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Creating a Home Sanctuary
It goes without saying that these are difficult times. The world has changed in the last few months, and most of our daily lives have been affected in one way or another by the pandemic.
Now more than ever, it’s important that your home is a space full of creature comforts and calming energy. Here are a few ways that you can create a home sanctuary for yourself and add a touch of magic to everyday life.
Candles, Incense and Essential Oils
Aromatherapy is a powerful tool for bringing a sense of calm and relaxation into your home. A beautiful candle or oil burner serves a dual purpose of helping make a space look snug and cosy while filling the air with therapeutic aromas.
We have a number of lovely candles in stock, in both votive and chime designs. Our scents range from traditional calming fragrances like lavender and vanilla, to special symbolic blends for happiness or protection.
Essential oils are one of the most versatile aromatherapy tools. They can be burnt in lamps or diffusers, added to your evening bath, or even utilised in beauty products. From cinnamon to bergamot, rosemary to peppermint, you’ll hopefully find your favorite scent in our selection.
Lighting incense is another powerful way of bringing the magic of scent into your home. The heady, smoky scent of incense is used in cultures the world over to heal, cleanse and open spiritual faculties. We’ve got a variety of incense sticks, cones, resins and even our new unique backflow incense to suit your needs.
View our full aromatherapy collection here or read more about the magic of scent here.
Sage Smudges and Palo Santo
For Cleansing
If you’re looking to create a space free of negative energies, sage smudges and Palo Santo wood are ideal tools for cleansing. Sage is well known for its cleansing properties, while mystical Palo Santo wood from South America is widely believed to calm and heal both the mind and body. Burning sage or Palo Santo sticks will help purify your home and keep bad energies at bay.
We have a variety of sage and Palo Santo products in our collection here. You can also read more about smudging in our previous blog post here.
Singing Bowls
Tibetan or Himalayan singing bowls are commonly used throughout Asia in Buddhist ceremonial and spiritual practices. They work similarly to a bell, emitting a rich tone and deep vibration when played correctly. The sound and vibration have been known to abet feelings of stress and to balance the body’s energy.
The harmonising effect of singing bowls can be useful during meditation, yoga, and other home rituals to summon clarity and calm. The singing bowls we currently have in our collection here are made of brass and come with a wooden mallet for use.
Ornamental Crystals
Our hanging crystal prisms are a beautiful way of projecting light and colour into your sanctuary. When hung in a window, they capture light from outside and cast the room in a splendid spectrum of rainbow colours—perfect for bringing the outside world in! Prisms are also powerful symbols of spiritual energy, creativity and mysticism.
We have several different sizes of crystals in our collection, with diametres ranging from 20mm to 50mm. All crystals come complete with a brace and string for ease of hanging.
We also have a gorgeous Chakra 'Flower of Life' glass crystal set - a stunning centrepiece, adding light, colour and chakra energy to your home.
Puzzles
And lastly...we can’t forget our glorious puzzles! Puzzles have had a resurgence lately, with families and friends all gathered at home looking for a relaxing, mindful way to pass the hours. Puzzles help to gently work your mind while easing away your worries. They also give you a sense of quiet triumph when you’re finished, and you end up with a beautiful piece of art to brighten the room.
In typical Dragonspace fashion, the puzzles in our collection are all fantasy, mythology, spirituality and nature themed, from dragons to goddesses. We’ve even got some fun pop culture sets, with Harry Potter and Game of Thrones themes.
Intention Setting for the New Year
Whether or not you believe in New Year resolutions, January always brings with it a feeling of promise and transformation. The frenzy of the festive season is over, and there are twelve pages of the calendar ahead to fill with magic and memories.
This is a time where many people set goals or resolutions for the New Year. But the problem with concrete goals and resolutions is that they can be restrictive, and leave us feeling disheartened if we stray or don’t achieve what we set out to.
Intention setting is a more holistic way of mapping out the year you want to have. While similar, intentions are different than goals. For example, a goal might be “I want to lose x amount of weight.” While an intention would be, “I want to be healthier in mind, body and spirit.” A goal is focused on doing, while an intention is focused on being.
Intention setting can be explored through ritual, divination and creativity. Below, we explore some ways you can set your intentions for the year ahead.
Types of Intentions
Firstly, here are some example intentions you might want to work with:
I intend to practice kindness, forgiveness and empathy
I intend to be more present, conscious and mindful
I intend to focus on and nurture the important relationships in my life
I intend to open myself more to creativity and playfulness
I intend to be kind to myself and practice self-care
I intend to be strong and healthy in my body, mind and spirit
I intend to be bold and explore new horizons
You can make your intentions briefer or more expansive than this. An intention could even be one word: kindness, positivity, focus, gratitude, courage.
