THE MAIDEN RETURNS | Limited Edition Botanical Healing Balm
The Maiden Returns is a botanical healing balm and fragrant salve, formulated to refresh and renew the skin and spirit after the arduous trials of wintertime. Comprised of some of the season's most precious and fragrant gifts, it features the golden aroma of the sweet sap of handpicked poplar buds, the sweet scent of early-bloomers narcissus and lily, and an artisanal in-house enfleurage of hyacinths plucked from the perfumer's aromatic garden at early dawn.
Though the observed Gregorian calendar would have us consider the first of January—a time where the natural world slows its rhythm and allows for rest as the frigid winter air grazes over barren landscapes—as the start of the year and a time to set new goals and ideals, those who observe the wheel of the year and other ancient ways of situating ourselves within space and time know that Spring is the true (re)commencement. Springtime’s gifts of life and vibrant reawakening from hibernal slumber have historically been reaffirmed through agricultural practices, seasonal festivities, and folklore, with each practice seeking to realign ourselves with the Earth’s natural cycles in order to be in harmony with the Divine.
For those who recognize the three faces of the Earth Mother—The Maiden, Mother, and Crone— it is the fair and fruiting Maiden who presides over the coming of Spring, ushering beauty and abundance after the Crone’s sullen realm of Winter has come to pass. In the Greek pantheon, Persephone, maiden goddess of Spring made queen of the Underworld, would return to her mother Demeter, goddess of agriculture, for a portion of the year before returning below, and this time spent in the world of the living would be highlighted be the return of crop growth and clement weather.
The Ritual: scoop out the desired amount of this botanical balm and gently warm it between your fingers before applying it to bruises, sprains, aching muscles, and dry skin, or as a sacred scented ointment. Store in a cool, dry area between use.
30g in presented in a black glass pot.
Ingredients: Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis (Sweet Almond) Oil, Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil, Persea Gratissima (Avocado) Oil, Cera Alba (Beeswax), Populus Balsamifera (Balsam Poplar) Extract, Picea Abies (Spruce) Extract, Natural Fragrance/Parfum (essential oils, absolutes, artisanal plant extracts). This balm contains poplar bud extract and is not suited to those with an allergy to aspirin.
