Ten Years Gone

[kebechet]

Happy tenth anniversary, Black Phoenix.

 

Holy shit. TEN YEARS. TEN!

 

First off, I’d like to thank our customers – our friends – that have stayed with us through all these years. Thank you for sharing your joys and sorrows, thank you for your limitless kindness, your contagious joy, and the warmth of your friendship. The single most important gift that Black Phoenix has given me throughout this decade is the phenomenal, world-encompassing family that I now have because of all of you. You can’t imagine how much you mean to me. Thank you.

 

With genuine love and gratitude…

 

Thank you, Brian, for being the dearest and truest of friends. Without you, this company would be a series of abstract ideas without form. You give this company stability, cohesion, and an ever-renewing vigor.

 

Thank you, Ted, for being my heart’s joy, my eternal muse, and my strength. You are as vital to me as breath and light, and as much a part of me as the blood that flows through my veins.

 

Lilith, though you don’t technically work at the Lab (yet!), you are my tiny muse, and I want to thank you. You have shown me the immensity of true love. My tiny muse, my little butterfly… you are my greatest teacher.

 

Thank you, Kathy, for being a true and wonderful friend. Thank you for all the help you give us, and thank you for sharing your talent, your kindness, and your light. Thank you for being a shoulder to cry on, a friend in joy and in the darkest of times, and a sister in the truest sense.

 

Thank you, Jacquelynn, for all of your tremendous hard work, your dedication, your creativity, and your huge heart.

 

Thank you, Lisa, for being an absolute saint. Thank you for everything you do for us; you truly are our knight in shining armor!

 

Thank you, Piolet, for being an oasis of calm, no matter how crazy things get here! Thank you for your hard work and your strength of character, and thank you for always making me laugh.

 

Thank you, Will, for your hard work, diligence, and dedication!

 

Thank you to Sue and Del at Dark Delicacies for everything you do. Thank you for giving a second home to Black Phoenix, and thank you for being the greatest grandparents a little demoness could ask for! You are wonderful, wonderful people, and it is an honor to be your friend.

 

Thank you, Sara and Lori, for all the love and enthusiasm you put into every event. I adore you!

 

Thank you to the mods and administrators of bpal.org. I love you guys. Oh, man, I love you guys so much. Thank you for being my sisters. Thank you for always being there for me.

 

Thank you to Jen, Lisa, Val, Maggie, Ali, Court, and Tom for making this year’s road show possible. I know it was Trial By Fire! You were all amazing – thank you so much for being there for us, and for giving so much of yourselves to the events!

 

Thank you, Donna and Linda, for being our Stuff’s babysitters! You are livesavers.

 

Thank you, Courtney and Suki, for being our extended Will Call family! Thank you for all the energy and love you put into every event! We are all truly grateful!

 

Huge amounts of love and HUGE amounts of gratitude to Laura Hall and all the wonderful people at Laika studios. Your generosity and kindness is beyond measure.

 

Thank you to Neil Gaiman, Amanda Palmer, Peter S. Beagle, Terry Pratchett, Terry Moore, Mike and Christine Mignola, George Perez, Peter David, Molly Crabapple, Mark Waid, Storm Constantine, Matt Wagner, Jim Henson Productions, Brian Pulido, Joseph Michael Linsner, Eva Hopkins, Gris Grimly, and Ysanne Spevak for giving Black Phoenix the opportunity to interpret your work.

 

Thank you, Carolyn Hennesy, for being a wonderful friend and a constant joy. Your stories are adorable, your talent is boundless, and you bring so much joy to so many people!

 

Thank you to the noble souls at the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund and the Hero Initiative. You are an inspiration.

 

Thank you, Charles, for being an inspiration and a true friend.

 

Much thanks to Peter S. Beagle and Connor Cochran for their friendship. You bring so much joy to so many people!

 

Love and thanks to the artists that have lent us their talent: Adam Hughes, Alicia Dabney, Julie Dillon, Madame Talbot, Quique Alcatena, Jennifer Rodgers, Manda Lander, Tanya Bjork, Andrew Fogel, Brian Kessinger, Abigail Larson, and Sarah Coleman!

 

Gratitude, love, and thanks to Geek Girl Diva for being a pillar of strength and a wonderful friend. You’re always there for me, and I’m grateful beyond words.

