Category Archives: Spirit

New Amber Lotus Holiday Cards

Introducing our latest holiday cards, featuring Duirwaigh Hearts and Moons, Furturtle Show Prints, Celtic Mandala art with seasonal  blessings, classic Peace Posters and the whimsical Tree-Hugging Santa.

New Holiday Boxed Sets

Our cards are printed on recycled cardstock with  soy-based inks. Cards are 5″ x 7″ and sold in clear boxes of twelve cards with envelopes for $13.99.

Peace and Love and Christmas Moon Holiday Boxed Cards

Duirwaigh Studios is home to the creative talents of the husband-and-wife team Angi Sullins and Silas Toball. They specialize in the three Es: enchantment, enlightenment and entertainment. The Duiwaigh Studios inspiration comes from old-world fairy tales and myths and the natural curiosity for anything that explores the space between heaven and earth.

Furturtle Show Prints Holiday Boxed Cards

Travis Bone of Furturtle Show Prints pairs witty words with whimsical illustrations. Furturtle Show Prints is known worldwide for hand-printed Gig posters. The Furturtle card lines are printed on recycled textured watercolor paper, which gives it a wonderful artisan feel.

Celtic Mandala Holiday Boxed Cards

Celtic Mandala art with seasonal blessings by Jen Delyth, a Welsh artist whose work is founded in her deep connection to her Celtic heritage. She creates intricate paintings and illustrations using traditional egg tempera and contemporary digital techniques. Her original, iconographic style is inspired by the Spirit in Nature and expresses our mythic connection to the natural world. The Celtic Mandala card lines are also printed on recycled textured watercolor paper.

Peace Poster Holiday Boxed Cards

Godzilla & King Kong by Steff Geissbuhler. Geissbuhler is among America’s most celebrated designers of brand and corporate identity programs. His work also includes posters, brochures, books and illustrations. Peace Now, Artist unknown. Poster Image courtesy UC Berkeley 1970 Workshop / Lincoln Cushing collection.

Tree-Hugging Santa Boxed Cards

Tree Hugger: a person with strong environmental beliefs who embraces eco-conscious living and all that is good for the earth and its inhabitants. There are a lot of good reasons to love trees, whether for their majesty and diversity as living creatures or because of their crucial role in the global ecosystem. Trees for the Future (TFTF) has helped rehabilitate environments across the globe by planting nearly 65 million trees since 1988. Amber Lotus Publishing is proud to be a partner in this wonderful program.

All these cards are available to purchase on our website and at select retailers.

14 New Calendar Titles for 2014

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We have an amazing lineup of new calendars this year, including Farm to Table, Tree Huggers, Lunaria and Sacred Celtic Sites. We’re also bringing back an old favorite, Haﬁz, with Persian-inspired illuminations from Silas Toball, designer extraordinaire and co-creator of our best-selling Duirwaigh card line. Other new titles include Steampunk, Day of the Dead, Bee Happy, The Garden Sanctuary and On Sacred Ground. We are also adding four new titles to our Healthy Pet series: Healthy Dachshund, Healthy Golden, Healthy Lab and Healthy Pug.

As we move forward with our mission to illuminate spirit in the world, we remain mindful of our responsibility to the planet we share. We are full of optimism and goodwill, and we extend our deepest gratitude to our customers, artists, authors, representatives and friends all over the world.

Namaste — Amber Lotus Publishing

Solstice Celebration with Song

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I was recently introduced to this wonderful version of Lord of the Dance. One of my favorite songs and this is even more appropriate for the turning of the year.

Lyrics:

She danced on the waters and the wind was her horn
The Lady laughed and everything was born
And she lit the sun and the light gave him birth
The Lord of the Dance first appeared on earth.

CHORUS
Dance, dance, wherever you may be
For I am the Lord of the Dance, said he
I live in you, and you live in me
And I lead you all in the dance, said he

I dance in the circle when the flames leap high
I dance in the fire and I never, ever die
I dance in the waves of the bright summer sea
For I am the Lord of the wave’s mystery

I sleep in the kernel and I dance in the rain
I dance in the wind and through the waving grain
When you cut me down I care naught for pain
Come Spring I’m the Lord of the Dance again

I dance at the Sabbat when you chant your spell
I dance and sing that everyone be well
When the dancing’s over do not think that I am gone
To live is to dance, so I dance on and on

The horn of the Lady cast its sound cross the plain
The birds took the notes and gave them back again
Till the sound of her music was a song in the sky
And to that song there is only one reply

The moon in her phases and the tides of the sea
The movement of the earth and the seasons that will be
Are the rhythm for the dancing and a promise through the years
That the Dance goes on through our joy and tears

They danced in the darkness and they danced in the night
They danced on the earth and everything was light
They danced out the darkness and they danced in the dawn
And the day of their dance is forever reborn

I gaze on the heavens and I gaze on the earth
And I feel the pain of dying and rebirth
I lift my head with praise for the day
Of the Dance of the Lord and the Lady gay.

Welcome Yule!

Lydia Hess

Art Director – Amber Lotus

Spring Equinox

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The Sacred Marriage:

The Spring Equinox celebrates both Earth and Sun, both growth and light. At this point in the solar calendar, the length of daylight equals the length of the night – the male sun balances out the female moon. After the Equinox, the balance will shift in favor of the growing Sun as he begins to make the day longer than the night.
In the lunar calendar that relates to the seasons, the Equinox also signals an important phase for the female Earth for this is the time she opens herself, ready to receive the new seed and to bring forth the plant life that has overwintered inside her. The month of April, which arrives shortly after the Equinox, derives its name from the Latin aperio, to open (as in the word aperture).
At the Spring Equinox, different threads from the solar and seasonal calendars are woven together into a single strand….daylight is equal to darkness, so the God and Goddess make a well-matched couple.
From The Magickal Year by Diana Ferguson

Valentine Fever

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Throughout human history, roses have played an important role in expressing the language of love, passion, commitment and desire.- excerpt from 2013 Rose Wall Calendar.

According to tradition, this is the day when the birds choose their mates for the year. It is also the day for the blossoming of love between young women and men, and so introduces the theme of love-making and magical fertility rites that begins in February, and gathers in strength throughout Spring, continuing right through to May Day.
Valentine’s Day is named after a Christian saint, but just who he was is not clear, for there is more than one contender for the title. One Valentine was a Roman priest who was imprisoned for helping persecuted Christians, and who became a Christian himself. Although he restored the sight of his jailor’s blind daughter, he was still martyred…. on February 14, 269. Another Valentine was also a Christian martyr who, before his death, scratched a message to his beloved on the wall of his cell, ending with the words “Your Valentine.”
As a festival of love, Valentine’s Day has powerful associations with two Roman love fests. The first is the sacred day of Juno Februata, the patroness of the “fever” of love, at the beginning of February…. Then on February 15, there is Lupercalia, a festival of purification and fertility in honor of Faunus, or Lupercus, a rustic fertility god.
– From The Magical Year by Diana Ferguson

Dance for life!

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For centuries, dance manuals and other writings have lauded the health benefits of dancing, usually as physical exercise. More recently we’ve seen research on further health benefits of dancing, such as stress reduction and increased serotonin level, with its sense of well-being.

Then most recently we’ve heard of another benefit: Frequent dancing apparently makes us smarter. A major study added to the growing evidence that stimulating one’s mind can ward off Alzheimer’s disease and other dementia, much as physical exercise can keep the body fit. Dancing also increases cognitive acuity at all ages. Read more from Stanford University’s Richard Powers: http://socialdance.stanford.edu/syllabi/smarter.htm

There are shortcuts to happiness, and dancing is one of them.

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