Celebrate Easter and Ostara by Giving Gifts of Eggs

image credit -photo by MnGyver, taken in
Covent Garden, London, England as part
of an Egg Hunt Celebration featuring
giant-sized Faberge-style eggs.

"Omne vivum ex ovo" - All Life Comes From an Egg. So, Let's Celebrate the Symbolism of Easter Eggs.

Easter falls on April 5th and Ostara falls on March 20th this year, and with it comes the Spring Equinox and the celebration of The Resurrection of Christ. The symbolism of the egg is ancient and has remained through the millennia. The egg is the ultimate symbol of life, as an old Latin proverb is written, "Omne vivum ex ovo," meaning "All life comes from an egg."

Today, the most common use of Easter eggs is within Christianity, where the egg symbolizes the embodiment of Christ, or the tomb of Christ. In the earliest Christian practices and still in today's Orthodox Christian religion, eggs are dyed the color red to symbolize the blood of Christ, as shed on the cross. The egg is not a symbolism of death, however, as Christ was resurrected.

Now, we paint Easter eggs all wonderful, pretty colors and decorate them beautifully. I remember as a child being very excited to start decorating the Easter eggs, and every year I would get a few in my basket from the Easter Bunny. It was great fun. Today, as an adult, I still love decorating Easter eggs. Also, as an adult, I now know just how ancient and important the meaning of the egg is. I love all symbolism, particularly pictorial ones, and the egg is a favorite!

I can't think of a nicer way to celebrate Easter than with giving the gift of eggs to your dear-ones. I've taken quite a bit of time of picking out eggs I think you'll like below. Happy Egg Giving! :)

image credit - photo by David Bone

Origin of Easter and the Easter Egg Tradition
Colored eggs were placed at the site of graves

Every year Easter falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon of the Spring Equinox. The date on which Easter falls may have been adapted by Pagan religions that celebrate holidays according to the coming and going of seasons.

The Spring Equinox in the Northern Hemisphere is the first day of Spring, which correlates with the pagan holiday Ostara, also known as Eastre, Eostre, Oestre. You can see the similarity of these names with the term Easter.

Ostara, in pagan beliefs, was the Goddess of fertility and the renewal of life. She was celebrated and worshiped on the Spring Equinox. As an offering to Ostara, people would leave colored eggs at the site of their loved-ones graves, symbolizing rebirth. Today, pagans and wiccans alike continue to celebrate Ostara, and Christo-pagans celebrate both the christian Easter and Ostara.

image credit - "Faberge Tree" by Mauro Luna taken at an exhibit in the Houston Museum of Natural
Science from the "Faberge: Imperial Jeweler to the Tsars,"

Objet D'Art Vintage Faberge Egg

Click image to see on Amazon

Faberge eggs are highly collectible jeweled eggs that were made at the turn at the 20th century at the House of Faberge in St. Petersburg, Imperial Russia. They were made to give as Easter gifts and were worn on a chain around the neck.

Today, they continue to be highly sought after. Many are on exhibit in various museums, and patrons are delighted by their beauty.

Most Faberge eggs are replicas of the originals (like the one below), as the originals are prized collectibles and very expensive.

The Faberge egg pictured to the left is a gorgeous, available collectible that doubles as a music box, playing "Here Comes the Sun" by George Harrison. Find it here: Electric Green Musical Faberge Egg Box " Here Comes the Sun" Paykoc QZ40058

image credit - photo by Big
Bead Little Bead of a
cloisonne bead

The Art of Cloisonne

Cloisonne is an ancient art of decorating metal dating as far back as early Egypt. The techniques are tedious and labor-some and those who make cloisonne art are highly skilled. Today, most cloisonne comes out of the Far East.

Click image to see on Amazon

The techniques used in cloisonne are complicated, and the designs have become more detailed as different techniques have been developed. Generally, outlined metal sections (or cloisonne ) are added to the base metal, and then, enamel paste is painted on the base metal within the sections. In early days, gems or bits of glass were used to decorate each section. As you can see, from the photo I've selected, that it is an intricate detailed process.

Like the Faberge eggs, Cloisonne pieces are also sought after collectible pieces. Cloisonne pieces range from ring and other jewelry items to plates, vases, trinket boxes, and also, the egg.

.999 Silver Collectible Cloisonne Egg Coin - Intrinsic Art Value with Monetary Value as well

click image to see on Amazon

I think this is a really neat idea to give as a gift!

These are real, uncirculated coins from the Cook Islands.  Each has a face value of $5.00.

