Discerning the Difference

 

volva botanical products

Every single botanical VOLVA product is crafted by myself using the plants that have been sown, grown, nurtured and harvested by me in my specifically created medicine garden in Scotland. Rarely - when some plants are not available or are not possible to grow in the space (like giant Oaks!) - are the plants are foraged with respect from the local area. I know the plants and they know me; we work as a team to share their incredible medicine with you.

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As responsible spiritual seekers and practitioners, it is our duty to add to the magic of the world, not deplete it or harm it. The tools and preparations we use in our craft are an essential part of ensuring this. I have been practising for over 30 years and I've seen fashions for specific herbs, oils, crystals, etc come and go. The more exotic and rare the item, the more it's coveted. But we have everything we need around us. A wise witch knows that native plants have their own medicine that is specific to The Land and its history, and that working with these plant allies is a powerful spiritual experience and often a 'home coming'- it is a fool who thinks that a herb from the Amazonian rainforest is more powerful, more ethical or more magical than those on her doorstep.

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Herbs like White Sage have become incredibly popular as smudge and, due to this, the deserts of native lands in California are being desecrated to fulfil the demand. White Sage is an incredible herb but its use now is damaging to The Land and The People. I have a small stock of oil that was purchased a few years ago and I will not purchase it again as long as the lands are damaged. I have grown White Sage with some success but it is not native to the lands here and this is why the success is limited. Alternatives to White Sage are many; there are lots of herbs that cleanse a space and aura and create a new energetic pathway. We have a huge array of native herbs in Scotland to choose from and we can easily substitute one herb for a more ethically harvested one that allows White Sage, The Land and The People to recover. This is respectful, considered craft and it is important to discern the difference.​

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volva flower essences

Flower essences are mainly used internally and they are among the safest possible preparations to take internally - they are essentially homeopathic in nature and are vibrational medicine. VOLVA essences are also spiritually aligned. But unfortunately I cannot state that you can use them in this way. It is required to be stated here that these essences are only for anointing sacred items to deepen your spiritual work - such as rattles, drums, robes, tools and other ceremonial, ritual and craft items - and not for skin application or internal use. 

 

In order for my essences to be stated as suitable for internal use, there is a regulatory process to go through that requires approval from specific authorities. A stamp of regulatory approval does not, however, mean a better quality of product - in fact for certain preparations, I will argue that it produces a lesser quality product. Currently, I refuse to go through the regulatory process and here's why.

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Folk medicine (also known as traditional medicine) has been used for centuries, based on experience, indigenous skills and practices, and ancestral knowledge, before the era of what we now consider modern 'medicine'. Even now in some countries, over 80% of the population choose folk medicine over modern approaches. To me, one of the main aspects of folk medicine is autonomy - we can have autonomy over our own health with plants and herbs that are freely available to us, whether through growing them ourselves or foraging for what grows natively in our own landscape.

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Folk medicine is empowerment. When we begin to ask authorities for their approval of our folk medicine then we hand that power over to the authority; it is no longer medicine that belongs to us. The harvesting, preparation and crafting processes are dictated by the authority.  The authority also decides whether that medicine is deemed satisfactory for us to use, instead of our trusting our own research, experience and knowledge to help us make the right decisions for our own health. When folk medicine becomes authority controlled, it ceases to be folk medicine. 

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Commercial companies who have received regulatory approval to sell their essences for internal use usually do not grow every flower they use. This means there is a disconnect between the practitioner and the plant and there is vital communication from the plant missed. Their processes are often commercially guided and boiling the flowers is commonly used instead of solarising them because it is more commercially viable. I need not tell you that the effects of boiling water are not the same as those of the Sun.

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They are generally made in vast numbers to fulfil commercial stock levels and once the focus of production becomes about their commercialism, sacredness has gone - sadly this is the nature of commercialism. This process also means they are sitting on shelves in shops and stored with warehouses and online retailers for months on end.

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With VOLVA, your essences are created from the Mother Essence when you order them. The Mother Essence has been crafted at the peak time of the plant and preserved and stored respectfully in a dedicated apothecary that is used only for the purposes of VOLVA medicines and practices. It is a sacred place.  I personally consider VOLVA flower essences to be superior in energy and vibration because the plant, the flower, the Mother and your essence is treated with respect and reverence at every single stage, from sowing the seed to the bottle in your hand. Commercial viability is not a consideration in their crafting.

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I provide here as much information as possible for you to make a fully informed decision for your own wellbeing. While I have prescribed my essences to the clients of my private practice for years - and they have used them internally with incredible and profound results - if you choose to use VOLVA essences in other ways other than what is stated, please note this is at your own risk.

Please see the Disclaimer and Terms and Conditions sections for more information. 

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volva tools

As a practising Hag who is a little longer in the tooth, I can tell you that tools such as crystals are not what they once were. Again, commercialism has impacted this considerably. Mining practices, dyeing, synthetics and lab grown crystals are the result of increased demand. Now, I know crystals are addictive - goodness knows, I know! - but we must be mindful of what we are purchasing. These are souls from The Earth, from the oldest kingdom on Earth. From the Elders that were there at the beginning of time - The Stone People. They hold history and wisdom within them.

Any crystals that are for purchase here are communed with first and foremost. They are often from my private collection and have expressed the need to move on to the next step of their journey - crystals speak and if we listen, we know their story. It will be rare that any 'new' crystals will be for sale here, but when they are I consider them to be suitable to use.