Dried flowers in a vessel is a tale as old as time. From beauty and the beast - the classic rose in a glass - to dried botanical herbariums, you will find a variety of containers holding dried flowers.
My personal journey with creating earth vessels started with an interaction with a complete stranger.
At the end of February 2022, a small group of my friends and I planned to gather for a peace ceremony on the beach. My heart was feeling heavy at the time - a combination of the current world events, winter and personal family challenges were taking a toll on mind, body and spirit.
Prior to the ceremony, I dropped by our local grocery store in town to look for a small bouquet of flowers for our altar. As it was winter, the shop did not have any in stock. The lovely woman that I spoke with to inquire about flowers offered me a bouquet that she had in the back that she received from our local flower guy. I thanked her for her generosity, but declined to receive them. I explained that I wasn't looking for a gift bouquet but rather that I was looking for flowers for an offering.
When she heard about our peace offering, she insisted that I wait and she would bring me the flowers. I immediately felt like running away. I felt that bubble of anxiety inside that I feel when someone offers to do something nice for me. Vestiges from feeling undeserving of receiving so much generosity and a learned pattern of low self worth were moving through my body.
When she came out, her eyes were sparkling with so much joy and life. She handed me the most beautiful bouquet I had ever seen. It was an explosion of colors. Stems of purple statice, calla lily, rosemary and bird of paradise flowers were pulsing with so much energy.
Tears sprung to my eyes and she handed them over. By the time I got into my car, the feeling of pressure in my chest released. This one kind gesture from someone that I didn't know touched me so deeply. I felt HOPE. I felt LOVE. I felt that there is still so much light in the world despite the horrors that we hear about everyday around the world.
After the ceremony, I decided to dry the flowers. A few weeks later, I created a mini vessel with a rose quartz crystal to give to the woman who gave me her bouquet. I chose rose quartz to symbolize the love that I felt from her kindness and wrote her a thank you note. It made me appreciate that we are all connected and gave me the inspiration to move forward with more acts of kindness and generosity in my day to day life.
It is no doubt that flowers can invoke deep emotions and connections, from giver to receiver, from one separated to one connected to the earth. And crystals, which are literal remnants of the earth are not only captivating in their beauty but are believed to hold wisdom from their existence through millennia.
Earth vessels are an offering of joy. A place to settle your gaze, an invitation to feel peace, and reminder of our inherent relationship with nature. A reminder that we are all connected, to each other, and to this world that we all call home.
I consider it a blessing to be able to co-create with nature in this way. And it is one of the reasons why I believe in also learning how to grow the flowers that grace our vessels. To experience the full life cycle of each one from seed to harvest. To see how they sprout, how they shift and change over time, and the way they bloom.
In 2023 we still anticipate to work with our beloved local flower farms to provide the majority of our flowers. We will most likely continue to work with them for as long as we continue to create botanical products in our studio. After embarking on my own flower growing journey, I find that I am even more grateful for just how hard our local flower growers work to bring so many beautiful blooms to life.
When you purchase an earth vessel from us, you are supporting not only Orchid & Pine, but a community of small, local, women owned and operated flower farms in our region. We are proud of these women and the hard work and dedication that they put into their work.
And I am thankful to you, and every one of you that I've met on the way on this journey of sharing earth vessels with the world. I hope that they bring you as much joy as they bring us out in the field to the studio. Thank you.
XO,
Charina