 

Love and thanks to the Mütter Museum, Heretic Salon, Whole Foods, Pretty Indulgent, Healthy Living, Bedlam Bedlam, and Dark Delicacies for giving our products a home in your stores!

 

Love and thanks to the bloggers, journalists, magazines, and other media outlets that taken the time to write about Black Phoenix. Honestly, I cannot thank you enough.

 

I said this last year AND the year before, and it holds just as true now:

 

‘Thank you for sharing our joy and for standing with us during difficult times. The family that has grown around BPAL is like no other in the world. Every time I wander into the forum, I see people supporting one another in times of need, showing selfless kindness and offering support to one another… to me, you all are models of emotional generosity and true friendship, and it is truly an honor to be a part of your lives. I cannot express my gratitude enough. Thank you for celebrating the beauty of living with us, and for holding our hands during times of stress and sorrow. This year has been turbulent for just about everyone we know. It’s been a hard year filled with challenges and hidden lessons, but none of it is insurmountable because we all have this tremendous, genuinely loving family. Thank you.’

 

Thank you. Thank you so much, everyone, for being with us for the past ten years. I truly hope we’ve been able to bring you as much joy as you have given to us.

 

Here’s to the next ten years!

 

And without further ado, the Anniversary scents!

 

++ BPAL ANNIVERSARY UPDATE

To celebrate our tenth anniversary, we created a complex set of scents inspired by the classical planets. Each scent symbolizes a renewal of the spirit as manifested through the benevolent aspects of each celestial body.

 

May the upcoming year bathe each of our lives in transformational fiery splendor!

 

MERCURIAN PHOENIX

HERMES, draw near, and to my pray’r incline,

Angel of Jove, and Maia’s son divine;

Studious of contests, ruler of mankind,

With heart almighty, and a prudent mind.

Celestial messenger, of various skill,

Whose pow’rful arts could watchful Argus kill:

With winged feet, ’tis thine thro’ air to course,

O friend of man, and prophet of discourse:

Great life-supporter, to rejoice is thine,

In arts gymnastic, and in fraud divine:

With pow’r endu’d all language to explain,

Of care the loos’ner, and the source of gain.

Whose hand contains of blameless peace the rod,

Corucian, blessed, profitable God;

Of various speech, whose aid in works we find,

And in necessities to mortals kind:

Dire weapon of the tongue, which men revere,

Be present, Hermes, and thy suppliant hear;

Assist my works, conclude my life with peace,

Give graceful speech, and me memory’s increase.

 

A blessing of wit, opportunity, and skill: yellow sandalwood, bergamot, gum mastic, gum Arabic, lavender, lemongrass, angelica root, and anise.

 

VENUSIAN PHOENIX

HEAV’NLY, illustrious, laughter-loving queen,

Sea-born, night-loving, of an awful mien;

Crafty, from whom necessity first came,

Producing, nightly, all-connecting dame:

‘Tis thine the world with harmony to join,

For all things spring from thee, O pow’r divine.

The triple Fates are rul’d by thy decree,

And all productions yield alike to thee:

Whate’er the heav’ns, encircling all contain,

Earth fruit-producing, and the stormy main,

Thy sway confesses, and obeys thy nod,

Awful attendant of the brumal God:

Goddess of marriage, charming to the sight,

Mother of Loves, whom banquetings delight;

Source of persuasion, secret, fav’ring queen,

Illustrious born, apparent and unseen:

Spousal, lupercal, and to men inclin’d,

Prolific, most-desir’d, life-giving., kind:

Great sceptre-bearer of the Gods, ’tis thine,

Mortals in necessary bands to join;

And ev’ry tribe of savage monsters dire

In magic chains to bind, thro’ mad desire.

Come, Cyprus-born, and to my pray’r incline,

Whether exalted in the heav’ns you shine,

Or pleas’d in Syria’s temple to preside,

Or o’er th’ Egyptian plains thy car to guide,

Fashion’d of gold; and near its sacred flood,

Fertile and fam’d to fix thy blest abode;

Or if rejoicing in the azure shores,

Near where the sea with foaming billows roars,

The circling choirs of mortals, thy delight,

Or beauteous nymphs, with eyes cerulean bright,

Pleas’d by the dusty banks renown’d of old,

To drive thy rapid, two-yok’d car of gold;

Or if in Cyprus with thy mother fair,

Where married females praise thee ev’ry year,

And beauteous virgins in the chorus join,

Adonis pure to sing and thee divine;

Come, all-attractive to my pray’r inclin’d,

For thee, I call, with holy, reverent mind.

