I'm often asked “what inspires you to create a mala” and the answer to that question isn’t exactly straight forward. There’s so many different sparks that inspire their creation and each one has their own unique story. So I thought I’d share a little more insight in to the long answer to this question.
The creative process is such a blessing and allowing it to flow, no matter where it comes from, is the truest form of expression I think one can explore. So here are some of the most common journeys taken to create the malas you find here.
MEDITATION
I meditate regularly and I often experience visions of gemstones, colours and beads forming patterns and creations. The visions vary from swirls of colours, to gemstone beads dropping from the ceiling of my mind in to layouts, to entirely completed malas just appearing in my mind's eye.
One of my earliest malas "She is Sunrise" was created after a guided meditation in a yoga class. The colours of a sunrise, so vibrant and healing shone bright and the gemstones required to create that mala just lept in to my mind saying "string me together". I wanted to create the image of the sun rising above a quiet ocean with the dark night sky, moon and stars above. The vision was so clear, so I went home and created this mala...
More recently in a chanting session I received a fully completed mala. Every stone, their placement and even her name just appeared, BOOM, in my mind. She is currently sitting laid out in my studio and will be strung soon along with a number of brand news malas soon to be released! Make sure you're subscribed to the newsletter to receive the announcement of this new and very exciting collection.
GEMSTONES
Sometimes, I receive stock that excites me so much I have to build a mala around it. The first time I received moonstone from one of my favourite suppliers, I simply melted when I held it. And so Moondust Mala was born.
The entire Jaipur collection was created because of the stunning pendants and beads I was receiving from Jaipur in India. I had taken the leap to start dealing with wholesalers directly; and while it took me countless hours selecting suppliers, designing, communicating, negotiating and purchasing, it was all so worth it when I started receiving exactly what I wanted at the highest quality. The Jaipur collection is a celebration of these beautiful new relationships and materials joining my offering.
Recently, I had a custom order that required green watermelon tourmaline, which I didn't have in my collection. Very specific, rare and not possible to buy on its own, but instead must be cherry picked from a string of multi-coloured watermelon tourmaline. Once the minimum quantity was ordered and the 28 green beads I needed were selected, I was left with quite a few strands of stunning tourmaline beads. I simply threaded them straight from their strings in to the Ananda Mala with some clear quartz, and she has become one of my most popular malas yet. This stone sells itself and will now always be a part of my collection! I just LOVE it.
RESEARCH
I’ll be reading about the qualities of gemstones and decide that a mala just needs to be dedicated to them, like this excerpt from www.crystalvaults.com
“Sunstone carries yang energy, and balances with the yin of Moonstone. Worn together, these stones integrate god and goddess powers, assertive and outward success and inner harmony within your life. [Simmons, 388][Eason, 116]”
And so Sri Yantra was born...
Since I spend a lot of my time immersed in researching and personal experience of the vibrational qualities of crystals, I get a sense for their intentions and the combinations that would be beneficial and bring healing. Certain stones just speak to me to be combined and so I honour their call and create. For example, as I started working more with Howlite and then learned more about the calming qualities of blue stones, She is Peace was created.
PEOPLE
When you surround yourself with inspiring people, you can't help but be inspired. My majestic yoga master Doreena Scales from Peace Yoga & Meditation Centre was having a birthday and so I created the She is Majestic mala to gift her on her sacred day of birth. I wanted it to not only support her in her work of reiki and yoga training, but also reflect her angelic and loving nature, as well as express how much I love her. I thought on this mala for months and was so happy with the outcome, not to mention completely chuffed to give it to her and then enjoy knowing she wears it every day.
CUSTOM ORDERS
Every custom order is an inspiring journey. And every one is an amazingly unique creation combining the intentions of the client, intuition and everything else mentioned above. It's hard to explain exactly how the creative process unfolds for each one, since they are all so different, but it is one of my absolute favourite parts of this business. I never know what will come of each one and am always in awe witnessing myself as the vessel to deliver these malas to their forever homes.
The biggest blessing of all the journey's taken to create a mala is the pure love and connection to source I feel flow through me as it happens. And so I thank you so very much for allowing me to share a little piece of this here, and I hope it inspires you to explore your own creative journeys, wherever they may lead you.