My Gypsy grandmother used to say, "Adorn yourself, Zenitska, because beauty attracts luck."
Living in the US, things were different for me as a kid, I hadn't grown up in a Roma (gypsy) culture, I hadn't experienced the old country as she had, but I listened and began dressing in my own adorned way. I asked to get my ears pierced at age four, and my grandmother bought me hoop earrings. She began braiding my hair around my head and wrapping scarves around them in bright hues of purple and blue. I wore dozens of bangles and she made me big skirts. She taught me the art of making tea to heal the woes of broken hearts and to find lost lovers for others. We had a pact, she would teach me the ways of the old country, as long as I'd listen.
For her culture, beauty wasn't necessarily given but instead, it was created. If a woman was not considered classically beautiful, it was no problem, that could be fixed with baubles and flowers, perfumes and beautiful words. Because, after all, she reminded me all the time, "Be beautiful, however you can, and you will be lucky."
And today, we created Magic Hour because my grandmother entered the room one day when I was meditating. The investors were in the process of closing Zhena's Gypsy Tea (my eponymous line), and I was refusing to get back into the world of potion making (I was hurt)...but I heard her voice and she said, "Make beauty, teach your daughter to make beauty, I didn't teach you to be a quitter, but to be a beauty maker."
So we are here again, making beauty. Adorning the world, ours and yours, in honor of Maria, and my great aunt Zena who was queen of the Gypsies in her village in the Ukraine, and all women in all countries who are beautiful. We are not here to create anything but luck for you. Happy weekend, all, go be your beautiful self.
