Ivory Isis Herbals

Making Herbal Burn Bundles

Today we're going to discuss how to easily make your own herbal burn bundles.

Please note that I do not call them "smudge" as that is an Indigenous-only term and should not be used when burning herbs for cleansing by those who are not of Indigenous ancestry.

I also do not use White Sage as it's an Indigenous-use only herb which is becoming endangered due to overharvesting by large businesses. I typically make mine from Mugwort, a prolific herb from Asia that grows easily in the United States. Garden Sage is very similar to White Sage and it is an easy alternative to use instead!

Materials Needed:
* Dried herbs (Garden Sage, Mugwort, Rosemary, Prairie Sage, Lavender, etc.)
* Raffia, h**p cord, or light string (Raffia burns the easiest and is the most natural cordage that you can use) 

1. Pick your herbs. Dry them. Wait until they are very dry to wrap your bundles.
2. Gather herbs together to make a bundle. Make sure your base is even. Cut herbs at about 6" or so long. Keep the extra loose herbs for later. (You can burn these loosely in a fire in the future.)
3. Tie herbs at their base with a basic overhand knot. Weave your raffia or string around the outside from the bottom to the top of the bundle.
4. Repeat this from the top to the bottom of the bundle.
5. Tie at the base with another overhand knot, followed by a looped knot, and cut off any excess string.
6. Burn as needed and enjoy!

Florida Water, Part II

Since its appearance at the beginning of the 19th century, people of different countries, religions, and cultures have found endless ways to use this cologne water. You’ll find a long list of online videos guiding you on how to use the liquid for spiritual purposes: to find the love of your life, to remove bad vibrations, to attract good health and fortune. The use of Florida Water can be found in spiritual traditions such as Voodoo, Hoodoo, and Santería, among others.

Florida Water became a discreet blessing spray, popularly used in voodoo, hoodoo, and folk magic to bless the home. I personally believe that if you want to remove negative energy, that you need to follow up and fill your space with positive energy, so I often suggest that for a serious cleansing, you use my Three Sage Spray to remove the energy, and my Florida Water to provide positive intent and blessings.  

Florida Water can be added to your mop water, used to clean your walls, tables, and chairs, and even incorporated into your laundry. The floor wash is a practice used since the advent of Florida Water, where enslaved African-Americans would use it to scent bed linens and wash the floor. When the freedom to practice your spirituality is taken away, you have to be inventive and discreet. Florida Water became an important tool in maintaining magical practices.

The popularity of Florida Water says something about how we continue to associate pleasant smells with purification and cleansing. Good smells bring along good vibrations. Florida Water has definitely hit the sweet spot in creating a scent that has crossed borders and been adopted by many different cultures.

Fabrice Dangany, also known as Maître P, shares his tips on using Florida Water. He suggests leaving an unopened bottle outside your house on a Wednesday evening during a rising moon. The following day - before talking to anyone - you open the bottle and spritz it onto yourself, throughout your home, on the walls, the floor, even on your children and spouse.

All of my plants are going to be on Final Clearance Sale! Prices as low as &$5 a pot and $40 to $60 for my hand-curated terrariums!

This weekend only at the Southern Gothic Maker's Market The Village Guild at Heritage Hall, 117 W Kansas St, Liberty MO 64068

We are open Friday September 25th from 6 - 9 PM and Saturday September 26th from 11 - 6 PM.

Drenched in romantic charm with a hint of the macabre, The Southern Gothic Maker’s Market is not to be missed!

With deliciously dark, sinfully surprising handmade goods and wares, this unique event is sure to thrill anyone with a penchant for the odd and unusual!

With 45 unique local artisans & vendors to shop from, this event is packed with surprises and fun, with spooky sweet treats, fine art, and wonderful witchy wares to spare!

This market takes place during the Liberty Fall Festival weekend, the BIGGEST annual event in Liberty! 🎪🎆

We're hosting INDOORS in a climate-controlled environment, with convenient nearby parking, all within walking distance to the fun & festivities on the Square!

