For much of the outside world, today is Easter, a day of resurrection and renewal. There are, of course, many folks in our own Native communities who celebrate Easter as a religious holiday, whether Catholic or Protestant; some observe a mix of Christian and indigenous traditions combined.
For us, the religious holiday is not a part of our lives, but renewal is something we celebrate every day of the spring season.
In our personal lives, we have much in the works that constitutes new life in several senses of the phrase. In recent weeks, however, Wings has begun a process that occurs only every few years, and then only in very limited fashion: On rare occasion, he will decide that an item from his personal collection is at last meant to find a permanent home elsewhere, and he will release it, offering it to the outside world. This year, he has done so with several items.
Today’s featured work is the one that I personally find the most poignant.
Part of it, of course, is the spirit of this piece, its form and shape and the symbolism it represents, symbolism that is ancient and elemental to our ways. But more than that, it’s the knowledge that this essential indigenous spirit was one of Wings’s early works, from a time when he still routinely did cast silverwork. I have always loved this piece, and I confess to more than a single pang knowing that it will find a home elsewhere eventually.
This is one of those works that transcends the limitations of both its corporeal form and the spirit it represents, one that is quintessentially Native and yet offers its inherent qualities as messenger and guide to any wearer. From its description in the Pendants Gallery here on the site:
Spirit Guide Pendant
The Water Bird is a spirit guide, sacred in the rites of the Tipi Way — a being known also as a Peyote Bird, for its role in the ceremonies of the Native American Church, also called the Red Road and the Peyote Way. It is one the symbols that speaks most deeply to Wings’s own spirit, and today he has released for sale one of his oldest pieces, a two-piece Water Bird cast in sterling silver, fully three-dimensional on the front, flat on the back to ensure that it hangs properly. The head, wings, and upper body form the top of the pendant, with the traditional elongated beak pointed skyward and the arched shoulders and articulated wingspan. Two perfectly round divots form the eyes; oval hoops mark the shoulders and bands of vertical and horizontal lines delineate the wing feathers. It attaches to the tailfeathers and lower body by way of a sterling silver jump ring; the flared tailfeathers bear a repeating banded pattern similar to those of the wings, and a scalloped edge that separates each barred feather from the next. The beak is soldered to a hand-made bail in the form of a simple silver hoop. The full pendant, including bail, hangs 2.75″ long by 1-11/16″ across at the widest point.
Sterling silver
$1,350 + shipping, handling, and insurance
However difficult it is to see this work depart for other spaces and places and persons, that process, too, that of letting something go to find its place in the world, is the very essence of renewal. Our traditions may not include resurrection in the sense that Easter implies (although for some of our peoples, they do include the concept of a return of the spirit, in various contexts), but they certainly observe the birth and rebirth and growth of life, new and renewed alike.
They also encompass the understanding that messengers and guides are essential to going well through the life that has been given to us to live. And in this way, the Water Bird in flight becomes the perfect symbol: a spirit guide . . . and the freedom of a renewed spirit.
And that is worth celebrating for all of us.
~ 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.
