Image @digital_errors

As with many traditions and celebrations that appear in our modern age, Halloween holds strong roots to pagan rituals. While the term pagan can make people a bit uncomfortable, it simply refers to cultures and groups of people whose religious beliefs were/are strongly rooted in nature.

Back in the day, Halloween was referred to as Samhain, a word that meant “summer’s end”. For the pagans, October 31st was a day that marked the transition into a long, dark winter. This was a time that required an investment of faith with many questions up in the air regarding survival; will we survive through winter? do we have enough provisions? if a sickness runs through the clan, have we stocked enough healing herbs for cures?

And while faith needed to be strong, ritual was there to assist. On October 31st, pagans lit large bonfires to symbolically stave of the darkness and honour a new year, while curing their harvested meats for the winter. They also left out offerings for spirits and faeries, like the best meats and finest herbs. With October 31st being the darkest day of the year, it meant that spirits have more time on earth and pagans paid tribute accordingly.

The Underworld Veil 

Pagans honoured the crucial moment when October 31st became November 1st (or 1/11), as this is when it it was believed spiritual activity was at its highest. The vibration around the number 111 offers up symbolism surrounding the thin veil between the underworld and the living world. The number 1 in the middle is representative of being stuck between those two worlds. The veil between the living and dead is also thinnest as the sun moves into the sign of Scorpio, where intuition and connection to both the underworld and our shadow selves runs deep. This thin veil is also why we put out carved pumpkins and dress up, in order to confuse and keep away negative spirits that may be out and about.

As the veil thins between the two worlds at this time, spirits and humans alike have easier access to travel to different dimensions, offering a wonderful opportunity for us to connect deep with our shadow selves and find what may be holding us back. This accessible time to spiritual revelation can help open our eyes, letting us know what we need to let die, in order to move forward,  beautifully and with power.

Celebrating Our Deaths 

The alignment with Scorpio season is no coincidence. The energy of the Scorpio is all about celebrating transformation and honouring cycles. Death and rebirth are prominent themes during this time, bringing us to reflect that our lives, like nature, undergo deaths and rebirths frequently.

From a spiritual perspective, we can leverage the opening of this portal between the underworld and the living, and invite connection to our deeper shadow selves, as well as celebrate the deaths we experienced this past year. What old patterns did you let die? What new creations are you ready to birth? Halloween is a time to honour your past self, your past relationships, mindsets and habits and allow them to die. Halloween is a time to let go.

This is when we allow our energy to shift into a new cycle, in tune with nature and with the spirit realm. It is a powerful time to embrace change and move forward into a new journey, a new self.

Happy Halloween!

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Kumiko SHIMIZU

The lotus is the national flower of India and Vietnam, due to its popularity as well as its spiritual significance and cultural symbolism. Prominently present in Buddhism and Hinduism religions, the lotus has long been associated with many legends, myths and divine connotations, highly regarded as one of the world’s more mystical natural creations. For some, the lotus symbolizes ultimate perfection, spiritual enlightenment and relates to the ability of our souls to expand.

As our souls grow, we are in a better position to welcome the purity and beauty of life with a clear and higher consciousness.

In This Life or The Next

Buddhists believe that the lotus is representative of the cause and effect principle. Shedding its seeds while simultaneously blooming, the lotus actualizes the belief that every action or thought will cause an effect or reaction, which will be experienced or felt in this life or in one of our future lives.

Purity and Rebirth

Recognized as a beautiful flower that emerges from the bottom of murky and unclean pond, the lotus radiates and remains magnificent as it continues to flourish in a space of dirt and mud. As such it is acknowledged as a flower associated with purity and the ability aid us in our path to spiritual enlightenment. In Hinduism, the Lotus is identified as the flower of fertility, spirituality, prosperity and beauty.

The Lotus Pose

Arguably one of the most recognizable yoga poses, the Lotus pose offers a series of holistic benefits including stimulating the lymphatic system, releasing emotional blockages in the hips and helping us get grounded by connect us with our root chakras.

Image Credit
Alesia Kazantceva
We all know that working a typical office job and spending 40+ hours a week indoors can have effects on our sense of wellbeing. Add the stresses of a daily work load, along with crouching over a computer while fuelling exhaustion with caffeine and we’re setting our systems up for low vibe living.

