The inspiration for this week's craft came to me while drawing cards for the Pluto Retrograde, which began on April 25th and will continue all the way through October 5th when Pluto finally stations direct again. The final card was the Ace of Flames, Creation. This card represented a direct download from Pluto, lord of the underworld himself. And Creation speaks to having the space to call in something new!
For many weeks I have wanted to build an altar to the Goddess of Beauty, Creation, and Art in the corner of my studio, one of the few rooms in my house, that strangely, doesn't have an altar. I have been looking for an image of the Goddess to build the altar around, when it dawned on me! I have the means to make my own. And so this week, thanks to the inspiration from Aces of Wands, we will be building Goddess Totems to fill our homes.
What is a Totem?
I co-created my first Totem project back in 2015 (WOW! Time flies) with Turning the Wheel for "The Body Now" Summer Retreat. Over the course of four days I guided an intimate group through the process of making a Totem of Life.
Each day will center around a different aspect or strength of our own inner landscape allowing the art to reflect back to us a new sense of knowing. Each totem will become a unique expression of our shining individuality. -The Body Now
There are a few different definition of Totem, however the one I am using, that inspired this project, is a person or thing regarded as being symbolic or representative of a particular quality or concept. The Goddess Totem craft will stack together three aspects of the Goddess, made using easily accessible materials, to generate a sacred representation which can be placed on an altar.
Preparing for the Craft-a-Long
You may be asking yourself how to know which Goddess is the right one to invoke in this craft? Or worrying that your image will not be suffice to capture the power or grandeur of your chosen deity. Do not worry. The Goddess is within everything and simply waiting to appear, to be remembered, to share her wisdom again.
With right intention, and materials chosen from connecting to your internal Magick, the Totem you create will vibrate with the energy of your Goddess. Sacred art is art that transcends the world of mundane aesthetics so take time to send your inner critics away.
You do not need to know any Goddesses to create a Totem of one. You simply need three aspects of the Divine Feminine that you wish to invoke. For me the three aspects are Beauty, Art, and Creation. I have no preconceived notion of what my Totem is going to look like, but with these aspects guiding me I am sure to create something potent.
To prepare, write your three concepts down. If you do not know what three concepts to explore you could generate them using some of these ideas:
Draw three cards from an Oracle deck, or use the mini-oracle printable from my Patreon, to find three messages from the Goddess.
Return to the Heart Message prompts from the HeArt Zine and circle three words that jump out at you from your writings.
Research a Goddess and choose three aspects of her divinity.
Once you have your three words you can gather materials and wait to Craft-a-Long on Wednesday or Thursday! We will be Crafting Wednesday April 29th from 10:30 - 2:00 mtn & Thursday April 30th from 1-4:30pm mtn on Twitch.
Materials
In our time together, you will create your own unique totem, made of different sized boxes stacked together, which we will decorate and embellish to symbolize your Goddess.
Three different sized boxes that can stack together. Boxes that are good for this craft include old jewelry boxes, tea boxes, or small shipping boxes. The larger your box the longer it will take to finish, so consider the size when making your selection. You could also make boxes out of stiff paper if necessary.
Scissors.
Glue or Tape
Inspiring Materials to decorate your totem. Paper, Stickers, Washi tape, Magazine images, printed image from the internet, feathers, other natural materials, glitter, sequins, or whatever else you can drum up that inspires you. I recommend gathering a large pile to work from
The hope for these craft-a-longs is that you can begin creating without the need to order supplies or go to the store, since most of us are settled in at home. If you don't have a specific material I encourage you to think outside the box and see what else might be available to you.
No account is necessary to follow along, although if you want to participate in the chat or ask questions you will need to create a Twitch account. It's easy and Free.
Support the Craft-a-Long
All of my craft-a-longs are shared freely on Twitch. However if you are nourished by the weekly offering consider supporting them by joining my growing Patreon Community and receive a packet of handmade Joy Charms.
Support my Craft-a-Long streams on Twitch, I've added a perk to my Patreon. There are only fifteen slots available for the Joy Charms. And if you are already a patron of my Patreon, first THANK YOU! and second you can increase your patronage by $3 a month to opt in for the Joy Charm Mailing.