We'll have:

🦴💀🦋Purveyors of Ethically-Sourced Skulls, Bones, & Natural Collections

🏺Ceramics & Pottery

🕯🧼 Hand-poured Candles, Soaps, Shampoos, & Fine Fragrances

🎀 Eclectic Handmade Gifts

🧿🧙🏻‍♀️ Witchy-Themed Items and Home decor

🥖🍪🍰Baked Goods & Treat Vendors

💎🎨👗Jewelry, Art, Textiles, & Much, Much More!

Join us for an unforgettably unusual, eerily fun handmade shopping experience!

witchy southerngothic

Did You Know?
Did you know that a large portion of my products are inspired by or natural variations of historical products that existed in the past? My popular Florida Water Blessing Spray came about because one day I noticed that my father-in-law had a bottle of it in his bathroom. I'd never seen it before and I was very curious about it because of the old-fashioned label and scent. As a person who will always prefer antique over modern, I researched it extensively.
Florida Water is a unisex eau de cologne that was commercialized in the United States at the beginning of the 19th century. It started out as a generic drugstore product. North American druggists would produce their own Florida Waters, but it just so happened that Murray & Lanman (now known as Lanman & Kemp) created the bottle and label that would become world-famous. Robert Murray was the nose behind the fragrant recipe. Lanman & Kemp still produce Florida Water, as well as several related products such as soap and room freshener. At this point I function as those types, creating my own. In an advertisemement by Murray & Lanman from the 1860s, the origins of Florida Water were attributed to Spanish-speaking colonies — the West Indies, Cuba, and South America. It’s also been described as an American take on the French eau de cologne.
During the Victorian era, when strong smells were frowned upon in upper-class American society, Florida Water became the perfume that everyone liked - both men and women. In the 1936 novel Gone with the Wind, Florida Water is mentioned as one of the things that “a lady may accept from a gentleman.” In a chapter about perfumes from The Woman’s Book (1894), it dictates that should a woman “desire to add Florida Water or Farina cologne to her bath, the perfume it leaves about her person will not be sufficiently powerful to cause discomfort to anyone."

So how does it actually smell? It has a refreshing smell, a typical cologne with citrus notes, but sweeter than usual due to the emphasis on sweet orange and lavender with hints of rose and clove.
Photos here are from a Kansas City drug store's bottles, Woodward, Faxon, & Co, taken by local bottle collector Kenny Resser.

The Southern Gothic Maker's Market is on Friday evening 6 - 10 PM and Saturday from 11:00 - 6:00 PM hosted by The Village Guild
I'll be at Heritage Hall, 117 W Kansas St, Liberty MO 64068 and I'll have all my herbal products, and discounted terrariums and plants for sale!
Please come out and see me! I would love to see you and I definitely need sales in order to stay in business!!
Reminder that I'm cutting back on markets in the future. This will be one of the last ones this year that I'm vending at because sales have been very low for me at events this year. I've barely made any money back, so I can't afford to book more events. Small businesses are struggling! Help us out by directing your money to us vs big box stores. This will be a fantastic event! Lots of fun quality vendors and local small businesses.

Would anyone I know mind sharing this event or even purchasing a ticket and coming out? I'm a volunteer at Elmwood Cemetery, a historic Victorian cemetery in Kansas City, and I'm a re-enactor at this event.

We could use some help getting the word out about our annual Elmwood Picnic fundraiser.

Tickets are $50 for Stroud's lunch at 11:00 AM, gravestone cleaning is $10 at 9:00 AM, and we're having historic and arboretum tours of the cemetery. We'll also have live music. We'd love to see you come out!

Link in B!o and comments

I was recently interviewed by VoyageKC and I thought I'd share!

Inspiring Conversations with Tania Rounds of Ivory Isis Herbals Today we’d like to introduce you to Tania Rounds. Hi Tania, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today? My business started from a personal […]