We’ve curated a selection of office-friendly items that can easily be incorporated into your day-to-day for workplace wellness.

A Mini USB Himalayan Salt Lamp

We all know that the benefits of having a Himalayan salt lamp in our atmosphere are abundant, however most of us are only getting the goods at home. A Himalayan salt lamp will not only work to improve the air quality and help fight allergies, it’s also an amazing tool for those of us who aren’t getting outside much during our work day. Its soothing light can help bring calmness to a stressful day, increase focus and boost your mood.

This small USB Himalayan Salt Lamp by Earth Luxe (available at Indigo online is the perfect way to boost the vibration around your personal workspace).

Natural Energy Booster 

Forget the mid-afternoon candy run to get you through the day. A large sugar intake will only work to set our systems up for a crash, and can potentially mess with our sleep later. If you’re feeling the need for a nutritional boost, we suggest keeping a box of nomz in your desk. With six natural ingredients or less, these delicious energy bits come in four amazing varieties and are perfect to curb that afternoon junk food craving.

Sip to Restore 

Coffee is a steady workplace crutch for many of us, and often the habit of more than a cup or two can leave us with the jitters, ultimately decreasing our resistance to stress and anxiety. If you are looking for a seriously soothing hot beverage that will uplift and rejuvenate without the jitters, we highly recommend Lee’s Tea Original. The Three Tulsi Blend will ground you quickly, while calming nerves and maintaining energy.

An Essential Oil Roll-On

Certain scents have an amazing capacity for calming and de-stressing, carrying aromatherapeutic qualities that can benefit us highly when we are feeling overwhelmed, nervous, and stressed. That said, scents are tricky in the workplace so we suggest carrying a roll-on like Stress Release from Blends with Benefits for an immediate effect on the body and mind.

A Cactus

Bits of greenery and nature in the workspace can help calm and uplift us so it’s always recommended to have at least one desk plant. And while any type of plant will do the trick, we tend to favour the cactus in the workplace based on its spiritual symbolism. The cactus can thrive in difficult conditions, which can help inspire us to carry on with grace, as we face daily stresses and challenges.

Image by Ember + Ivory 

Small changes can go a long way when it comes to increasing your well-being and making sure we are well in all the places we are spending our time is important. Along with these products, simple techniques like making yourself go for a small walk outdoors or eating your lunch in a space away from your desk can do wonders. Take care of yourself in all the places you are.

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FOODISM360
Sure, eating too much avocado on toast may mean you will never be able to afford a home, but who needs the trappings of modern wealth when you are able to nourish your mind, body and soul with the simplistic beauty of a single fruit?

Quick Facts

Fruit of the tree Persea americana, the avocado is native to Mexico and Central America, classified in the flowering plant family Lauraceae. Characterized by its oval or pear-shape, rough skin and large seed, the fruit has been referred to as the avocado pear or alligator pear. 

The earliest account of the avocado’s presence in Europe is from 1519. The avocado was later introduced to Indonesia by 1750, Brazil in 1809, and South Africa and Australia in the late 19th century. The actual word “avocado” derives from a Nahuatl Indian (Aztec) word  “ahuácatl” which in fact means testicle.

It is thought that the reference is either due to the avocado’s shape or the fact that it was considered to possess aphrodisiac qualities by the Aztecs. Leading us into the symbolism of this sacred fruit.

Spirituality and Symbolism

The avocado acts as an Aztec symbol of love. An avocado tree can live for hundreds of years and a pair of avocados living and growing together on a tree symbolizes relationship love. An ideal husband would bring a pair of avocados to his wife as an outward display of love. The Aztecs also associated the avocado with fertility, recognizing it as the fruit of lust which could act as a natural aphrodisiac.

The avocado is recognized as a source of energy, health and beauty, and unlike our friend the cactus, needs specific conditions to survive. We embrace the avocado as a symbol of love (for both self and others) and the transferring of our inner beauty into our physical bodies.

Brief History 

Turquoise is a healing legend in the world of woo woo. One of the first gemstones to be mined, the stone made its debut in ancient Egypt around 6000 BCE, incorporated into the designs of protective shields and made into jewellery for the likes of royalty including miss Cleopatra herself. Native Americans have long used Turquoise as a sacred stone to create a healing connection between heaven and earth.

