Welcome to the wee corner of the interweb where I share some of the magick, madness, musings, insights, recipes, and resources I stumble on and over as I re-member my way.
I’m Kristina, The Untamed Alchemist.
I’m a diarist, nature lover, creatrix, and storyteller with a passion for archetypes, alchemy, symbology, folklore, and liberation theology. I delight in the art & science of aromatics, herbs, oils, food, permaculture, and Mother Earth chemistry.
My writing and creations are informed by my education in women’s studies, religion, liberation theology, ritual, and divination, my training as an aromatherapist, herbalist, distiller, teacher, and facilitator, and my experience as a craftswoman, farmer, gardener, and witch living in North Idaho.
Growing both older and wiser, my perspective has come to include a more outspoken awareness of (and reaction to) my mis-education.
As a result, my most profound inner and outer work over the last five years has involved actively dismantling structures, beliefs, assumptions, behaviors, relationships, and systems in my life. And there’s always more to do.
You should know my perspective is often passionate and purpose-driven–and not evergreen. (I look back at early articles in these archives and CRINGE.)
Inevitably, things are always changing, improving, shifting, and growing–sometimes they are decaying, coming undone. This is the work. Messy and magical.
I could give myself an ulcer worrying about how I got here and what I would do differently (I did!), but my Tarot cards are Judgment reducing to The High Priestess so I am literally here to get over it.
My life path involves having the courage to be right here and do it differently right now.
The crux of my “life’s work,” what I call untamed alchemy, is rooted in continuous, courageous creative transformation, informed by the tension of liminal spaces, and anchored in a desire to create more than I consume. I am awed by how blessed and how blind I am. The joy and horror of this life have me in their grasp. If these pages reflect a struggle on my part, it’s because my struggle is real. Sometimes, my struggle is also unnecessary.
Always, the work is a wild ride.