The Willow Connection

01/01/2026

Blogs in 2026 will be quarterly-themed content. We kick the year off with lavender.

Begin your healing journey with lavender, the herb of peace, healing, and protection. Discover its uses for relaxation, clarity, and spiritual balance.

01/01/2026

🌿✨ 30 Days of Healing with The Willow Connection ✨🌿

A soulful journey back to balance, peace, and light.

Beginning January 5th, join me for 30 days of energy-centered healing, reflection, and renewal — right here, in this space. 💚

Each week will follow a beautiful, intentional theme designed to guide your mind, body, and spirit home to harmony.

🌸 WEEK 1: Rooted in Calm

Ground your energy, release tension, and rediscover the peace that comes from feeling safe, steady, and supported.
🌿 Expect grounding rituals, calming affirmations, and gentle practices to soothe your nervous system.

🌕 WEEK 2: Sacred Alignment

Reconnect your energy with your inner truth and life’s natural rhythm.
🌸 Expect lessons on balance, flow, and honoring both action and stillness through mindful awareness.

🌺 WEEK 3: The Healing Within

Journey inward to release emotional blocks and invite deeper restoration.
💚 Expect heart-centered reflections, emotional release techniques, and wisdom for trusting your healing process.

🌻 WEEK 4: Reclaim Your Light

Step fully into your radiance — the joyful, grounded, confident version of you that’s been waiting to shine.
✨ Expect uplifting guidance, empowerment rituals, and invitations to live in alignment with your soul’s truth.

💫 What You Can Expect Throughout the Month:

🌿 Daily inspiration, practical tools, and reflective prompts.
🌿 Oracle messages & energy wisdom to guide your week.
🌿 Gentle reminders to breathe, rest, and receive.
🌿 Opportunities to book healing sessions for deeper support — including Reiki, the Ancient Black Pearl Technique, and Sacred Alignment Oracle Readings.

This is more than a social media series — it’s a month of transformation.

🌸 A chance to reconnect with yourself.
🌸 A reminder that your calm is your power.
🌸 An invitation to heal… from the inside out.

✨ Join me January 5th as we begin 30 Days of Healing with The Willow Connection.
Follow along each day, invite a friend to join, and let’s rise together — rooted, aligned, and radiant.

💚 Your calm is waiting.

12/31/2025

Week 5: Making your own sophisticated essential oil blend designed to capture the excitement of the countdown, the contemplative moment of midnight, and the fresh start of a new year. Use throughout the month of January as you transition into the new year.

That is a wonderful and evocative theme! New Year's Eve is about celebration, reflection, and optimistic new beginnings.

Here is a sophisticated essential oil blend designed to capture the excitement of the countdown, the contemplative moment of midnight, and the fresh start of a new year.

🥂 New Year's Eve: "Grounded Radiance" Oil Blend
This blend uses bright top notes for the celebratory mood, deep base notes for grounding reflection, and spicy middle notes for warmth and courage.

Sweet Orange: Top note - 4 drops - Celebration & Joy, bright, cheerful, and uplifting, setting an energetic party mood.

Frankincense: Base note - 3 drops - Grounding & Reflection, warm, resinous, and meditative, perfect for the moment of setting intentions.

Ginger: Middle note - 2 drops - Courage & Motivation, warm and spicy, promoting confidence and a willingness to take action on new goals.

Pink Grapefruit: Top note - 2 drops - Fresh Start & Clarity, crisp, tangy, and invigorating to dissolve any lingering negative energy from the past year.

Ylang Ylang: Middle/Base notes - 1 drop - Emotional Balance & Abundance, a sweet, slightly exotic floral touch for self-love and joy.

How to Use the Blend:
In a Diffuser: Add the specified number of drops to your ultrasonic or nebulizing diffuser. Start diffusing about an hour before your guests arrive, or right before the countdown, to fill your space with a memorable, festive aroma.

As a Room Spray: Mix the blend into a small glass spray bottle with a carrier like witch hazel or high-proof vodka, then top with distilled water. Shake well before spritzing around your gathering area.

Personal Inhaler: Place the drops on a cotton wick inside a personal aromatherapy inhaler for quick access to focus and motivation when setting resolutions.