We've all heard, "Don't put all your eggs in one basket." These coins are another way to collect assets.

These are getting hard to come by. Only 2,500 were minted.  There are other colors and patterns available too.  Click the egg coin image to see more. 

image credit - photo by Spiros K. showing a
glass factory on Murano Island. -pretty cool!

Murano Glass - Glass Art from the Island of Murano, Italy

Murano glass has been made by skilled glass artisans since the 9th century. While the art-form technique is done elsewhere, true Murano glass comes only from the island of Murano, an Island off of Venice, Italy.

image credit - photo by Philip showing an amazing Murano glass sculpture on display on Murano Island.

Available Museum Quality, Collectible, Murano Easter Eggs:

There's only one of each.  Be share to get them while they last.

Ivory Murano Glass Easter Egg	Emerald Murano Glass Easter Egg	Murano Glass Easter Egg

Beautiful Glass Art Creations to Protect Us at Home - Bottle Trees, Evil Eyes and Witch Balls

-article by melaniekaren

image credit - "Bottle Tree Light" by chelle

As I write about the history of tree worship and the introduction of a Tree of Life from the dawn of Mesopotamian civilization, I am inspired to stop and briefly talk about some of the beauty of how trees are decorated in different places and cultures.

The reason why trees are sometimes adorned with special items is for protection of the home and family within. Furthermore, coupled with the protection, is the result of some really nice decorated trees. If you love trees and glass art, you may very well like these three ideas.

We have bottle trees, evil-eye trees and witch balls. The witch balls are not hung on trees historically. However, I do hang some of mine outside on trees.  They look beautiful hanging from trees, and I am sure I am not alone in doing so.

What are Bottle Trees? 

Bottle trees are trees decorated with glass bottles, literally.  Bottles are either placed on the branches of existing trees, or the whole tree is made with a main support beam (trunk), branches and glass bottles placed on the ends of the branches.  When colored glass is used, both are quite beautiful to look at.

Bottle Tree Origin:

Colorful Tree Bottles - set of 6
Click photo to see on AMAZON

Bottle trees were first thought to appear in 9th century Africa, although, we now know that bottle trees originated much earlier and go as far back as Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt, as early as 1600 B.C.E. when hollowed, colored glass was invented.  The use of the bottle trees in Africa and ancient civilization, however, is the same, and this is also where we see the first concept of a "genie in a bottle."

The "djinn," Arabic for "genie," and other spirits thought to be evil, could be captured in the bottles. The idea is that the evil spirits would become mesmerized by the beauty of the glass.  They would then slip inside and become trapped in the bottles.  Therefore, the bottles were simply traps.  Consequently, upon the morning light of the sun, the evil spirits were destroyed.  Therefore, the bottles kept the family protected.

Beauty of Bottle Trees:

Enjoy a couple more photos of bottle trees before we move onto evil-eye trees. :)

image credit - photo of a bottle tree by redagainPatti	image credit - "Blue Bottle Tree" by Ingrid Taylar This bottle tree includes other adornments: beaded wire-wrappings, other art glass pieces and wind chimes.  One can really get creative with bottle trees.

image credit - photo titled
"Grandidier's Baobab"
by  Bernard Gagnon

• Please note that the baobab tree is commonly referred to as The Bottle Tree too.  While we will be most definitely discussing the baobab tree soon since it is the African Savannah Tree of Life, it is obviously different that the bottle trees we are learning about here. 

• There are also two other bottle trees in Australia, both of which also have swollen, water-filled trunks. 

What are Evil-eye Trees?

Evil-eye trees are trees where the traditional blue, glass evil-eye hangs on a tree by up to the hundreds or even thousands. The overall use is similar to bottle trees and witch balls in that he decorated tree is meant to provide protection for the property, family and home.  The difference is that it is not meant as protection from an evil spirit or entity.

The evil-eye is meant to protect from "the evil eye of envy" of a person or persons. An envious eye is one that looks as if it would cause harm to get what another has and the owner of the envious eye wants. So, it is much more (worse than) jealousy.  (In fact, "envy" makes it to the top dead cardinal sins list where "jealousy" does not. There's a difference.*) You can think of an evil eye as being similar to a gargoyle.  A gargoyle also protects.  It's fighting against evil with evil.

Origin of the Evil Eye:

The origin of the evil eye centers around ancient classical Greece, Rome and the whole surrounding Mediterranean area.

