Dream, Dissolve, Discern
A Charm Set from Maggie’s Table
When I showed up at Maggie’s cottage this time, she was already steeping something strong — I could smell the valerian through the screen door before I even knocked. The scent was earthy and strange, grounding in a way that made me feel like I’d taken off my shoes even though I hadn’t.
She hollered for me to come in. I chuckled and did, brushing past jasmine vines curling around the doorway like they were trying to get inside this lovely place too.
“You’re here for something deep, aren’t ya?” she asked, eyes twinkling as she poured the tea. “Something with teeth and wings.”
I thought to myself, ‘what does that even mean?’, but smartly nodded keeping my lips sealed. I’ve learned by now that she somehow always knows.
“I brought a couple of questions today,” I told her.
She gestured to the table and pulled three things from the windowsill where she kept her current projects. "Your questions are best answered by you, ya know." She set down a bundle of roots, a dried blossom in a cloth pouch, and a strange twig that shimmered slightly when the light hit it.
"Yep, I know." And I did... But sometimes my questions only prompt more questions.
“Well then,” she said, placing them gently in front of me. “Let’s talk about these.”
Valerian Root
“This one’s obvious,” Maggie said, running her fingers across the thick, curled root. “It’ll take you down slow and hold your hand the whole way. Puts the mind to sleep but leaves the spirit just awake enough to go wandering.”
I nodded. I’d heard of valerian root before, but never used it. Especially not like this — not charged the way Maggie did it, with string and a story and that look in her eye that said she knows eons more than I could ever imagine.
“This is your tether,” she said. “A body anchor. You take it with you when you’re not sure how you’re coming back from where you’re going.”
Spreading Dogbane (Honeybloom)
Next she opened the pouch — a sweet, slightly bitter scent rose from it. “Dogbane’s tricky,” she warned. “Pretty little thing, smells like honey, but she’ll bite if you misuse her.”
I tilted my head. “So… protection?”
Maggie smiled. “Discernment,” she corrected. “She’s for seeing what’s true when everything looks nice on the outside. You’re walking into liminal space with this set, and liminal space is full of beautiful lies and lovely traps.”
She pressed the pouch into my palm. “This is what keeps you from handing your trust to every spirit with pretty eyes.”
Soma (mythic and symbolic)
The third item, that strange plant, was the most curious of all. “Is this...?”
“Soma,” Maggie said, eyes dancing. “Or a piece of what Soma wants to be.”
I ran a finger over its surface. It shimmered again, faint but undeniable.
“It’s not about what plant it is,” she explained. “It’s what it represents — ego gone soft, truth let in. You use this when you’re ready to stop pretending you don’t already know the answers.”
The Charm Set: Dream, Dissolve, Discern
Maggie wrapped the three items in a cloth, tied with red thread and a tiny black feather tucked just inside. “For your Raven,” she said.
And with that, the set was born.
She poured the last of the valerian tea into her own cup and gave me a look like she was seeing five layers of me at once.
“You don’t need all the answers right now,” she said. “Just the right questions… and maybe something to hold while you ask them.”
This is a charm set for:
Spiritwalking and dream journeying
Intuition and vision work
Deep trust, without losing yourself
From Maggie’s Table:
Dream, Dissolve, Discern is now part of the A’Mused Apothecary. Available as a wearable charm set, infused with the energy of trance, truth, and the protection that walks beside you when you leave the map behind.