“Psyke” the Forest Spirit

Although this forest-spirit is a gentle creature by nature, its sharp quartz horns and elevated psychic abilities also makes it one of the most deadly. Don’t worry, they are extremely friendly and only attack when provoked, to defend themselves & their community.

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Handmade from white pine and sealed with fire (yakisugi). Featuring moveable quartz spheres for eyes and quartz-point liberty spikes set into lava-rock sand cultivated from Mt Etna in Italy. (Europe’s most active volcano). Twist the last liberty spike to turn on the hidden light & illuminate the rest of the spikes + quartz eyes. 🌋 ✨

#wood #woodart #sculpture #lightart #dinosaur

The energy from this stick was off the charts.

Found on Drummond Island, MI

Although this forest-spirit is gentle by nature, its sharp quartz horns and elevated psychic abilities make it also one of the most deadly. Don’t worry, they are extremely friendly and only attack to defend themselves & their community.

Phantasmagoria Description:

Deep within the wooded heart of Secret Dreams lies the town of Phantasmagoria - a living, breathing sanctuary suspended in the liminal space between the waking and dreaming. It is a realm where imagination takes physical form and wayward dreams find a place to flourish in harmony.

Phantasmagoria mirrors the structure of a regular town, but it operates with a distinct rhythm of curiosity and wonder. The residents are as diverse as the thoughts that created them; you may find yourself sharing a path with a fuzzy traveler from a distant star, a giant jellyfish drifting through the trees, or an ancient stick creature weaving through the underbrush. If it can be dreamed of, it exists here.

Phantasmagoria Breakdown:

The Social Groups

The Day Dreams: The "happy-go-lucky" and silly residents. They occupy the City Center and are mostly active during light hours, but they can stay up if they try hard enough.. They hold most political and social power and have developed a slight prejudice against those who don't share their bright aesthetic.

The Night Mares: The "tough and firey" residents. They populate the Outer Rim and are mostly active during dark hours. They are the realm’s original protectors, guarding the borders against monsters from other realms.

The Agencies: The realm is kept stable thanks to a hand-full of agencies: The Office of the Mayor, The Dream Detectives, The Mind Mechanics, and The Dream Weaver.

The Agencies

The Office of the Mayor: An elected leadership that governs the community, overseeing the town’s growth and hosting spectacles on the community stage to keep the spirit of the realm high.

The Dream Detectives: A vigilant protection force and investigative unit dedicated to the safety of the subconscious. They protect solve all the mysteries & protect the realm from no-good-doers who wish to disrupt the balance.

The Mind Mechanics: A specialized coalition of engineers and fix-it experts responsible for the realm's structural integrity. They maintain the intricate gears of reality, stepping in whenever the luster of a dream fades or the town’s inner functions require recalibration.

A group of ordinary mechanics…. Or are they? The Mind Mechanics are actually a part of an ancient lineage of builders that stems from one of the original Dream Team members that built this realm. They play the act of an “average joe” but secretly know all the passageways and inner-workings of Phantasmagoria.

The Dream Weaver: A mystical architect who works behind the scenes to thread hope and vibrancy throughout the town, ensuring that the creative flow between the waking and dreaming worlds remains unbroken.

The Era's of History

The Before Times: A long long time ago, two original dreams were dreamt, a Day Dream and a Night Mare. Together, they created all of the other realms, one of which we inhabit today. Both Day Dreams & Night Mares lived in total harmony.

The Endless Nightmare: A Night Mare seized control of PG, plunging both the dreaming and waking worlds into a period of endless sleep, shadow, and fear for 10,000 wakes.

The First Wake: A "Hero of Dreams" and their trusty team (the OG Dream Detective, OG Mind Mechanic, and OG Dream Weaver) were dreamt up by a Secret Dreamer to banish the Nightmare King and restore balance.

The Greatest Era Ever: Following the Hero's success and departure, the Day Dreams, traumatized by the Endless Nightmare, pushed all the Night Mares to the outer rim of the realm. To some, this is a great success! But others worry about their shadowy counterparts and seek to uncover the truth behind the Nightmare King.

Current Day (This Years Lore Addition)

Every 10,000 Wakes, Phantasmagoria undergoes a magnificent realm-wide Dreamorphosis. The entire world of dreams settles into a brand-new form, anchored in a fresh time and space. This holiday is celebrated throughout Phantasmagoria via a four-day festival leading up to a final epic celebration held by the wayward dreamers and townsfolk to finalize this transition.

The final step in the Dreamorphosis cycle is the Dream Day Celebration—a giant party that finalizes the regeneration cycle. To trigger it, the mayor of Phantasmagoria must use the Dream Staff to summon the Dreamweaver so they can cultivate the dream-energy and solidify the transition.

You truly witness some amazing things when you slow down enough to pay attention to the world around you.

Enjoy this video I took of a Cicada molting into its final form - featuring some of the most green greens I’ve ever seen.

Have you ever witnessed a cicada molt? We find the shells everywhere but this was my first time seeing it in action. This planet continues to amaze me. 🌎

Maybe high ratings will please him, or maybe it won’t, only one way to find out. ⬆️

Photo from our recent travels to Hvar! Such a beautiful place to visit, we will be back.

Has anyone else been? What was your favorite part about it?⛵️

What powers do you think this stick possess? 🧙🏼‍♂️

*Trigger warning: It doesn’t end well for the fly*

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A close-up video of a praying, mantis, catching and eating a fly in Croatia while listening to electronic music .

“‘A Montagna” 🪾🌋

Meaning “The Mountain” in Italian, this gentle spirit resides in the ancient forests surrounding Mt. Etna (Europes’s most active volcano) in Sicily, Italy.

With its long legs and perfect eyesight in both day and night, “A Montagna” is always keeping watch over the fiery mountain, helping alert and protect forest-dwellers of active eruptions. ☄️

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Item Description: A magic spirit-avatar hand-made from reclaimed pine tree wood, tree twigs, and a quartz sphere, all given to us by the hosts at Locanda Milia, a beautiful forest retreat we stayed at while visiting Mt Etna this past year. The quartz eye is free spinning and lights up when you turn the knob on his back.

Finishing process: Yakisugi (no sanding, no finish, only fireeeeee)