Depression Talisman

[lemonbalmgirl]

May 2013

I’ve done a bit of stitch witchery in the past, but tonight was really my first “ritual”. I kind of winged it, but I’m happy with the results.

For the past 2 months or so, since I noticed an ask-reply that asksecularwitch wrote, I’ve been designing a talisman to help me deal with my depression. (Thanks for the inspiration, Sec. ♥)

Basically, the talisman is constructed as follows:
- a locket, to hold items
- herbs that I enjoy the smell of to help jog me out of a depressed state (lemon balm)
- a photo of people/things that make me feel loved (this will be a photo of my dog)
- beads, to count out deep breaths/goods things about myself/reasons I deserve to be happy
- and the knowledge that it was created by me for this express purpose

The components of the talisman were chosen specifically because they make me happy. I looked up correspondences for stones with certain properties, but ended up mostly winging it. Amazonite because it reminds me of a beaded necklace I had as a kiddo, Botswana agate because it's gorgeous and I loved collecting agates as a kid, and Fire agate...because again, I like agates. I also crafted the necklace with a best friend, so it was made in an atmosphere of love and acceptance.

Once it was all made, I smoke-cleansed the talisman using rosemary and read aloud to the talisman what it's job was.

Currently in the locket are the written version of my dedication and a lemon balm leaf from my garden. I plan on leaving these inside either until the leaf is dried, or until a bout of depression hits - which ever happens first. I’ll burn the paper and leaf after removing them and insert new herbs and a photo of my dogchild, Ziggy.