 

A blessing of beauty, passion, and kindness: red rose, benzoin, apple blossom, lemon verbena, red sandalwood, rose mint, sweet cherry, hibiscus, cardamom, tonka, tomato leaf, and vetiver.

 

MARTIAN PHOENIX

Magnanimous, unconquer’d, boistrous Mars,

In darts rejoicing, and in bloody wars

Fierce and untam’d, whose mighty pow’r can make

The strongest walls from their foundations shake:

Mortal destroying king, defil’d with gore,

Pleas’d with war’s dreadful and tumultuous roar:

Thee, human blood, and swords, and spears delight,

And the dire ruin of mad savage fight.

Stay, furious contests, and avenging strife,

Whose works with woe, embitter human life;

To lovely Venus, and to Bacchus yield,

To Ceres give the weapons of the field;

Encourage peace, to gentle works inclin’d,

And give abundance, with benignant mind.

 

A blessing of strength, energy, and courage: dragon’s blood, thistle extract, galangal, opoponax, tobacco absolute, cactus flower, peppermint, black pepper, cumin, white fig, and bloodroot.

 

JUPITERIAN PHOENIX

O Jove much-honor’d, Jove supremely great,

To thee our holy rites we consecrate,

Our pray’rs and expiations, king divine,

For all things round thy head exalted shine.

The earth is thine, and mountains swelling high,

The sea profound, and all within the sky.

Saturnian king, descending from above,

Magnanimous, commanding, sceptred Jove;

All-parent, principle and end of all,

Whose pow’r almighty, shakes this earthly ball;

Ev’n Nature trembles at thy mighty nod,

Loud-sounding, arm’d with light’ning, thund’ring God.

Source of abundance, purifying king,

O various-form’d from whom all natures spring;

Propitious hear my pray’r, give blameless health,

With peace divine, and necessary wealth.

 

A blessing of optimism, prosperity, and sound judgment: sarsaparilla, juniper berries, Himalayan cedar, Terebinth pine, sweet clove, green tea, nutmeg, and hyssop.

 

SATURNIAN PHOENIX

ETHERIAL father, mighty Titan, hear,

Great fire of Gods and men, whom all revere:

Endu’d with various council, pure and strong,

To whom perfection and decrease belong.

Consum’d by thee all forms that hourly die,

By thee restor’d, their former place supply;

The world immense in everlasting chains,

Strong and ineffable thy pow’r contains

Father of vast eternity, divine,

O mighty Saturn, various speech is thine:

Blossom of earth and of the starry skies,

Husband of Rhea, and Prometheus wife.

Obstetric Nature, venerable root,

From which the various forms of being shoot;

No parts peculiar can thy pow’r enclose,

Diffus’d thro’ all, from which the world arose,

O, best of beings, of a subtle mind,

Propitious hear to holy pray’rs inclin’d;

The sacred rites benevolent attend,

And grant a blameless life, a blessed end.

 

A blessing of stability, manifestation, and wisdom-from-sorrow: cypress, myrrh, white lily, cassia, violet, pomegranate, tamarind, and opium poppy.

 

 

SOLAR PHOENIX

HEAR golden Titan, whose eternal eye

With broad survey, illumines all the sky.

Self-born, unwearied in diffusing light,

And to all eyes the mirrour of delight:

Lord of the seasons, with thy fiery car

And leaping coursers, beaming light from far:

With thy right hand the source of morning light,

And with thy left the father of the night.

Agile and vig’rous, venerable Sun,

Fiery and bright around the heav’ns you run.

Foe to the wicked, but the good man’s guide,

O’er all his steps propitious you preside:

With various founding, golden lyre, ’tis mine

To fill the world with harmony divine.

Father of ages, guide of prosp’rous deeds,

The world’s commander, borne by lucid steeds,

Immortal Jove, all-searching, bearing light,

Source of existence, pure and fiery bright

Bearer of fruit, almighty lord of years,

Agil and warm, whom ev’ry pow’r reveres.

Great eye of Nature and the starry skies,

Doom’d with immortal flames to set and rise

Dispensing justice, lover of the stream,

The world’s great despot, and o’er all supreme.

