Ready for our fall picks? We discovered some great new brands, jewelry, a mystical magical pyramid, some new esoteric reads and more. Take a look at some of our discoveries you’ll want to check out this autumn.
Bags from Park Accessories
We had an opportunity recently to review a luxury black leather tote from Park Accessories this summer. We love the quality of the leather and the fact that it zips completely, making it a great option for frequent travelers.
The tote also comes in a brown option as well — the sturdiness combined with luxury leather is what drew us to this incredibly practical bag that not only makes a great choice for travel but for everyday use as well.
They also offer a two tone Woodland Tote, which comes in both large and small and both sizes are available in six different color combo choices: red, yellow, white, medium blue, navy and black.
The Woodland Tote is made of waterproof Italian coated canvas and vachetta leather trim, and like the above all black option, it comes with two exterior plaid lined slip pockets and signature interior zip/multi pocket detail. It also has crest feet, an interior key fob and lightly coated cotton lining as well.
Above, the Woodland Tote in Navy and medium blue.
Above, in the red and white.
The bags, which are designed by a former Ralph Lauren designer, use a signature PARK crest shape nickel hardware and the large totes run around 18 inches in length by 7 inches in width by around 14 inches in height.
Visit their website for more information as well as how to order any of their bags or accessories.
Celtic Orgonite Necklace
Although this stunning Celtic necklace looks like a simple elegant fashion piece, its aim is to do much more. This unique orgonite talisman contains peridot, shungite, pyrite, silver flakes and a celtic knot as the visible part of the talisman, however behind the color is a powerful black matrix of atomized metals, peizoelectric minerals, copper shavings, shungite powder, crushed clear quartz, crushed selenite, neodymium magnet, copper coil, copper shavings, rose quartz, gold ORMUS, a herkimer diamond and crushed black tourmaline.
Whoah Nelly – that’s a mouthful right?
Think of the combination of the minerals and crystals selected as a frequency armor to assist with things like harmful EMFs. It is also aimed at helping to improve your overall mood, sleep, relieve stress and enhance meditations as well.
The folks behind this beautiful jewelry create a sacred space when they make their orgone devices — they use sound healing with Tibetan singing bowls during the curing process to increase their healing power. Apparently, this is done with each layer — how cool is that?
So versatile, as well, right? It’s a stunning piece and I have worn the necklace with a simple blue t-shirt and jeans as well as with an elegant cream dress. So far so good.
The same artists create pyramids as well and they have an Etsy store called Orgone Crystal Alchemy.
Pyramids by Orgone Crystal Alchemy
In addition to the beautiful necklace above, Angela and her husband Erick make pyramids. They began making orgonite in 2019 and she felt inspired to make a pyramid dedicated to Mary Magdalene. As she started the process, she was guided about what to add and where to put the items in the pyramid. The information came either as a brief ‘download’ or a vision and the design itself is absolutely stunning, right?
Like their jewelry, it is designed to be much more than a beautiful piece to marvel at from afar. There’s a large wire wrapped quartz point at the tip with gold flakes and rubies, the latter of which were placed in 3’s in each layer. Under the quartz are rose petals carefully placed in a blooming circle and inside the rose petals are a circle of pearls encased in a tensor ring. Remember that rubies are the stone of nobility, connected to passion, protection and prosperity.
So, as you can see, there’s quite a bit involved in making these orognite pyramids. And, Angela has worked hard on the details to make sure that they’re filled with beautiful energy as well as stones and elements that are protective in nature as well.
There are 24 karat gold flakes, rhodochrosite, blue chalcedony, morganite, Rochelle salts, gold ORMUS, neodymium magnets, copper shavings, Herkimer diamonds, rose quartz, selenite, pyrite and a copper coil and this is far from an exhaustive list.
From the bottom of the pyramid, you can see rubies placed in each of the rose-petal placements of the center of this stunning labyrinth as well as a larimar crystal. It is finished off with 6 rose petals and 24 karat gold flakes. The pyramid also contains a cross/ankh symbol (think ancient Egyptian times) and two fish symbols (which is derived from the vesica piscis symbol).
