Ramblin' Rose Hat Co.

This past August, after years of waiting for the right moment, I was able to fulfill a wish of having a hat made just for me. The idea of doing something like this was planted by my local friend Geninne, who when I shared how my current hat doesn't stay on my head if there is wind, said that if I were to have a hat custom made that would not happen. She then told me about the local hat maker Sam of Ramblin' Rose. I had heard of Sam via the small maker community we have here in Santa Fe, but hadn't explored her work. Once I did, it was clear that this would be the way to go, however the timing wasn't quite right.

Then, in August two things happened collided:

1. It was my birthday month and Greg asked me what I wanted.
2. I received Sam's "first to know, custom hat spots" email, stating that she was now open for new bookings.

The synergy between 1 & 2 was quite auspicious, thus I moved forward with my wish.

First step to kick off the process was making an appointment at her super cute workshop on upper canyon, to nail down measurements and design.

The process can take anywhere between 6-8 months, depending on supply chains, etc., thus, I've been practicing patience, knowing that it likely wont be ready until mid January if I'm lucky.

SHIFTING, thinking circular

Supporting Sam is a step in empowering and investing in a small, local business. Former investment banker Catherine Austin Fitts shares how the most important investment we can make is in our community. This requires a paradigm shift, instead of making purchases in anything having to do with the conglomerates, that invest our money in global companies who do not have the best interest in human beings, the animal kingdom nor Mother Earth.

Since "sen sir ship" has become a thing now, where we are not allowed to speak our minds and our freedom of speech is being threatened, I will begin to use code, like the ancient alchemists who had to hide their work and develop symbols to communicate under the guise of the dark lords.

Supporting and placing our money into specific investment companies (V), is undermining all of us. It' super important to step outside of that box and think in a circular format.

INDIE!

I am also supporting an indie, female maker and the slow fashion movement. Instead of purchasing a less expensive hat, investing in a handmade item that is made for me, by the hands of a local maker is part of the new economy which we all can be part of manifesting.

There's a phrase going around that states fashion is the second most polluting industry after oil, guess what, that's not completely true, another example of why its so important to do thorough research on things before just taking someones (a conglomerate or an organizations point of view, especially when an organization is funded by a creepy computer company.) Getting back to fashion, the most important aspects to keep in mind when making purchases is the follow,  inspired by a list on EcoCult:

• Consume less new, conventional fashion.
• Buy secondhand instead of new whenever possible
• When you have to buy new, buy it from an indie maker, or if its a bigger company choose a more sustainable label that has measured its emissions for the company or per product and is striving to reduce and offset its footprint.
• Support political action to limit global carbon emissions from every source. However, be mindful, once again everything is not what it seems Part of the dynamic here on planet Earth is that duality is everything.

If we each make the effort of spending our time, energy and money in a mindful way, we will be part of the big shift into a circular, holistic based system that holds the micro along with the macro in our collective heart.

New Mexico Adventure: Las Conchas Trail

On Monday, August 17th, we decided to head toward the Jemez Mountains and River to get some forest bathing in from a different area than our usual fifteen minute drive up to our local woods. Since we had not been to the area, and most of the lodging sites that met our criteria were booked, we deemed the trip would be more of an "exploratory mission" for a grander, future adventure.

Los Alamos

From Santa Fe we headed North for 35 miles, up winding roads toward the town of Los Alamos where we stopped at the French cafe Fleur de Lys to grab a few items for a picnic in the forest. I find the city of Los Alamos slightly creepy, mostly due to its history with creating nuclear weapons and the Manhattan Project where the government recruited scientists to live as virtual prisoners during the infamous Manhattan project. There is a quiet, unsettling energetic quality in the Los Alamos area, reminiscent of The Hawkins National Laboratory from the Stranger Things TV series or perhaps a better example is the high-security facility in Guillermo de Toro's The Shape of Water.

As we drove through the town, past Oppenheimer Drive, (named after Julius Robert Oppenheimer, the theoretical physicist credited with being the "father of the atomic bomb") that uneasy feeling continued, exasperated by the charred trees viewed topping the mountain above the city. The skeletal trees sticking up out of the landscape like matches were due to the Las Conchas Fire of 2011, that burned over 150,000 acres. Both Greg and I felt emotionally impacted by the sight of the devastation. Little did we know that a fire had started in the Rio En Medio area of the Santa Fe National Forest. Perhaps on an unconscious level we were picking up on it.