Click pic to see on Amazon

Evil eyes continued to move into Europe, the Middle East and Asia.  It is also common to see evil eyes through Central and South America. We are finally seeing more and more evil eyes here in the United States, although, most protective pieces are that of those found in jewelry.

* The terms "envy" and "jealousy" are often used interchangeably as synonyms. However, they are not.  They are very different.  If someone is envious of something, he or she may want it so much so that he or she wishes harm to the person who has what is wanted.  Jealousy is wishing you had what someone else has, but it stops there.  No harm is wished upon the owner.

image credit - photo from pixabay

What are Witch Balls? 

image credit - photo titled Glass-blown Balls"
by Kayla Sawyer  

And now we come to one my personal favorites, hanging witch balls. Witch balls are hanging glass balls with glass filaments within.  They are meant to work as the bottles of bottle trees do.  That is, to capture evil entities. Evil spirits are attracted to the beauty of the orb.  Inside are long glass filaments.  The evil entity becomes absorbed into the orb and is then, therefore, trapped within the filaments.

Origin of Witch Balls:

Hanging glass witch balls originate in 18th century England.  It was common to see countryside homes with witch balls hanging in doorways and in windows. The idea most likely stems from the origins of the bottles of bottle trees.

I find it important to note that sometimes people think a "witch ball" is designed to keep a "witch" away.  This is untrue.  A witch is not thought of as an evil entity, quite the opposite.

The term "witch" in 18th century England simply meant "country dweller."  It was in the countryside where most still hung onto their earth-friendly, pagan roots. The word witch also has word origins connected to "wise-women."  That is, a witch was the healer of various cultures.

image credit - photo by Random Michelle titled "Witch Ball"

Similar Articles You May Like:

What is the Protective Evil Eye? What is the Evil Eye of Envy?
Josh Simpson Art Glass Planets - A Tribute to an Artist
Tree of Enchantment Hanging Glass Ball for Winter - Love it!

The Rose of Jericho Resurrection Plant

Selaginella lepidophylla

-article by melaniekaren

I Discovered this Wildly Exotic Plant, The Rose of Jericho

image credit - photo by melaniekaren
This is how the Rose of Jericho looks closed.

I cannot express enough how excited I am to discover this plant.

It is commonly called the Rose of Jericho, and its scientific name is Selaginella lepidophylla. It also goes by other names, such as The Resurrection Plant, Mary’s Plant and The Dinosaur Plant.

Perhaps you’ve heard of it? I had not, and I am excited to share my experience of this plant with you. It is amazing and extremely unusual. With all of my past botany classes and general interest in plants, I am surprised I had not come across it until now.

I was visiting Salem, Massachusetts about a week ago. It was a quiet Sunday early afternoon, and I was enjoying browsing around several of the shops. In one of the shops, an employee kindly approached me and asked if I would like to see a really neat, cool item that they had just received. I could tell he was excited. So, of course I said yes. I’m thrilled he showed me this plant. For me, it is wildly unique. It’s ancient, but one could almost believe it to be an evolutionary, advanced organism.

Pictured above is exactly how I purchased my Jericho rose. It’s all dried and appears to have died. I had taken this photo immediately upon returning home from Salem. This plant is amazing because that plant pictured is alive.

click pic to see on AMAZON
-six of them for under $25 makes
these a great gift!

Why is the Rose of Jericho So Wildly Exciting and Exotic?
-because it seems to come back from the dead! That’s why!

After I got home from Salem and took the photo of the plant closed, I followed the instructions per the employee of what to do with my Jericho plant. I was already excited about knowing what was to come next and that it can happen over and over as many times as you like for decades and decades. However, as I started following the instructions, my excitement grew.

I filled a shallow dish with water and placed the Jericho rose within. I knew that it would spring to life, as this was already explained to me. Patience is not something I’m always good with when I’m excited for something to happen. So, I decided to just try to forget about it and go on with my day. I had simply assumed that this re-opening and coming back to life of the plant would take several days. Well, not 20 minutes later, the plant caught my eye.

image credit - photo by melaniekaren
Now, look at this little monster opening up!

Now this picture is the plant at only 20 minutes of being placed in water. As you can see, it is uncurling and appearing to come alive. It’s like watching a plant move, and there is something eerie about it. I was in shock and called my son to come over quickly. (He’s just turned 12.) As my excitement grew, his excitement grew. We both stood there watching this plant open while having a nice drink of water. All I could think is that this little monster must have been really thirsty.

I was not expecting it to open this quickly at all, and don’t you think my photo looks like a little monster plant? I know it’s commonly called the Jericho of Rose Resurrection Plant, but to me, until I get used to this little plant readily opening and closing, it will be my zombie plant.

