researched the hell out of Etsy and getting started with online selling. By this point in my 25 or so years of life I'd only sold used books online at half.com. I'd never even used Ebay (still haven't even though they own half.com, lol). The idea of opening an Etsy shop got me creating a business name, designing a logo, writing product description copy and even starting a blog!! It was crazy times but it got me through a lot. Focusing on this creating business was what helped me through the most boring dead-end job I have ever had, helped me reconnect with friends and family to get back on my feet; it gave me a focus and goals.

But ultimately, having a creative outlet was cathartic. I hadn't done much like this since college art and design classes. Don't get me wrong this is a business run by one woman so there is a lot of work. But there is also a lot of creating. I have a running list of products I want to offer and every year I have to tell myself to focus on one or two goals at a time and follow them through.

Even now, I plan to have two brand new product lines and a newsletter debut within the next six weeks but I've got two more product lines and one variation I am dying to try out RIGHT NOW. Add to this that I am actively working on a completely separate event planning business. I've come to terms with how much planning is a passion of mine. Even so, this year I  made the realization that even making social media content calendars feeds my always hungry creative stomach. :D No shame in my game, honestly. I have come a long way in recognizing that a balance of creativity, honesty, knowledge and planning are what keeps me happy. Scarlet Moon Creations and the upcoming Excelsior Events do that for me on a regular basis.

It is hard to believe this all started when I started looking for a better way to be spiritually fulfilled. You can read more about that in my next post in this series How I Got Started series, Paganism.

How I Got Started: Gifts

This is part II of the How I Got Started series. Each part can be read on their own but if you want to read part I, here it is.

I started out focusing on myself. I have a lot of allergies and decided to look for some solutions that didn't include constantly popping pills because been there done that. But one holiday season I came up short on ideas of what to get anybody. I was truly wracking my brains and coming up empty on gift ideas. This year too I wanted to include my coworkers who had become close friends (ones I have to this day even though I no longer have that job). Unfortunately, I had spent lots of money on a truly wonderful vacation in Las Vegas that August, so extra money was not in my bank account.

New Gift Packaging

So I googled (my google-fu is strong) gift ideas, gift ideas for coworkers and inexpensive gifts. Thanks to the mommy bloggers (who are awesome ladies) I became aware that due to the economy that homemade and crafty gifts were the in thing. This was back in 2009 so DIY was getting big and lots of bloggers were happy to craft ideas for inexpensive gifts. One of the popular ideas was homemade bath and body products, even gift baskets for females.

And what do you know, I already make stuff like that for myself and have tons of ingredients around. However, I have intimate knowledge of my own skin but not of others. So this took some more research into the worlds of all natural skincare, aromatherapy and herbology to get a better idea of what would and wouldn't work as gifts.

I'll be honest and say that I am a naturally curious person who enjoys learning new things. However, these were just gifts to friends and family. I wanted to know enough to give them good smelling, from-the-heart gifts without giving them a nasty rash or infection. I had to be sure that what was good for me was good for my grandmother and also good for my pregnant co-worker (its not by the way).

So, in this way, I learned more. I got some great books on the various subjects covered under skincare products and some not so great ones. I also learned about packaging, which sticks with me to this day. And ultimately, what people like  in their skincare products. But this was just the beginning for me. I would have a lot to learn still, just from practice.

Original Lemon Bath Set

My first body scrubs were so oily. So much that the salt or sugar separated from the oils not too long after mixing. I used to include table salt in my bath salts just because. But those first 6 or 7 mixes are what led me here today. The Lemon Body Scrub is still my mom's and some others  favorite.

All this learning, making, mixing, designing and packaging just for a few holiday gifts was enjoyable. At that point in time my life was very practical and analytical. This was an unexpected  creative outlet. I didn't realize how much stress it helped relieve until well into January.
It made me wonder what more I could do creatively?

Find out more in my next How I Got Started post, Creativity.

