Question by Old Man from Scene 24: Pagans, Wiccans, and other Earth Religion folks: What supplies from nature do you have difficulty finding?
I’ve recently made friends with a proprietor of a metaphysical/spiritual supply shop. As a gift for the opening of her store, I provided her with a quantity of fresh mistletoe and a couple of ginseng roots. Knowing I am very familiar with wood lore, she offered a business deal based on me providing various supplies, such as ash staves (you know, in connection with Yggdrasil). I’m not sure I would feel right exploiting nature for a personal financial benefit, but I would like to help her out from time to time, and to promote a little diversity in my area’s Bible Belt religious paradigm.
What natural items have you needed in the past that you had difficulty obtaining?
Best answer:
Answer by steadfast
spider webs
Add your own answer in the comments!
If you don’t feel right doing it, you certainly shouldn’t, but I personally see no problem with you selling goods for a bit of profit. Mistletoe grows back, right? So what harm is there in selling some clippings?
I’m not big on material supplies in my personal practices, so there’s nothing I am commonly looking for, but I actually find it rather refreshing to see someone interested in the needs for neopagans rather than just packaging whatever weed most easily grows in your garden (or whatever is cheapest from the wholesaler). At least you’re rpoviding an actual service for people who want specific thigns, rather than just catering to those who want “stuff” for stuff’s sake.
You’re not promoting diversity; you are merely advocating for baseless idiocy.
I’m lucky as I live rurally, so if I need anything I just have to go for a walk, I did have a problem finding a big enough piece of crystal which is used for scrying, you cant really pick stuff like that up while your out walking.
Eye of Newt, Toe of Frog, Wool of Bat, Tongue of Dog, and Nose of Turk.
(those Turks can get pretty dangerous when you try to take their noses.)
I don’t think it is exploiting nature, if you are helping other pagans to find supplies which may not exist in vast amounts where they live. I have to travel out into the city to find some of mine, though now we have lots of fruit and herbs where we are. If you were just out to destroy mother nature, that would be different. If you are asking and thanking her for her fruitfulness, then all is good 🙂
What i need really depends on what i am doing at the time. There’s not alot around my area. Though i am excited that there is a huge amount of thistle over the road, didn’t have that at my other house. Only other things apart from fruit trees, we have some lavender, varieties of sage, ginger root, our neighbours have a willow which does hang over our fence (so they don’t notice missing branches lol). hrm can’t think of anything else atm, but in the two years we’ve lived here, i’m always finding something new.
It used to be hard to find the right kind of sage for Native American “smudging.”
It has to be a short, thick bundle tied in what must be some kind of string.
Usually they light the end of the bundle, waft the smoke around with a large feather, and then stub it out in a large seashell that acts as an ashtray. The bundle can be re-used many times.
It is supposed to sanctify and purify the area where the smoke goes.
I think people would like that, and maybe especially if they were given a demonstration in the store. Your friend could sell it as a set: the sage bundle, the feather, and the seashell.
The burning sage smells lovely!