Within Only Hours, My Jericho Rose is Green and Flourishing:

image credit - photo by melaniekaren

Josh Simpson Art Glass Planets - A Tribute to an Artist

-article by melaniekaren

image credit - photo by melaniekaren
A photo of one of my "uninhabited planet"
made by glass artist Josh Simpson.
It was given to me as a gift, and I love it.

World-wide Renowned Glass Artist Josh Simpson and His Planets

I was introduced to a planet collection of Josh Simpson's over twenty years ago. I was immediately enthralled with these little balls of amazing artistry, creativity, and imagination. Each one is whimsical and unique. No two are alike, and they are all wonderful and magical to gaze into.

If you like and appreciate glass work and sculpture, you are surely to like Josh Simpsons work and personal story.

Josh Simpson is a self taught artist. He began in 1972, and at an early age, he developed a very strong passion for working with glass, molten glass specifically. He was very driven, working long hours every day of the week for years perfecting his craftsmanship, techniques, and overall artistry. He began with teaching himself how to blow matching pairs of wine goblets. Throughout his career, he has made many vases, glass bowls, large serving dishes, and other glass art pieces. He still makes these today, and they are exquisite. However, what he is most known for is his planets.

Today, he is probably the most respected and loved glass artist of our time. His story is one of inspiration, and I hope you like it as much as I.

There are Three Categories of Planets

This was one of the things that I really liked about the planets when learning about them for the first time. The concept was simple, yet brilliant, and it lent itself to the wonderful whimsical quality of the planets.

You really begin to use your imagination in identifying all of the objects within these worlds. Is there water? Is there an atmosphere? Look! I think that's a satellite!

Josh Simpson Glass Artist
Click image to see on AMAZON

The following definitions of the three types of planet categories are as follows.


Uninhabited Planets - The uninhabited planets are usually rather small, and they have no obvious atmosphere. Without an atmosphere, of course the planet is uninhabited. The photo of my planet above is an example of an uninhabited planet. To me, it seems to be primarily an uninhabited water world.

Possibly Inhabited Planets - These are not as easy to identify. You're looking for signs of life and a possible atmosphere. If you notice something that represents to you a satellite or something that may be in space toward the surface of the sphere above an apparent atmosphere, chances are the planet is definitely inhabited and not possibly inhabited. See! Isn't this fun.

Inhabited Planets - These are probably the most loved since there is so much going on in the inhabited planets. With the inhabited planets, you will definitely see what seems to be an atmosphere and even items within the atmosphere, such as clouds, other gases, or objects in a sky. It's up to you what you see. The world I have pictured here to the left is an inhabited planet, and for me, it is a water world filled with coral reefs. I see it as teeming with life with a very obvious atmosphere. In fact, I would say, it's a sunny day.

The planets came in three sizes when they were originally introduced. As their popularity increased, "Mega-planets" became readily available for purchase. These are large and very fun. You can surely become lost in these little "mega" worlds.

image credit - photo by Victorian_lady of one of Mr. Simpson's fully inhabited planets.

image credit - photo by Beth titled "Ruined Castle,
Kweskwam Complex, Gondar" that reads, "as part of the
Josh Simpson infinity project, a small marble planet was
left here in memory of Jonathan"

Josh Simpsons Infinity Project

hiding of the planets

In 2000, Josh Simpson began his Infinity Project. For some time prior to 2000 he has started hiding his planets in interesting places around the globe. He thought he would leave his little spheres in places for archeologists to find. How he came up with the idea is a fun, great story, and I highly recommend you to watch at least one of the two videos I have listed below.

His Infinity Project quickly caught on, and now, there are hundreds and perhaps thousands of his small planets hidden around the globe. They have been tossed into volcanoes, taken to the North Pole, thrown into motes around castles, and even taken into space. If you visit his website at www.joshsimpson.com, you may read more about the Infinity Project and even request a planet to hide in a special place. If your idea resonates with him, he will send you two planets, one to keep and one to hide. He is awesome like that!

Meet Mr. Simpson. He's an Incredibly Great Speaker. Enjoy!

An Ancient Widow Mite Coin May be a Perfect Unique Gift for Easter or Other Holiday

-article by melaniekaren

One Easter I Gave Everyone an Authentic Widow's Mite Coin

image credit - Widow's Mite
Ancient Roman Bronze Coins by Royce Bair

Years ago on one Easter I gave everyone in my close, immediate family an authentic widow's might coin. We were all gathered around my Aunt Rosemary's dining room table getting ready to sit down for Easter dinner. I had placed a tiny Easter basket at each place setting with a unique gift nestled inside.