Luckily the forest that burned in the Las Conchas wildfire is slowly coming back, evident by the scrub oaks and aspens. I asked a Forest ranger about this and she confirmed my suspicion explaining that pioneer trees appear first. The scrub oak is one such tree, arriving on the scene early, as a slow-growing tree that are unpalatable to livestock and thus able to mature at significantly reduced sizes in arid, nutrient-poor soils, under harsh conditions. Other common pioneer tree species include red cedar, alder, black locust, most pines and larches, yellow poplar and aspen. 1

As the scrub oaks become dominant, their crowns form a thick canopy laying down a layer of leaves to produce mulch and, eventually, soil. By the time they have matured (which can take 40 years or more), the oaks have produced a layer of relatively rich, crumbly topsoil under a mulch of forest litter. With continuous cover, the forest soil will now be shaded and cool, and humidity within the environment is increased providing hospitable conditions for the taller trees to move in. They could not have survived in the harsher environment which the scrub trees prefer. But thanks to the enhanced soil and air created by the scrub forest, the taller trees are soon thriving. They’ll eventually shade out the older, shorter, slower-growing scrub. Once that occurs, then a “climax” forest has begun to form. At this point, the woodland is returning to a steady state of relative stability, and is on its way to becoming a mature forest once again. 2

This is reminding me of the slow moving Ents from Lord of the Rings, and how human time is completely different from the great cycles of nature and trees.

Valles Caldera

Continuing on our journey along Highway 4, we descended down into the Valles Caldera National Reserve, the site of "a spectacular volcanic eruption created the 13-mile wide circular depression now known as the Valles Caldera"3 over 1.25 million years ago.

The beautiful view of the Valle Grande meadow contains what appears to be an island, Cerro Jara, rising out of the expanse of prairie. It was humbling knowing that we were standing on the site of major magma flow as recently as 50,000 years ago. For context, the incident which created this magnificent valley was formed by an eruption 500 times greater than that of Mt. St. Helens in May of 1980! Regrettably the photo above does not quite do the beauty and magnificence of the scene much justice.

Las Conchas

Continuing along highway 4 we arrived at what we thought was going to be the first stop on our adventure, the Las Conchas Trail, which is located along the East Fork of the Jemez River. We parked and headed in stopping along the path to have our picnic lunch and then continuing along the scenic trail.

The Golden Cloak of Autumn Arrives to Santa Fe

A few of the sign posts signaling the arrival of Autumn here in Santa Fe, New Mexico have been sighted. We begin with a flowering native commonly referred to as Rabbitbrush, Chamisa, and Rubber Rabbitbrush,  the latin is Ericameria nauseous and/or Chrysothamnus nauseous.

Chamisa

Above: Chamisa in June

I find Chamisa particularly interesting to watch through the seasons. In early Spring the little, elongated leaves begin to emerge with a gorgeous sage/teal color which stays through Monsoon season until late Summer when you start to see the golden yellow flower pods. In late August early September the flowers begin to open with the landscape around Santa Fe turning gold.

Above: Chamisa in August 2019

Above: Chamisa at the end of her bloom cycle September 2017

Chamisa is a drought tolerant, perennial with great value to the pollinators and animals that browse and forage. The leaves, flowers and seeds are all food sources as well as a source of shelter for small animals, hence the name rabbitbrush.

I've witnessed chamisa to be quite tolerant in the harsh desert climate where water can be scarce while the heat and wind intense. Another lovely feature of chamisa is that it provides us with a hydrosol and essential oil.

Cholla

Above: Cholla, April 2019

Above: Cholla, September 2019

The cholla (pronounced "choy-ah") cactus, also called cane, jumping and walkingstick cactus (Cylindropuntia imbricata), is another one with variety through the seasons. From my observation, in general, the fruits begin to turn yellow gold in late Summer/early Autumn and maintain this hue almost right up until May when the cholla seems to awaken with a very short window of spectacular magenta flowers. There is some variation from plant to plant, as I have seen some of the stalks go to seed and some of the fruits dry up. This is one that I am still getting to know, and as you may recall helped in bringin forward the Perfumed Bestiary series.

I've been told that The Shed in downtown Santa Fe, cooks with the fruits of cholla.

Above: Cholla, May 2019

Above: Cholla, Late June 2019

Opuntia

Our other local cactus is the Opuntia, commonly known as Prickly Pear. The fruit is the part called the prickly pear as well as tuna, sabra, nopal (paddle, plural nopales) from the Nahuatl word nōpalli for the pads, or nostle, from the Nahuatl word nōchtli for the fruit; or paddle cactus.1

Above: Opuntia, June 2019

The fruit of the opuntia is edible, another feature of the plant is that the insect is extremely valuable in the plant dye industry. Although cactus plants exist in many parts of our Earth they native to the Americas.

This beauty comes in many colors and has a cycle which is not quite as striking through the four points of the season wheel. Below is the peach colored blossom from June with of photo of how it looks now in September.