Intention Rituals
Rituals can be a nice way to activate, record and explore your intentions. Here are a few ritual ideas to think about:
Candle Rituals
With its cleansing and transformative energy, fire is an important element in intention-setting rituals. Candles are great summoner of fire, and are a key tool in most magical altars or just everyday homes.
To use candles in your intention-setting ritual, light a candle with a particular scent or colour that corresponds with your intention. For example, rose is a scent of self-love and relationships, while green is a colour of new life and fresh beginnings. Focus on the energy that the candle and its flame are emanating. You may wish to close your eyes, meditate or repeat your intention in your head. Next, write down your intention/s on a piece of paper, and then burn the paper in a fire-proof vessel using the candle flame.
Burning the intention doesn’t destroy it. It imbues the fire’s transformative energy onto the intention and sends it out into the universe. It’s a powerful way of bringing your intentions to life.
Crystal Rituals
Crystals are some of the most powerful tools you can use in your spiritual practice. They have a variety of properties and energies - healing, spiritual, protective and otherwise. Do some research and figure out what crystals best correspond with your intentions. We have a number of books on the subject in our Reference collection here.
For your simple crystal ritual, you can choose to hold the crystals in your hand, arrange them in a circle around you, or create a crystal grid. Make sure you’re in a quiet place and that your actions are deliberate. As you work with your crystals, focus on your intention/s - you might like to speak them out loud like a mantra, or recite them inside your head. Use the crystal energy to set and strengthen your intentions.
Meditation Rituals
As intention setting is all about the state of being, meditation is a perfect way to connect with your intentions. You might have your own preferred way or meditating, or it might be something new you’re exploring in 2020. Meditation for Beginners is a good book on the subject if you're new to the practice.
Once you settle into your meditation and find your inner space to focus, call on your intention like a mantra. You might hear it in your head, see it written in words, or even imagine future scenes related to your intention unfolding in your mind. Once you figure out what works for you, you can use meditation throughout the year to reconnect with your intention and refocus your energy to stay on the right path.
Divination and Intention Setting
Divination can help you refine and set your intentions if you're not sure yet what your focus will be for the year. By taking a look at future possibilities, you'll gain a better idea of what intentions will help get you there. Here are a few divinatory methods you might want to try:
Tarot Cards
Tarot readings help give us a holistic view of our past, present and future. There are various tarot spreads you can do, which we outlined in a previous blog post here. In particular, a Celtic Cross or Past-Present-Future spread can work well for intention setting. These spreads help illuminate future pathways and possibilities, and you can use the results of these readings to set your intention for the year ahead.
View all our Tarot Cards here.
Oracle Cards
Using oracle cards is a way of calling on the universe to help set your intentions. Simply sit quietly with your cards and think about the year ahead - perhaps envision the things you’d like to see happen, or the way you’d like to feel at the end of the year. Pull a card, and the message on that card can be your intention for 2020.
View all our Oracle Cards here.
Runestones
Similar to oracle cards, runestones can be used quite simply for intention setting. While focusing on the year ahead, pull a runestone out of your collection. The symbolic meaning behind the rune will help light the path for your year.
Creativity
Lastly, creative activities are another great way to explore and set your intentions for 2020. Transferring your intentions into words or images is a beautiful way to manifest them into the physical world.
Writing
If you have a journal or Book of Shadows, write down your intentions in there. You could also write them on a piece of paper and place them on your altar, another special place in your home, or carry them with you in your bag or wallet.
Art
If you’re more visually inclined, you might choose to draw or sketch scenes that relate to your intention. Vision boards are also extremely popular - create a collage from magazines, newspapers, postcards, craft materials and more that visually encapsulates your vision and intentions for 2020. Keep this in a special place, so that you can refer to it throughout the year and draw on its energy.
Whichever way you choose to set your intentions for 2020, we hope your year ahead is one of magic, exploration, fulfilment and joy. Always feel free to drop us a line if you want to know more about a topic related to myth, magic or spirituality, or come visit us to see what we've got in store. Happy New Year!
Dragonspace Christmas Gift Guide 2019
It’s heeeere, the magic season! Bells are ringing, lights are lit, and trees are strung. Now it’s time to pour yourself a mug of eggnog or a bubbling potion, and start thinking about the perfect gifts for your loved ones this Yuletide.
