Tenderness and Permission
There’s a song called “For Me” by Devin Tracy that I’ve had on loop for the past couple of days now and the first lyric that he says, Every time I get out of my way / A little bit of me is set free / Once or twice I can feel the change / I gotta do it for me. I feel like this song embodies the May message for the collective. I don’t know about you all but the themes of tenderness and liberation have been repeating for me since February, constantly reminding me that I am human and I am not a machine. I am reminded that I must take the breaks, I must take the rest, I must listen to my Self because it is the most valuable and sacred space in my life. I need to do that for me.
I recommend listening to last month’s message because there are some continuing themes here. Thank you so much for listening to this message and for the support. This is a free offering that I do for the collective every month and I spend time and energy pulling cards, recording, editing then designing everything so every listen, every share — means the world to me. If this resonated with you please don’t hesitate to tag me on Instagram @rstalchemy or on my personal Instagram.
Updates
For my 33rd birthday, my mom gifted me this beautiful inabel binakul weaved by Paoay weavers in Ilocos Norte (where my family is from) from our last trip to the Philippines (I was 15 at the time).
She told me she had lost it and I was so upset because you can only get it from the Ilocos region unless you know inabel weavers in the states. I wanted to include it in my personal practice and with RST Alchemy. It turned up just in time for my birthday and I was so happy 🥹
Using a pedal loom or pangablan, the binakul with the kusikus pattern is meant to be dizzying on purpose and it was believed that the dizzying designs would confuse, distract and protect the wearer from evil spirits that would hover and prey over sleeping souls. In other areas when you use the binakul, especially for going overseas, it would protect the person from the wrath of the wind God.
This was told to me by my mom so if any of my fellow Ilokanos want to add more info pls do! This particular pattern is sinan-paddak ti pusa (cat’s paw print) thank you Janelle!
To be able to have the opportunity to incorporate this with my practice and to share my Ilokano culture with my clients fills my heart in such a way. Thanks mom for showing support for me in this way.
I’ve been adding more tracks to my spring playlist — each season I curate a playlist to shift and transition with. I’ve already started putting together summer’s playlist and I can’t wait to share it with you all. For now, thank you for listening!