Some traditions say that this is only one of many worlds: some physical; others only possible. In our way, the world of dreams transcends the space between possible and physical, between what is and what might be, turning each into the other when put into action.
Indigenous traditions from other parts of the world hold similar beliefs. For some, the spirit world is a mirror image of this world, a reflection of our best and worst even as we, in turn, reflect it.
It’s a dynamic, this process of reflection, that finds expression in our own physical world, as well. Water is sky and sky, water: less pale imitations or any sort of mimicry than a cross between absorption and adsorption. Each takes the other into itself, finds commonality, and reflects out upon the world its own unique version of that which they hold in common.
And that, perhaps, reflects also the relationship of our own world to others, to the world of dreams and the world of spirits.
It’s also a dynamic found in today’s featured work, a pair of earrings that are seemingly mirror images of each other even as their own individual selves are mirrored halves of a larger whole. From their description in the Earrings Gallery here on the site:
Between Water and Sky Earrings
Life is born in the rain, between water and sky. Wings and his people have always known that water is life, that the rain is a gift, that the lake is a sacred space, and he honors all three in the traditional design of these new earrings. They take the form of mirrored lodges, sacred spaces descending from the sky and reaching upward from the earth’s surface, each stamped with long cascading scores like the fall of the water and the poles of the lodge. They meet in the center at indigo squares seated in the embrace of the light: cobalt cabochons of lapis lazuli shot through with silvery matrix, each its own simulacrum of the sacred lake touched on the surface with raindrops and shimmering sunlight. Each earring hangs 2″ in overall length (excluding wires) and is one inch across at the widest point; each cabochon is 3/8″ square (dimensions approximate).
Sterling silver; lapis lazuli
$575 + shipping, handling, and insurance
In the space between water and sky, each lends color and depth and identity to the other; in differing proportions, each is constituted of the same elemental materials, the same dust of the cosmos. In between is life itself.
The same is true of the space between worlds, one that is and the other what could be, while on the other side of that space, the qualities, the tangibilities, the realities are reversed. We exist to dream, and to put those dreams into action; the dream world’s inhabitants exist to conjure visions in us, and to persuade us to put them into effect. As water is to sky, our own world is a dream’s reflection . . . and, if we heed it, its eventual reality.
~ Aji
All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2017; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owners.
