The Ritual Bracelet, My Ritual Boutique, and How It Came To Be

My Ritual Boutique became what it is today, an online storefront, as a result of two inspired individuals coming together to create a piece of jewelry that could be worn on your wrist and simultaneously used as "a tool for self directed lifestyle changes".  That was the initial 'tag line' for the Ritual Bracelet. What began over a year ago, as an exploration of one piece of useful and purposeful jewelry, has evolved into an entire online storefront of 'goodies'.

The Ritual Bracelet was originally hatched over 3 years ago through a "chance" encounter between two local yogis. That is, if you believe in "chance". It was inspired by a talk about malas, rosaries, prayer beads, spiritual practices, a love for creating art, designing jewelry, and an intention to help others make useful changes in their personal lives.  How do we create a piece of jewelry that everyday people can wear and utilize as a way to inspire, support, and encourage meaningful shifts in their own lives? Whether a person desires to arrest a habit, create a new habit, alter a current habit, or explore their own conscious connection to themselves, others, and the world around them, we wanted to create a piece of jewelry that the end user could develop in their own way to effect useful and meaningful changes in their lives.

The first element to emerge was the red string of fate that threads through all of creation. Built upon the idea that we are all connected in some way, and yet, not all encounters between individuals are by "chance".  The red thread of fate connects you with the people, places, things, experiences, that resonate with you. Our inital intention was to create the Ritual Bracelet with heavy braided red silk thread. 

Enter the R&D phase of development - Research and Design. Research and development of a product design began by stringing beads on red silk thread. This was short lived, as it was prone to breaking over a short period of time.  Enter our intentions - a bracelet that was durable, functional, and aesthetically pleasing. We didn't waste any time upgrading to wire, after that first discovery. We wanted people to wear this bracelet for prolonged periods of time. String, silk or not, was not going to go the distance.

Tested in the field. The Ritual Bracelet was worn by a small group of family, friends, and acquaintances with the intention of soliciting feedback about the design, its use, and its wearability. The creators put theirs to the test, through dirt, water, sweat, body lotions, essential oils, you name it. If our hands were in it, so was the bracelet. We tugged on it. We had geese yanking on it. Yes, geese - turns out, they love the bracelets and necklaces too.  Worn consistently, almost daily for 4, 5, 6 months at a time. We tested it, so we could say it would take a lot of unnatural wear and tear.

As feedback was received, the design shifted to address potential problem areas. We added a white Howlite bead to make the beginning and end points distinguishable from one another.  That eliminated having to use the clasp to determine the zero point. We initially used the token red thread to mark the end of your 40 day practice. It tended to fall off over time or come untied repeatedly. To solve this issue, we introduced a ceramic red bead to take its place. No more "I lost my red thread". Problem solved.

Each change came with reworking the original design and upgrading it. Many months were spent wearing, testing, re-designing, and testing some more. Each new design came with a new trial of wearing and A LOT of patience. "What have you been doing?" "What have you been up to?" "When is your store going to launch?" WELL - just as the Ritual Bracelet was nearing it's final R&D, along came Spirit Link bracelets. After all, we can't stop here!

What began as one product, quickly expanded into more jewelry products. More bracelets were designed and added. Necklaces and charms were hatched, because who doesn't like a good iTotem to wear? Then the Enchanted Altier began.

Being surrounded by so many local artists and their talents, we couldn't help but NOT expand wider to include some cool folks and their artistic creations. From loofah seeds, to herbal teas and hair pins, the creation of My RItual Boutique as a storefront for one-offs (one-of-a-kind), vintage finds and crafty, homemade items became a virtual reality.

Without straying from the intial intention to create a meaningful and purposeful piece of jewelry, we merely expanded on the original concept and wove it through all of the storefront's offerings, just like that red thread is woven through all of us.