Below you'll find a list of thoughtful Dragonspace gift ideas for the fantasy and magic fan in your life. We’ve got a wide range of gifts available online, ready to be shipped across Canada and the USA. And if you’re in the Vancouver area, please do stop into the store on Granville Island to browse our treasures and say Merry Christmas in person! The dragons love visitors.
2020 CALENDARS AND DATEBOOKS
With 2020 right on the doorstep, a magical calendar or datebook is the perfect gift for Christmas. We’ve got a range of fantasy and spirituality themed 2020 products in store now, but a warning that these tend to sell out fast!
Some of our popular calendars include the Llewellyn Astrological Calendar, the Alchemy Gothic Calendar, and Paolo Barbieri’s Unicorns Calendar. Our Llewellyn’s Witches Datebook 2020 is also a bestseller - filled with witchy tips, recipes and reflections for the year ahead.
You can view the whole 2020 collection here.
FANTASY POP CULTURE GIFTS
2019 was a year of amazing fantasy story-telling. We had the Game of Thrones finale, the Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance premiere, and the announcement that there’ll soon be a new Middle-earth story hitting our screens from Amazon. We’ve expanded our pop culture collection in store to celebrate all this exciting fantasy content, and these products would make a memorable gift for the pop culture fan in your life.
We’ve got some incredible new puzzles in stock, featuring Labyrinth and Wizarding World themes, among others. Our swords and weapons collection feature replicas from Game of Thrones and Lord of the Rings. We’ve also got collectible coffee table books like Dungeons and Dragons: Art & Arcana, the Legend of Zelda Encyclopedia and the beautiful Harry Potter Wand Collection.
You can view our whole fantasy pop culture collection here.
CHESS SETS
After Christmas dinner has been eaten and gifts have been unwrapped, that’s when the games make their appearance! Playing games is a part of many Christmas traditions, so these stunning and unique chess sets are the perfect gift and activity for the holidays.
Our themed chess sets are made of solid resin and hand-painted with intricate details. The pieces each stand on a wide base lined with velvet. The more traditionally minded might like our Knights in Armour set, while those with quirkier tastes would prefer our Alice in Wonderland or Robin Hood themed sets. Note: for these sets, boards are sold separately.
We’ve also got a gorgeous King Arthur and Camelot themed board, featuring characters like Merlin, Guinevere and dragons cast in silver and bronze painted resin, complete with a beautiful glass board.
You can view all our chess sets here.
DIVINATION STARTER KIT
With the New Year approaching, this is the perfect time to give the gift of divination. Divination is the practice of delving into future possibilities to help make important decisions in the present.
Our most popular divinatory tools are our tarot cards. We’ve got tarot cards to suit every personality and preference, from fantasy-themed to animals and nature; witchy Wiccan to simple and traditional. All decks come with an instructional booklet to help get started. You can read more about tarot and oracle reading here.
We’ve also got a range of pendulums, which are another method of divining the future and helping to make decisions. The pendulum bodies are carved out of mystical gemstones and hung from sturdy chains. You can read more about the art of pendulum magic here.
Another great divination gift idea is our rune sets. Runes are an ancient Nordic form of divination, involving casting stones etched with ancient rune symbols. Our rune sets are carved into gemstone settings and come in a drawstring bag. You can read more about rune divination here.
We've also got a number of books on divination here, which would be the ideal accompaniment to any divination starter kit.
STOCKING STUFFERS
If you’re looking for some smaller items to fill stockings this year, then we’ve got a number of magical items to choose from. Our creative mini kits are small and compact gifts that offer fun activities or memorable tokens to collect. We’ve got Harry Potter and Game of Thrones themed kits, as well as quirky ideas like Finger Yoga, tattoo kits, Zen Gardening, mini crystal balls and more.
Incense is also always a popular stocking stuffer, and it makes everything smell divine! We’ve got traditional stick incense in a variety of scents, as well as incense cones, resin incense and sage sticks and smudges.
And there you have it, a few magical gift ideas to suit every budget and personality this Yuletide! This is just a small selection of what we've got in store - other popular gifts include our fantasy statues, sterling silver jewelry and our diverse New Age book collection.
If you have any questions or are looking for gift ideas, please do get in touch! And once again, if you're in the area, pop in to see our collection and our beautiful Christmas tree in person.
From Dragonspace, wishing you all a very merry and magical holiday season and looking forward to an enchanted 2020!
If you liked this blog post, you also might enjoy:
Gift Ideas for the Twelve Zodiac Signs
Magical Gift Guide 2017
The Pagan Origins of Christmas