The Midwife - One-Time Box Purchase

In April 2025, subscribers met the Midwife.

The Midwife’s work changes with the seasons. In the winter, she keeps bedside vigils for those moving through fevers. In the spring, she assists with births. Her work is to aid those who are transiting between worlds, or embarking upon rites of passage, or enduring painful transformations. She aims to prevent and ease discomfort. When pain can’t be removed, she helps translate its thumping, opaque code into something meaningful.

She dabs the wingtips of the young Crows with quickened oil before their first journeys. Thus prepared, they can rise to the challenge of long, windy flights between worlds.  

The Midwife Box includes an abundance of beautiful objects; hints and additions to expand the story; a mysterious document; and a lore card.  

Some items are available for individual purchase.

• Mysterious Document
• An instructional document is augmented with marginalia which will help you interpret clues.  It is available only in the Midwife Box.

• Lore Card
• The Midwife are introduced in a full-color collectible 4x6 inch lore card.  The artwork for this month's lore card was created by Joanna Rzepecka, a Warsaw, Poland-based illustrator. She says, "My work is inspired by biodiversity, mainly animals. Through my work, I'm trying to capture moments where nature is untouched by humans. Peaceful scenery, colors, and rough textures are some things that I enjoy the most."

• Bright-Eyed Robin
• You feel the brush of a wing as an excited Robin seeks your attention.  She has brought someone to meet you: the Midwife, who is searching the ground for empty bits of eggshell that have fallen from the nests in the trees. The birds need little help from her in caring for their eggs, but they turn to her support for other rites of passage: first flights, injuries, and courtships.

• Powdered Eggshell
• You join the Midwife and help her as she forages for the spent shells.  She uses the larger pieces to make amulets for laboring women.  The smaller pieces are collected, then ground into a chalky powder which she uses to ease transitions and to create protections. Use your powder to dust the ground or trace a circle of protection. Or, crumble a pinch into your bathwater when seeking comfort during stressful times.

• Candle Scribe
• The Midwife carries a purse of common remedies and tools. Among them is a small candle scribe, similar to an awl. It is carved from bone. She uses it to scratch sigils and shapes into the candles which burn during her appointments. Sometimes, she’ll use it to gently trace words of comfort on the skin of those she tends.

• Beeswax Tealight
• The Midwife uses candles of various sizes, depending upon the work at hand. This tealight will burn for about four hours in total.  Before lighting it, inscribe its surface with blessings.

• Cusp Oil
  • The Midwife sources some treatments from the Foxes, who practice a kind of herbal alchemy.  She usually carries a vial of Cusp Oil, using it to trace sigils on the feet, calves, or back, then massaging the glistening marks into the skin. The soothing jojoba oil has been quickened with prehnite, jasmine, and rose petals. In Birdmoss, jasmine is associated with the midnight Moon. It is uplifting and calming and promotes openness to new information and wisdom.  Prehnite is known as the healer’s stone and is used to support guided meditations.

• Weighty Pendulum
  • Because fear of the unknown can slow or stall a transition, the Midwife also carries tools of divination.  In particular, she turns to a shiny pendulum, heavy for its size, to gather clues about things to come.  To use your pendulum, you will need to determine its language; to begin simply, start by determining the movements which will mean “yes” and “no.” Hold your question in your mind and wait for the pendulum to swing. 

• Sprig of Pine
  • Crossing between worlds is a rite of passage, like the births and deaths the Midwife attends. Your bit of pine will allow the Birdmoss Crows, visiting our sky, to recognize a kindred spirit.

Photo props are not included.