How I Got Started: Allergies

Today we start a new series. This one is all about what led me to starting Scarlet Moon Creations. It will be 4 parts so look out for the other posts in the upcoming weeks. Today we'll talk about my allergies.

Image By Evan-Amos via Wikipedia Facial Tissue

 I am a walking allergic reaction waiting to happen, or at least I feel that way. I grew up always having allergies to what seems like everything. Luckily, I've only found one thing to be deadly and its been easily avoidable since that very close call. However, if you watch allergy medication commercials they'll have you thinking that people only get allergies during certain seasons or that you can only have one category of allergies. For me that has never been the case. I have indoor allergies, outdoor allergies, allergies during pollen season, allergies during weed season, even allergies during the summer and winter. I have a couple of food allergies and I'm allergic to dogs, cats, dust, mold, some insects, many cleaning supplies, and synthetic fragrances which are in our soaps, shampoos, lotions, deodorants and cosmetics. Add to that my nose is very sensitive so things like cigarette smoke and too much perfume in an enclosed space set me off as well. Even just walking past Sephora is overwhelming.

The outcomes of all this is usually sneezing, running eyes and nose but can lead to a sore throat, headache, dizziness and the absolute worst is a sinus infection which has flue-like symptoms. I get allergies 10 times more often than I've ever gotten a cold. The trade off for these mostly mild, yet annoying (and often gross), symptoms is I hardly ever get really sick. I think I get the flu once every couple of years or so and that's about it.

Which is good, but try heading to a job interview sniffling and dripping all over the place because you stood upwind from someone too liberal with their cologne on the way there? Or failing a finals test because everyone wanted the windows open to let in some "fresh air"? Or having people wonder why you have a bag full of restaurant napkins and tissues because YOU NEVER KNOW? Or being unable to breathe because you tried that glass of wine? Or taking a shower to clean up and coming out covered in hives (sneezing in the shower is not fun by the way)? Or almost dying because your event host forgot to tell you that "oops, we put walnuts in the brownies"? Or questions people's food before you eat it because you don't want to die? Or how about not remember a good time with family and friends because you were too busy blowing your brains out? Yeah, its not fun. 

A couple of years ago I had an opportunity to learn about herbs and oils (I'll go into more details about that in another post). I had up until this point just tried my best to avoid the things I could and just carried allergy medication and a ton of tissues for those I couldn't (hard to avoid the air outside when you still need to breathe). But after this one class on herbalism I talked to a few people and started doing some research on certain herbs online and that led me to finding out about all natural movement online and the fact that I can make a lot of the stuff I use at home with natural products myself. 

The internet is a rabbit hole but in this instance it was very beneficial. I had up to this point never gone to a spa for fear of having a reaction that would embarrass me and them. I had only bought one set of skin care products for my face which I only used twice, shame on me since I broke out both times using it. But now I could try making a "fancy" bath soak or a moisturizing body scrub using decadent scents that might not annoy me. I did tons of research down in that rabbit hole. I bought a few basic ingredients that I could use for other things as well if they didn't get along with my skin or nose. 

Image By NIAID via Flickr

Essential oils turned out to be a godsend. I love scent and this is something that my allergies have taken from me up until this point. But now I can use them to clean and/or scent a room as well as care for my skin and even help relieve my allergic reactions. I cannot tell you how many times I have run home to sniff some tea tree oil since I discovered its existence.

And herbs, spices, roots and resins; these items that come from trees and other plants, I have in my kitchen as well as my work room. They add great color, scent and flavor to my meals as well as my homemade bath and body products. They help heal as well as reduce inflammation. A good chamomile compress relaxes my sinus headaches while other herbs reduce the look of the dark circles I get from rubbing my eyes. What I also love is that the scents never get overwhelming like a lot of chemical fragrances. No headaches or dizziness. 

How could I not share this with others? I couldn't, so I didn't. Read more about this in next weeks post; How I Got Started: Gifts.