For those into Egyptian history, culture or spirituality, you’ll know that the ankh represents eternal life, immortality and the union of heaven and earth. The fish symbols represent the union of divine masculine and divine feminine, formed by the intersection of two circles overlapped.
Be sure to check out their Etsy store Orgone Crystal Alchemy for more information.
Natural Perfumes from Raw Spirit
We are huge fans of Raw Spirit, which is a natural fragrance brand with some incredible aromas. Their offerings take you to the Australian outback, the mountains of Haiti, the Florida Everglades and beyond. It is a brand born out of experiencing the unique spirits of some of the world’s oldest communities and uninhibited landscapes.
Our favorite is a scent called Winter Oak which is really versatile enough that both men and women could use it. Think of it as a luscious, deep, cozy scent that is oh so woodsy. Given how connected to the woods and earth we are, it should be no surprise that Winter Oak is our favorite pick.
The fragrance is blended with smooth, creamy notes of aged American oak and layers of suede, saffron, premium Haitian vetiver and musk.
We also really like their fragrance called Wild Fire, which is also a unisex fragrance that has a seductive, dry blend. With wild-harvested sandalwood, creamy amber, and rich floral notes, the fragrance is overall musky and rich.
It is apparently inspired by the intoxicating scent of the Western Australian outback in the intense heat of summer. Two thumbs up.
It’s awesome that Raw Spirit works with Indigenous and marginalized communities, either directly or through partnerships, to sustainably source rare and unique natural ingredients for their fragrances. From these ingredients, they create high quality, luxury fragrances that not only smell incredible—they also create economic opportunities for the communities from which they source.
We love that Raw Spirit has a female CEO and Co-Founder. While in Australia, Joyce Lanigan saw first hand the incredible injustice and imbalance between Indigenous and non-indigenous communities, which drove her to change career paths and jump into building a socially conscious business with her co-Founder and photographer Russell James. Bravo bravo!
Raw Spirit’s fragrances are broken down into category collections: Warm, Fresh and Floral. Floral and Fresh collections offer 3 different fragrances each and there are four in the warm collection, our favorite of the three collections.
Note that our two favorites are from what they referred to as the WARM collection as noted above. They offer the fragrances in one ounce sprays (which they sent us to review), in 0.25 eau de parfum rollerballs (great for traveling) and in luxury sized sprays. They also offer sets as well as lotions and hand sanitizers, perfect for traveling amidst Covid-19.
The ingredients are natural and they reference what country the core ingredients are from in each case. For example, in the Fresh Collection, a fragrance they call Bijout Vert features Haitian vetiver, grapefruit, mandarin, geranium, lotus flower, black pepper, patchouli and cedarwood. It is inspired by Haiti, the Caribbean Isle which was once known as the “Jewel of the Antilles”.
We also love that they tell you what the top, middle and base ‘notes’ are. For example with the Vijout Vert, the top notes are grapefruit and mandarin, the middle notes are Geranium, Lotus Flower and Black Pepper and the Base is Benzoin, Patchouli, Haitian Vetiver and Cedarwood.
For more information including how to order, be sure to visit their website.
Organic Duvet Sets from Square Flower
We were thrilled to find these organic duvet sets from Square Flower, which come in fine quality 60s and 80s yarn and in a very breathable 400 thread count. It took us awhile to get these in to review but it was worth the wait — their sheet sets have a smooth, buttery soft finish because of what they refer to as their 4 over 1 under sateen weave.
They tout that their long staple cotton gets softer with every wash and they use strict GOTS organic certification for their cotton lines.
The sheet sets come in a light gray, white, dark gray and navy blue.
We were thrilled to be able to review their modern, organic cotton duvet covers and matching shams and sheets. We’re loving the sateen weave and soft, organic cotton sheets (100% Long Staple & Single Ply) and although a small thing, a blessing nevertheless — they include tags on the inside to let you know which is the long side versus the short side. Why don’t all sheet manufacturers do this? It would save us all so much time.