Above: Peach Opuntia, September 2019

I've heard that besides the cochineal that live on the plant, the fruits can also be used for plant dye, thus I will be mindfully gather them and doing some tests.

Above: Juniper berries, September 2019

There are many other plants that thrive in this high desert landscape, like the pinon, juniper, asters, etc. which I will share as I continue to learn, study and communicate with them.

1 Wikipedia

Getting Dirty

Before my friend and muse, Mona Lewis, arrived in Santa Fe for the Poetry of Scent & Color workshops, I had been foraging for dirt, rocks and plants to run some tests. The dirt and rocks were to be used for creating pigments and the plants for eco printing onto fabric, as shown below.

Heading out to find these materials heightened my connection to the land and enabled a new way of seeing, a heightened perception of the colored soils and plants that grow in and around my work and home environment. I started to see the subtle variations in the hues of the earth and detect whether the reds were warm or cool.

I also started driving more consciously so that observing the plants growing by the roadside and soil colors were easier to perceive. In the process I discovered and new way to connect with the land and the sense of this place. This is now become a new mindfulness practice which is resulting in much more awareness, its like my eyes have expanded their capacity, as if they were lungs inhaling triple the amount of oxygen than before.

Although I have very little background in chemistry and none at all in geology, in the last few weeks I have noticed that at the core of the relationship between plants and minerals is that all matter is composed of chemicals.  Matter is defined as a mass that occupies space, for example plants, rocks, mountains, humans and animals. The chemicals that form matter are tiny particles which are invisible to our eyes.

In alchemy we refer to matter as our "prima materia", the first matter, the ouroboros, where everything begins and ends. Ancient texts mention the symbol of the ouroboros appearing in Egypt circa1690 BC. The serpentine image later appears in Greece where we get the origins of the word “oura” meaning “tail” and “bόros” meaning “eating”.  In many alchemical texts the image depicts a serpent or dragon, or both, eating its own tail. The circular image reminds us of how nature is cyclical, the "eternal return” and primordial unity.

The alchemical illustration above depicts the omnipresence of philosophical matter, with the cubes representing the prima materia.

"The Stone that is Mercury, is cast upon the Earth, exalted on Mountains,
resides in the Air, and is nourished in the Waters."[1]

As a visual and aromatic artist I've come to realize that I strive toward illuminating this "omnipresence" whether it is through a painting, photograph or fragrance.

Creating eco-dyes and grinding down soil for pigments has become a deepening experience, not only as a way to bond with the land and plants but also with my self. I've started to become aware how the colors of the land here in New Mexico are as diverse as the skin pigments of those who dwell here, from the very fair northern Europeans to the darker pigments from Africa. Our skin tones are a reflection of Mother Earth and she a reflection of us.

"As Above So Below,

As Within So Without"

Jennifer Butler, the visionary stylist from Los Angeles, teaches that humans have specific tonalities to their skin, such as violet, pink, gold and peach. The main underlying color of my skin is violet, which is the foundation of the color palette my essence resonates with (see photo above), where as my daughter Eve has peach as her undertone.

Learning how to hunt for rocks, soils and plants that will pigment for paint or imprint on clothe has been tremendously rewarding, opening new pathways of thinking. How this adventure will evolve and integrate with plant perfume is still unfolding as I continue to see and sense the subtle connections that unite scent and color while working continuing to work harmoniously with the Earth.

Images & Text

Photos & text ©RoxanaVilla

Alchemical Emblem "Atalanta Fugiens" 1617 by Michael Maier enhanced and collaged by Roxana Villa

[1]  Michael Maier (1568–1622) A German physician and counsellor to Rudolf II Habsburg in Prague.

The Triple Goddess: Crone in Santa Fe

As you may already know, in September, Greg and I moved from Los Angeles, California to the high desert in Santa Fe, New Mexico.  It's been a bit of a wild, Mr. Toad adventure which has presented many challenges and interesting (to say the least) characters (Crazed Tesuque lady) along the way.

A few weeks ago, along the dirt road that leads to our new temporary dwelling, we met a crone that walks with a tall staff. After passing her on the road and waving, Greg and I turned to each other and gasped, “Female Gandalf!”

"In Joseph Campbell's classic work The Hero with a Thousand Faces, the first encounter of the hero on his journey is with a protective figure who provides him with amulets or magic devices against the dangers he will face. The crone is one of the most common of these protective figures"

Then as we returned home, just before making the turn down that same dirt road, I spotted about ten bee hives to the side of a house with a little sign that said "Earth Nurse". I gasped and pointed it out to Greg. We started wondering who the “Earth Nurse” was.  ???
🐝

On another day, heading back from town along that same dusty and bumpy dirt road, we spotted the “Female Gandalf” once again. We choose to stop and say hello, assuming that she might be the "Earth Nurse”, after all she certainly embodied an Earth Nurse by her outward appearance and great staff. Her answer to the question was, “Well, the Earth nurses me.”