Good Vibrations and Alignment 

Turquoise is one of the best stones to work with if you are feeling out of alignment. It is known for increasing energy flow, enhancing protection and clearing blockages in the Throat Chakra, thereby assisting in our ability to communicate our truth and self-love, awareness and self-realization.

Promoting a high vibration of love, turquoise is a good stone to wear if we are lacking in our personal confidence. Wear a piece of turquoise when you have a presentation or a task to perform in front of others that has you feeling a little shy, as it will help to remove self-doubt, guiding our communication to be clear and concise.

Well-Being and Inner Peace

Adding a pop of turquoise to your daily wardrobe is an excellent way to incorporate feelings of inner-peace, tranquility and an overall sense of well-being. The energetic vibrations that we can draw from turquoise make it an excellent stone to use in meditations as well as when we are working on creating positive affirmations.

Turquoise is an excellent stone to work with when striving to apply Law of Attraction to your life as it will enhance your emotional frequencies and promote feelings of clarity, gratitude and abundance, in turn, drawing those things into your daily experience.

Below are simply chic ways to incorporate turquoise into your day to day.

Khorasan – Mala Prayer

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Turquoise Bracelet – Gorjana

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Slice Boho Chic Necklace – Etsy.ca

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Image Source: Energy Muse

Aesthetically pleasing and the perfect compliment to Instagram flat lays, Rose Quartz has been manifesting itself increasingly into our daily experiences at Age of Lapin and we thought it was time to pay more attention.

Naturally attractive with a light pink hue, Rose Quartz has long been deemed the stone of the hopeless romantic and has been used in love ceremonies and rituals for centuries. While it was Greek and Roman myth that first deemed Rose Quartz the stone of love, early Egyptians were the first to use it in beauty rituals, with the belief that it could prevent signs of aging.

Whether in its raw form or polished state, the soft pink of this stone will, without a doubt, magnetically draw those who are most in need. And while those who are looking for relationship love may search out Rose Quartz to assist in this area, we have found it to be a stone that works powerfully when we are in need of boosting our own love of self. You may find yourself drawn to Rose Quartz if you are feeling a need to reassert your personal determination in life or if you are feeling out of alignment and in search of something to soothe your soul.

Our relationship with ourselves is the ones we must pay strongest attention to in order to ensure other areas of our lives flow with positivity. If we are lacking in self-love, then all other areas of our lives are likely to be affected; relationships, work, and even our health.

Healing Properties (Emotional/Energy)

A stone of universal love, Rose Quartz is naturally healing, bringing forth warmth and compassion and is used to restore trust and harmony within self and for others. Rose Quartz encourages us to move towards self-acceptance and self-love, making it easier to extend these feelings towards those in our lives and those we come in contact with. Rose Quartz is useful for dispelling harmful negativity, and opening the heart and soul to welcoming more loving vibrations into your existence. Rose Quartz can have a calming affect, bringing peace and harmony to those suffering inner turmoil and grief. Rose Quartz can activate our Heart Chakra and as it is considered one of the stones of the Great Mother, it can also aid in our feelings of oneness with the Earth and Universe as a whole.

Daily Application

Meditating: Meditating with Rose Quartz will work towards releasing old emotional patterns that hold us back, and increase our vibrational frequency of compassion, both for others and the self.

In the Work Place: A piece of Rose Quartz in the work place can bring calming energy and aid in keeping nasty workplace gossip at bay.

In the Home: An excellent piece to keep on a mantle or beside the bedside table, Rose Quartz will elicit a calming and loving energy, opening members of one’s household up to greater communication, compassion and love.

Jewellery: Its lovely pink tone makes Rose Quartz a gorgeous piece of spiritual jewellery. Wear a piece of Rose Quartz to insert compassion, self-love and expressions of peace into your day to day.

Six easy ways to incorporate Rose Quartz into your daily life.

Rose Quartz Crystal Pipe, Tokyo Smoke

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Rose Quartz Hearts, The Rock Store

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Illuminating Body Oil, Herbivore Botanicals

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Raw Rose Quartz Necklace, Etsy.ca

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Rose Quartz Plant Holder, Etsy.ca

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Rose Quartz Roller, Skin Gym