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Our Lady of Ashes

5/31/2025

In the past two years, I have been creating dolls that carry meaning and hold a stories outside their bodies.

Our Lady of Ashes is an emotional healing doll. She offers support for grief, distress, sorrow, suffering, heartbreak, and all the emotions that arise when we face loss.

She holds the Wailing Story—a process of diving deep into the pain of an ancient wound. She reminds us to honor the time it takes to fully be with our experience, to mourn what was and what could not be, and to create a space for closure.
Near the bottom of her story, you’ll find an intuitive collection of words that came to me as I contemplated her meaning—fragments that speak to the essence of grief, healing, and release.

Our Lady of Ashes

She wails--
the sound rising from the raw stop,
from the hollow of disappointment,
from the ache of loss.

She mourns
what was,
what could not be.

She puts closure where it’s due,
then wails again--
for the ancient wound,
for the vital, essential energy of life
coursing through grief.

She stays--
mourning,
grieving,
reconciling,
letting the losses surface.

She rests.
She regroups.
She listens for the quiet
beneath the wailing.

She asks--
what must I say goodbye to?
what is mine to carry forward?
what do I long to do over?

She allows it to take time.
She stays with herself,
lets the while serve her.

She knows there’s not much time
for putting away the hard things--
they will follow,
they will echo,
they will become part of the song.

She wails.
She mourns.
She waits.
She lives.

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Inspiration/Challenge to Make a Healing Doll

5/5/2025

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In April's Newsletter I shared an image and journal page and doll about Changing Woman. In May I invite you to allow this chant/invocation to inspire you and create doll image or journal pages of your Changing Woman.

She comes on mist, on wind, on breath--
She Who Knows, She Who Shifts.

Bearer of the in-between,
Walker of stars and wombs unseen.

She whispers:
You are not lost.
You are becoming.
You are not broken.
You are blooming.

Gather your pieces.
Weave with your tears.

Name your fears,
and stitch them into wings.

The river remembers.
The moon bears witness.

And you --
you are the spell you’ve been waiting for.

If you take on the challenge and send to me at
[email protected] and I will post it on my newsletter and Facebook pages.

Also if you ordered a copy of my book and send me a photo of one of your healing dolls and story I will send you a set of the 12 Healing Dolls for free. Be sure to include your snail mail address.

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Our Lady of Ashes

Inspiration/Challenge to Make a Healing Doll

Barb Kobe

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