Overnight, we are humbled, spring having reminded us that we are at its mercy. It is a capricious and temperamental season, one given at least as much to blustery moods as to stable warmth. We awakened this morning to the coldest dawn in weeks, and the despite abundant afternoon sun, the mercury never really rose beyond “chilly.”
More of the same is projected for the next ten days, with about half of that expected to turn stormy. We can use the rain, no question, but the weather, if indeed it even comes to pass (never a sure thing this time of year), promises to complicate much of what was planned for the weeks to come.
Spring reminds us of our place in this world, one that we only delude ourselves into believing constitutes some sort of primacy over the powers of the natural world. Spring reminds us of the need for humility.
It’s not only us, of course: In these days of unsettled temperature and weather, the animals are unsure whether to expose themselves yet to the elements; the plants risk freezing if they blossom now. But they, too, are part of our responsibility; Stewardship requires that we take their needs into account even as we attempt to relieve our own burdens of daily life.
If we are living in a good way, as has been given to us to do, we know this. And when we pray for guidance for ourselves, we also say a prayer for all life.
It is this praxis that informs today’s featured work, a pair of earrings that Wings has wrought in the form of the eagle feathers that carry those prayers to Spirit, small silver feathers adorned with the color most associated with this season. From their description in the Earrings Gallery here on the site:
A Prayer for All Life Earrings
There are times when survival requires resistance, requires a return to the old ways, requires faith and prayer and visions and dreams. With this pair of earrings, Wings has reconceived his eagle-feather series in new ways: a change of color, an addition of precious gems, greater labor in design and execution . . . and a symbolism suited to the whole world, a prayer for all life. Each eagle feather is roughly a mirror image of the other, but cut entirely free-hand, so that like their real-world counterparts, each preserves its own unique identity. Using a delicate jeweler’s chisel, Wings has scored each earring freehand, the lines forming a vaguely herringboned pattern at either side of the center shaft to create the hundreds of tiny barbs that make up each feather. In a first for this series, he has repeated the freehand barb pattern on the reverse of each drop. The shaft itself is an overlay of stamped thin silver wire, running up the length of each feather to wrap around the base of the shaft at the top. Four tiny round bezel-set cabochons of rich green jade in the color of the evergreens are scattered across the front to create the mottled pattern unique to eagle feathers: two on either side of the shaft on each earring, for a total of eight. The feathers themselves are anchored at the base of the shaft by brilliant grass-green ovals, a pair of stunning peridot cabochons lightly webbed with deep delicate lines of clear, glossy matrix. Together, they form a powerful pair of feathers in the color of life itself, powerful enough to send skyward a prayer for all life. Each is suspended from sterling silver wires. Earrings hang 2.5″ long (excluding wires) and are 9/16″ across at the widest point; the peridot cabochons are 3/8″ long by 1/4″ across (dimensions approximate). Reverse shown at the link.
Sterling silver; peridot; jade
$875 + shipping, handling, and insurance
In our traditions, prayer informs our ways and our days. It is how we greet the dawn, and how we bid goodnight to the sun and the evening star. And we do so courtesy of the feathers so generously given to us — by Eagle and Hawk, by the tiny colorful spirit birds, by the flicker whose barbed colors form peyote fans. They lend us their power and spirit . . . but in return, it is our task to protect them, and their habitat.
Now, the flickers join me at prayer every morning. They have set up housekeeping in the exterior wood of the upper story of the house as it awaits completion, a spot that directly overlooks the place where I pray. Most people would have chased them out, but these are spirits birds, creatures who give much to us whether we are aware of it or not. And so we made room for them, and deliberately; their choice to share our home is a blessing.
And we are responsible for them, for ensuring their well-being in a world that no longer automatically offers them safe haven. Even as we pray for ourselves at dawn, we pray for them also.
In this season, even as we struggle through each day ourselves, this is our task: to offer a prayer for our world.
~ 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.