Once everyone opened the tiny package and learned what they were holding, It absolutely blew their minds. This unique Easter gift idea was a truly magnificent hit. I had given each person his or her very own widow's mite coin.

Everyone one kept looking at the tiny coin in the palm of their hands. They could hardly believe that they were holding one, and not one person realized these existed to this day. Each person's widow's mite immediately held a sentimental value for that person. Each person became kinda smiley and excited once he or she realized what he or she was holding was an ancient, real coin that Christ himself could have actually held also. I was thrilled to have thought of such a gift and was happy everyone liked their little coin so much.

A Biblical Coin from the Time of Christ

A Prutah Coin, A Lepton

image sources - Wikimedia cc

The two mites in the biblical story of the poor widow refers to two coins. A mite was one of the prutah coins minted under King Alexander Jannaeus, a king of Judea from 103BC to 76BC. The word prutah means "a coin of smaller value."

A lepton, meaning "small" or "thin" was the name of the actual prutah coin denomination. A lepton was the smallest denomination of currency. Therefore, think of it as today's penny or cent.

The common lepton minted under King Alexander Jannaeus is the lepton most offered to collectors today. It has the anchor on one side and a star (or sun) wheel with 8 spokes.

The lepton coin was still in circulation at the time of Christ and is, therefore, one of the "bible coins." In the story of the poor widow, the woman gave her last two leptons to the church.

Painting Titled "The Widow's Mite" by João Zeferino da Costa from 1876

image source - The Widow's Mite - In this beautiful painting we see the widow giving her last two mites to the right. In the center of the painting, we see Christ acknowledging the widow.

image credit - Opfer der armen Witwe depicting the
widow placing her 2 mites in the collection box

Widow and the Two Mites

Lesson of the Widow's Mite

Do you know the story, " The Widow and the Two Mites?" I remember learning about it more than once in Sunday school a long time ago. It was always told to us in a way so that we understood it as a lesson to always carry with us.

The story of the poor widow is found in the New Testament of the Bible. It is found in Mark 12 versus 41 - 44 and also in Luke 21 versus 21 - 24.

The story goes something like this. Jesus and his disciples are at a temple in Jerusalem. Jesus notices an older woman casting her last two coins into the collection box. Jesus calls his disciples over and tells them his observation, the story. Jesus explains that others have also donated to the temple, of whom many were rich. Those with wealth and abundance gave more monetary value to the temple, but the widow gave more, because she gave all she had.

The lesson of the widow's mite teaches that the sacrifices of the poor, which may seem minuscule or insignificant, are most meaningful to God.

click pic to see on AMAZON

Widow's Mites For Sale

Much like our coins today, there were different styles of lepton coins during their circulation. This kind, featuring the sun and anchor is one of the more common varieties.

On one side King Alexander is written in Hebrew, and on the reverse side, there is the sun wheel design with 8 spokes.

Believe it or not, widow mite coins for sale are not difficult to find.  You can easily find authentic coins alone or nestled in jewelry pieces.  In my opinion, the best place to find just the coins is eBay.  Every time I've searched eBay for any coin, I always had a great deal to see and choose from.

The pendant pictured right is currently available on Amazon by TBJE Ancient Coins. It's my top pick I'm sharing with you: Sterling Silver & Bronze Antiqued Widows Mite Coin Pendant

Please note that there are reproductions for sale.  It is not necessary to buy the reproductions!  The authentic real coins can be found for a great price (currently on eBay though and not Amazon.  What Amazon does have are a few really nice jewelry pieces with mites. - I check regularly.)

And of course, here is part of the story taken directly from the Bible:

" ...Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury: For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living."

~ taken from Mark12, 43 and 44

Again, eBay is probably the best place to find individual, authentic, widow's mite coins (or leptons). Here are Widow's Mites on eBay

A Few Excellent Amazon Picks:

Jewelry Best Seller Sterling Silver & Bronze Antiqued Widows Mite Coin Pendant	Sterling Silver Antiqued Widows Mite Coin Cross Pendant	Widows Mite Gold-Tone (Brown/Bronze) Pendant with 24" Chain Engraved with Bible Scripture Luke 21:1-4, "I tell you the truth the poor widow gave more than all those rich people. She gave all she had to live on,..." Minted of Hand-Cast Bronze 100-60 BC