Faithful defender, and the eye of right,

Of steeds the ruler, and of life the light:

With founding whip four fiery steeds you guide,

When in the car of day you glorious ride.

Propitious on these mystic labours shine,

And bless thy suppliants with a life divine.

 

A blessing of nobility, leadership, and generosity: Roman chamomile, yellow rose, pineapple, bay laurel, frankincense, heliotrope, and Ceylon cinnamon.

 

LUNAR PHOENIX

HEAR, Goddess queen, diffusing silver light,

Bull-horn’d and wand’ring thro’ the gloom of Night.

With stars surrounded, and with circuit wide

Night’s torch extending, thro’ the heav’ns you ride:

Female and Male with borrow’d rays you shine,

And now full-orb’d, now tending to decline.

Mother of ages, fruit-producing Moon,

Whose amber orb makes Night’s reflected noon:

Lover of horses, splendid, queen of Night,

All-seeing pow’r bedeck’d with starry light.

Lover of vigilance, the foe of strife,

In peace rejoicing, and a prudent life:

Fair lamp of Night, its ornament and friend,

Who giv’st to Nature’s works their destin’d end.

Queen of the stars, all-wife Diana hail!

Deck’d with a graceful robe and shining veil;

Come, blessed Goddess, prudent, starry, bright,

Come moony-lamp with chaste and splendid light,

Shine on these sacred rites with prosp’rous rays,

And pleas’d accept thy suppliant’s mystic praise.

 

A blessing of imagination, pleasure, and foresight: galbanum, orris root, lettuce, pink lotus absolute, purple lily, bay, jasmine, narcissus, camphor, mugwort, narcissus, yam flower, jasmine, passionflower, parsley, and white papaya.

 

And also! –

If you attend any of the November Black Phoenix Will Call events (Vermont, Seattle, or Los Angeles), please consider participating in our food and toy drive. For every $10 in food that you donate, you will receive a 5ml bottle of

 

FOREVER IS MERCY BUILT

Tamarind, tonka bean, patchouli, golden amber, and white fig.

 

For every toy valued at $10 or more that you bring, you will receive a 5ml bottle of

 

G’MILUT CHASADIM

Honeyed pomegranate, rose, myrrh, osmanthus, and wild plum.

 

We are offering these oils while supplies last, and cannot guarantee that any Will Call location will be able to fulfill all donation exchanges. We’ll do our best! Food donations made at our Los Angeles will call will support the Burbank Temporary Aid Center, and the toys will be donated to the Los Angeles location will be given to Spark of Love, the Los Angeles County Fire Department’s toy collection campaign.

 

 

 

 

 

The west coast will call event will be held on Wednesday, November 28th from 6 to 9pm at Dark Delicacies.

 

Dark Delicacies

3512 W. Magnolia Blvd

(1 block east of Hollywood Way)

Burbank, CA 91505

www.darkdel.com

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New England Will Call will be held at Healthy Living Market on Sunday, December 2nd from 4:00 to 7:00pm, in the Learning Center.

 

Healthy Living Market

222 Dorset Street,

South Burlington, VT, 05403

 

___________

 

Seattle Will Call will be held at Bedlam Bedlam on Saturday, December 1st, time TBA.

 

BedlamBedlam

613 East Pike Street

Seattle WA 98122

http://bedlambedlam.com/

 

If you have any questions about will call events, please email us at willcall@blackphoenixalchemylab.com.

 

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Make a purchase at Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab on Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, or Cyber Monday, and receive a free imp of ECONOMIC RECOVERY: a fun little blend of traditional money-generating herbs, resins, and flowers, including patchouli, ambrette seed, bergamot, Irish moss, rice flower, and thyme.

 

If you make a purchase at Black Phoenix Trading Post on Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, or Cyber Monday, you’ll get a squirt of a TAL-inspired blend, THRIVE: a warm, vibrant, prosperity-generating blend of ginger root, gingergrass, frankincense, cardamom, tonka, and hay absolute.

 

A portion of every purchase made from both stores on these three days will go to Kiva, an organization that provides microloans to small businesses all across the globe.

 

Shared blessings!

 

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Also, there’s new some more stuff up on our Etsy site.

 

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Keep your eyes peeled for the Black Phoenix Trading Post Yule update. It’s coming soon!