So far, we’re fans. Check out their website for more information including how to order.
Spiritual & Esoteric Books
We recently fell upon Light of the Spirit Press which offers a variety of spiritual and esoteric books on consciousness, karma, dharma, meditation and others. For example, their “Dharma for Awakening” series (practical commentaries on the world’s scriptures) and books on how to meditate provide great overviews and practical tips.
The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali is said to be the most authoritative text on Yoga as a practice. It is also known as the Yoga Darshana because it is the fundamental text of Yoga as a philosophy (though practice is discussed), one of the six orthodox systems (darshanas) of Sanatana Dharma, the Eternal Religion.
There is no need to have “faith” in these texts, for their statements can be verified by any reader, as has been done over thousands of years by countless yogis in India. Many are living according to the principles that all sentient beings are destined to attain liberation–union with divinity–since they are eternal parts of the Supreme Spirit, the Purushottama. It’s a fascinating read.
In “Yoga: Science of the Absolute”, Abbot George Burke draws on the age-long tradition regarding this essential text, including the commentaries of Vyasa and Shankara, the most highly regarded writers on Indian philosophy and practice, as well as I. K. Taimni and other authoritative commentators, and adds his own ideas based on half a century of study and practice.
There are many titles to choose from within their collection of offerings.
Although we clearly didn’t read all of them, my favorite was Soham Yoga, largely because language and resonance fascinates me and intoning the word Soham with your breath. Our friend Kristen likened it to the Sohang chant/intonation in Kundalini yoga — not that it is the same thing of course, but moreso the analogy that different forms of yoga have intonations that bring you into the present moment with your breath and spiritual self.
As pointed out in Soham Yoga, meditation is the process of centering our awareness in the principle of pure consciousness which is our essential being. In this way, we will never lose sight of our real identity.
Insights from the book include all the various ways that Soham can work to bring us to enlightenment.
“Rather than disperse our consciousness through objects that draw us outward, away from the source of our being, we can take an object that will have the opposite effect, present it to the mind, and reverse our consciousness.”
The book asserts that by “sitting with closed eyes and letting the mind become easefully absorbed in experiencing the inner mental repetitions of Soham, we thereby directly enter into the state of consciousness that is Soham, the state of consciousness that is both Brahman the Absolute and our Self.”
Check out their website for more information and how to order any of their riveting spiritual reads.
NOTE: we do receive products in from vendors to review all the time including many of those mentioned above, however all opinions expressed are entirely our own.
Renee Blodgett is the founder of We Blog the World. The site combines the magic of an online culture and travel magazine with a global blog network and has contributors from every continent in the world. Having lived in 10 countries and explored nearly 80, she is an avid traveler, and a lover, observer and participant in cultural diversity.
She is also the CEO and founder of Magic Sauce Media, a new media services consultancy focused on viral marketing, social media, branding, events and PR. For over 20 years, she has helped companies from 12 countries get traction in the market. Known for her global and organic approach to product and corporate launches, Renee practices what she pitches and as an active user of social media, she helps clients navigate digital waters from around the world. Renee has been blogging for over 16 years and regularly writes on her personal blog Down the Avenue, Huffington Post, BlogHer, We Blog the World and other sites. She was ranked #12 Social Media Influencer by Forbes Magazine and is listed as a new media influencer and game changer on various sites and books on the new media revolution. In 2013, she was listed as the 6th most influential woman in social media by Forbes Magazine on a Top 20 List.
Her passion for art, storytelling and photography led to the launch of Magic Sauce Photography, which is a visual extension of her writing, the result of which has led to producing six photo books: Galapagos Islands, London, South Africa, Rome, Urbanization and Ecuador.
Renee is also the co-founder of Traveling Geeks, an initiative that brings entrepreneurs, thought leaders, bloggers, creators, curators and influencers to other countries to share and learn from peers, governments, corporations, and the general public in order to educate, share, evaluate, and promote innovative technologies.