This blend is balanced to be both celebratory and grounding—a perfect aromatic transition from one year to the next!

12/29/2025

Birch symbolism centers around new beginnings, renewal, and purification.

Peeling Bark: Release & Cleansing - Symbolizes shedding old habits, regrets, or things that weigh you down.

White Trunk: Purity & New Beginnings - Signifies a fresh, clean slate for the upcoming year.

Resilience/Hardiness: Strength & Endurance - Acknowledging the strength you showed to get through the challenges of the past year.

Roots/Branches: Groundedness & Growth - Being rooted in the present while ready to grow into the future.

Birch Tree Affirmation for the Year's End 🌿 ✨

"Like the hardy birch, I release what no longer serves me, shedding the old year's burdens like peeling bark.

I stand tall and resilient, rooted in the lessons learned.

I embrace the cleansing light, ready to branch out toward the promise of a bright new beginning."

*Original artist unknown

12/28/2025

December 28, 2025 - Angel's Whisper: Today's card asks us to listen. As the year nears its end, listen closely — divine whispers surround you. Your guides, angels, and higher self are always speaking through signs, feelings, and gentle nudges. This week, trust the quiet voice that says, “All is well.”

12/26/2025

🌸 Week 4: Spikenard (The Costly Devotion)

Fun Fact 1: Worth a Year's Wage - Spikenard (or nard) is best known for the moment when Mary of Bethany used a pint of it to anoint Jesus' feet (John 12:3). Judas Iscariot complained that the perfume was worth 300 denarii, which was the typical wage for a common laborer for an entire year—making it an enormous and sacrificial gift.

Fun Fact 2: Imported from the Himalayas - The plant that produces spikenard oil (Nardostachys jatamansi) grows in the rugged, high-altitude regions of the Himalayan Mountains (modern-day Nepal, Tibet, and India). This extremely remote sourcing is a major reason why the imported oil was so incredibly expensive in the Middle East.

Fun Fact 3: Sealed in Alabaster - The precious oil was typically kept sealed in an alabaster jar (Mark 14:3). These jars were often made of a soft calcite stone and were designed to keep the volatile oil from evaporating. The woman in Mark's Gospel had to break the jar to pour out the oil, signifying an act of complete, unreserved sacrifice.

Fun Fact 4: Jesus' Interpretation - When Mary was criticized for her extravagant use of the oil, Jesus defended her, saying, "She has done what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial" (Mark 14:8). The high cost of the oil perfectly symbolized the immense value of her worship and prophetic action.

12/26/2025

🌿✨ Coming Soon: A New Year, A New You ✨🌿

As we say goodbye to another year, many of us start thinking about resolutions — ways to do more, be more, change more.
But what if this year, instead of striving harder… you chose to feel better? 💚

What if 2026 became the year you stopped merely surviving — and began truly thriving?

🌸 Coming January 5th — 30 Days of Healing with The Willow Connection 🌸
A month-long journey designed to help you reconnect with your energy, calm your mind, and align your spirit for the year ahead.

You can expect:
🌿 Grounding practices to release tension and find calm.
🌕 Energy alignment tools to restore balance.
🌺 Heart-centered reflections for emotional healing.
🌻 Empowering insights to help you reclaim your light.

Each week brings a new focus — from Rooted in Calm to Reclaiming Your Light — guiding you step by step back to peace, clarity, and purpose.

✨ This isn’t about resolutions.
It’s about restoration.
It’s about beginning the year with intention, balance, and sacred alignment — body, mind, and soul.

💚 Join me beginning January 5th for a FREE transformative 30-day experience with The Willow Connection — a space to breathe, reset, and return home to yourself.

Let’s step into 2026 together — grounded, glowing, and ready to thrive. 🌿

12/25/2025

The Willow Connection wishes you and yours a very Merry Christmas!

12/24/2025

Week 4: Making your own stovetop potpourri or simmer pot.

🌿🍊 Christmas Herb & Citrus Stovetop Potpourri
This blend features the classic pairing of citrus and spices, with a vibrant lift from fresh herbs and a hint of fruity sweetness from cranberries.