Indeed she is the "Earth Nurse" and in my opinion the community crone, a facilitator of balance in our little neighborhood here along the Santa Fe River. As we dialogued I learned that she is hosts many gatherings at her home and planning is to create a "closing" event for the Counter Culture exhibit currently at the New Mexico History Museum. Since the Counter Culture tribe is alive and well, particularly here in Santa Fe...meaning Holy Faith. Perhaps you have heard me mention that Santa Fe is the city of the retired hippie?

Despite the constant challenges, Santa Fe continues to enchant and surprise daily. In many ways she herself is the crone, an ancient city with a very bloody HIStory which may be being healed a bit by the creative presence found here.

Here is a link to the Counter Culture show here in Santa Fe just in case any of you are local or come for a visit in the next few weeks.

(1)  Joseph Campbell, The Hero with a Thousand Faces (orig. pub. Princeton University Press, 1968; 3rd ed. 2008), p. 57.
(2) Fine Art America, the Crone

Chamisa photo along the Santa Fe River and text ©Roxana Villa
I couldn't find attributions for the two pieces of art used in this post, if you happen to know who the artists are please leave it in the comments or send me a note. The second image says Wheel of Life, oil on canvas 1998 (?) with an attribution that is hard to read ©maiana.de perhaps?

Santa Fe National Forest

A new friend and intuitive mentioned that the hard, rocky surface of the land here in Santa Fe can make ones entry rather challenging. Indeed, that has been the case for me as I migrate through finding a home and workspace while juggling several other fire balls.

Oh, and when you land, be mindful of the cactus.

The solace is in the beauty of the landscape, whether it's the adobe structures, the scent of the Pinon trees, the surreal skies, the flavors of the food, the fresh air, the art, the expansive vistas of the desert or the nearby forest....and a combination of several of those listed coagulating within the expanse of a few minutes. Yes, it's absolutely enchanting, like the state motto claims, and a healing balm when circumstances are not aligning as one intended.

After seeing an instagram photo by Geninne of the Aspen Vista here in the nearby Santa Fe, National Forest, I was intent on experiencing it for myself. By the time we got up there we found gold at lower elevations but up in the higher elevations most of the trees had already lost their leaves.

It was still worth the twenty minute, heavenly drive from our casita in Tesuque around the mountain, past Ten Thousand Waves and into the deep forest. For there was plenty of other treasures to be found amongst the deep grounding of the woodland. I'm absolutely ecstatic to have this vibrant forest so close by and look forward to spending more time with the trees, rocks, the land and fae folk.

Luckily my little Prius has had no challenges making its way up the roads, of course there has been no snow as of yet in the lower elevations. It may not matter since the main roads are cleared regularly, especially if I have all terrain tires, we shall see, more adventures ahead.

Santa Fe, New Mexico...Home!

In the span of the last two months so much has happened, you have no idea! It's been a tumultuous ride emotionally and physically, that has felt a bit like a roller coaster through hell. Luckily, the hellish part appears to be over, what remains is a feeling of limbo as we hunt for a home.

As of today, Greg and I are renting a little two story casita in the northern part of Santa Fe called Tesuque. I'm absolutely loving the mountains here in northern Santa Fe with the spectacular sunsets, Pinon tree scented air, starry night skies, short eight minute drive into historic downtown.

Where exactly the perfumery will find its home in Santa Fe is yet to be determined. We are still on the hunt for the perfect space, or at the very least an interim location as I build the brand in this new community. I'm being flexible with the option of the new manifestation of the perfumery starting out like it did in LA, as a studio within our home OR it perhaps in a Live/Work loft space.

In the meantime I'm doing my best to set up shop in this temp space. The challenge is that there isn't much room and the prospect of setting up and moving yet again has little appeal. In the meantime I do have some product boxes and am slowly shipping out items to those who contact me privately via e-mail. Most of my tools and raw materials are in a storage pod, however if there is something you are craving please send me a note and I will see if I have it here or I can make it up for you.

What I am feeling might take place is a entire new product line based on New Mexico in the interim. I have already started making tinctures and infusions as well as obtaining other local materials such as beeswax.

Those of you who have been waiting on classes I ask for your continued patience. I'm updating the Art of Botanical Perfume which will be hosted in a different location and working on live classes. If you are interested in live classes in Los Angeles lets find a space and make that happen!

Although we are still in a limbo state, I am feeling much more grounded, clarified and ready to resume business as usual but in this very enchanted land of New Mexico. I absolutely LOVE it here and am so happy to have made the move.