After nearly a full day of snow, including heavy flakes lit by a sunset light, the weather stilled for a few hours yesterday evening. Although the clouds parted to show the stars for a time, it was enough to permit us a view of the rise of the full moon, and by well before midnight, the snow had begun again.
This morning, the clouds clung to the peaks, and there they remain, unwilling to depart entirely. The full moon rode high in the western sky, growing in size as it lessened in altitude. The sun is out now, although still playing hide-and-seek with the clouds, and while today is supposed to be mostly clear, the forecast predicts more weather by tomorrow night.
More than the clouds or the snow, though, the watchword for the day is cold. The wind chill did not pass the zero mark before nine-thirty or so this morning; even now, the actual temperature is only sixteen, with a wind chill of three. It’s not a time to be outdoors any more than absolutely necessary, and given the bug I’m fighting, I’m more than happy to stay inside by the fire as much as possible.
It’s one of the oddities of this place that our real winter often comes early or late. This year, it’s late, much more snow and much deeper cold than around the holidays. There have been years when such weather has hit well before the winter solstice, turning November into a deep freeze. Now, though, the real winter weather is intensifying as we rush headlong toward official spring.
And the sun seems as unsure as the rest of us as to whether it is his time to shine.
That’s only our perception, of course. We may sing and pray Father Sun across the sky, but the truth of the matter is that he is perhaps the most reliable of all the elemental spirits. Winter or spring, it makes no matter; the sun is a light for all seasons.
And it is that aspect of the powerful sky spirit’s identity that infuses today’s featured work. From its description in the relevant section of the Bracelets Gallery here on the site:
Braided Suns Cuff Bracelet
We live in a world of braided suns, a sacred hoop of the seasons strung around orbs of golden light. Wings honors the sun in all its angles and phases with this cuff, heavy nine-gauge sterling silver annealed to a velvety finish, hand-stamped in arcing conjoined sunrise patterns set opposite each other to form braids of light. Round tiger’s eye cabochons, brilliantly chatoyant and infused with rich color gradients from deep bronzed brown to bright yellow gold, are set into saw-toothed bezels equidistant along the band’s length, a sun for each season in varying shades of dark and light. The edges of the band are hand-filed silky-smooth, and the inner band is adorned with arced sunrises chased along either edge, then linked across the band’s expanse by diagonal shafts of light erupting at the center in flowering radiance, the flowing lines all hand-struck to be meticulously equidistant and at identical angles. The band is 6.5″ long by 3/8″ across; the cabochons are 9/16″ across (dimensions approximate). Views of sides and inner band shown below.
Sterling silver; tiger’s eye
$1,475 + shipping, handling, and insurance
In this work, multiple suns are braided together, one for each season, bound by the light. In actuality, it’s perhaps better understood as four faces of the same being, or four aspects of its face: turned now in profile one way, now face forward, now the other way, and lastly, face more hidden than visible. It’s a process replicated in miniature by the light of the moon — fitting, given that science tells us that the moon’s glow is in actuality the reflected light of her more powerful spouse.
On days as cold as this, particularly given the local omnipresence of colds and flu and other bugs right now, it’s easy to forget the power of this most steadfast of spirits. But the sun is faithful, whether we can see his face or not: a light for all seasons, and a gift, too.
~ Aji
All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2019; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.