Ingredients:
Water: Enough to fill your pot 2/3 full
Orange: 1 large (sliced) or the peel from 2-3 oranges
Cranberries: 1/2 cup (fresh or frozen)
Fresh Rosemary : 3–4 sprigs
Fresh Thyme: 2 sprigs (optional)
Cinnamon Sticks: 4 sticks
Whole Cloves: 1 tablespoon
Star Anise (Optional) 3–4 pods

Instructions:
Prep the Ingredients: Slice your orange into 1/4-inch rounds or simply use the peels.

Combine in Pot: Place all ingredients—the sliced orange/peels, cranberries, rosemary, thyme, cinnamon sticks, whole cloves, and star anise (if using)—into a medium or large pot.

Add Water: Fill the pot with water until all the ingredients are fully submerged, about 2/3 full.

Simmer: Bring the water to a boil over medium-high heat, then immediately reduce the heat to the lowest setting so the mixture is just barely simmering. The surface of the water should only have a gentle wobble.

Stovetop Potpourri Tips:
Never Let It Go Dry: This is the most important tip! Check the water level every 30–60 minutes. As the water evaporates, simply add more fresh water (and a sprinkle of your most potent spice, like clove, if the scent fades).

Duration: You can simmer this mixture for several hours a day over 2 to 3 days. When you are done for the day, simply turn off the burner and let it cool. To extend its life, you can cover and refrigerate the mixture overnight.

Scent Variations: Feel free to swap the orange for lemon or grapefruit for a brighter citrus scent, or add fresh ginger slices (unpeeled) for a spicy kick.

Enjoy: Remove the lid and let the wonderful aroma fill your home.

12/22/2025

Peacock symbolism is rich in history among different cultures. These elegant birds and their feathers typically symbolize beauty, majesty, rebirth, divine protection, and spiritual awakening. 🦚

In Buddhism, the peacock symbolizes the transmutation of poisons into beauty and the ability to consume worldly poisons while maintaining a path to enlightenment. 💫

The world feels like a dark place right now. Even our loved ones can sometimes lash out and cause our heart to ache and question our worth. As 2025 is coming to an end, take inventory of the challenges and adversity your heart and mind has had to endure in order to survive. What lessons have learned about yourself and others? This peacock energy is the key to unlock your higher wisdom in 2026. Do not allow their lower vibrational energy to consume you and cause doubt. You are strong and powerful. Observe. Do not absorb. Rise above the negativity, the pain, the hurt and betrayal, and spread your wings. Be proud of who you are and how far you have come this year. Greet 2026 with a heart full of wonder and wisdom. You are enough and you will flourish in spite of it all with grace, dignity, and power. 🌟

12/21/2025

December 21, 2025 - Ornament: Today's card reminds us that each ornament tells a story — a memory, a lesson, a chapter of your life. This week, reflect on the moments that shaped you, even those that felt heavy. They’ve all added sparkle to your soul’s tree. Adorn your life with gratitude and grace.
💛 JoAnne

12/19/2025

🏺 Week 3: Cassia (A Spicy Relative)

Fun Fact 1: The Other Key Ingredient in the Holy Oil - Cassia was the final fragrant spice in the sacred anointing oil formula God gave to Moses (Exodus 30:24). The recipe called for 500 shekels of cassia, equal in weight to the liquid myrrh, making it a very important component.

Fun Fact 2: A Close Cousin to Cinnamon - Cassia comes from the bark of a tree (Cinnamomum cassia) very closely related to cinnamon. In fact, many Biblical references often translate both as "cinnamon," but the holy anointing oil recipe specifically lists both "sweet cinnamon" and "cassia," suggesting they were recognized as distinct, yet similar, spices.

Fun Fact 3: Used to Scent Clothing - In Psalm 45:8, cassia is mentioned alongside myrrh and aloes as a fragrance used to anoint the garments of the king (a messianic Psalm). This practice was a mark of royalty, celebration, and honor.

Fun Fact 4: Traded Internationally - Cassia was a valuable commodity in ancient trade. The prophet Ezekiel lists cassia as one of the items that the city of Tyre traded with "Vedan and Javan" (Ezekiel 27:19), illustrating its value and how far it traveled along ancient trading networks.