At long last, we have a day to match the edge on the wind: perfect clarity of air and sky, a forecast that insists upon a zero-percent chance of any precipitation. There is a sense of immediacy and presence to this feeling of fall, one that we can expect to follow us throughout this day and into tonight.
For once, I am not yet ready to bid farewell to summer; the season has flown too fast, flown past us now, and there are still too many things we want to do before the snow flies. And yet, I find it impossible to be unhappy with autumn’s early arrival — it is, after all, my favorite season, the one most comfortable and, in a way unique to this place, also most beautiful.
Here, the autumn light is a spirit until itself, a spirit that transcends the bounds of day and night.
It’s not merely its beauty that respects no temporal boundaries, but the very light itself. We tend to think of “autumn light” as the sharply angled fall of shimmering gold that sets the fall landscape aflame of an afternoon. But in truth, there are more sources of illumination than the sun, and they, too, come alive at this season more than at any other.
The best time for stargazing, bar none, falls in the waning weeks of October. There is a sharpness to the atmosphere, a perfect crystalline clarity, that permits us a view of stars so far and so long distant that the very journey of their light is older than our world. They are messengers, these cosmic spirits, the light their message for us, and it is in the crisp cold nights of autumn that our world is best suited to receive them.
Today’s featured work embodies messenger and message manifest in the shimmering blue and silver of the ice a thousand stars, bound up with more worldly beings and a uniquely feminine spirit. From its description in the Pins Gallery here on the site:
Stardust Messenger Warrior Woman Pin
A stardust messenger delivers the gifts of the virtues and the teachings of the spirits. Wings beckons message and messengers alike into being with this latest entry in his signature Warrior Woman series, created in memory of his mother and to honor the courage, strength, and power of women. this warrior’s heart stands out in sharp relief above the beadwork on her dress, a powerfully layered image of four Eyes of Spirit, each formed of tiny Eyes of Spirit arrayed like stardust in their own diamond-shaped pattern. The guiding Eye motif is repeated in the flowering stylized diamond design of the sterling silver pattern wire that forms the serpent over her left shoulder, an image of prosperity and abundance. In her left hand rests the silvered crescent moon, adance with the wings of numerous butterflies, small messenger spirits of warmer winds; in her right hand, she holds a single small perfect cabochon of translucent aquamarine, the silvery blue of illuminating starlight. The pin stands 2.75″ high by 2 inches across at the widest point; the cabochon is 3/16″ across (dimensions approximate).
Sterling silver; aquamarine
$325 + shipping, handling, and insurance
We still have the spirits of summer with us. The butterflies are everywhere; hummingbirds, too. Despite the lack of water in the pond, even the dragonflies are finding sufficient sustenance to remain. But time is short. They all know, whether through repeat visits or ancestral memory, that this is a place of sanctuary, a refuge and place for refueling before recommencing their migratory journey. And the newly clear air, the cold nights and turning leaves, all tell us that they will not be with us much longer.
What will be with us is the knowledge they leave behind, and the wisdom yet to come from the children of the fall. Some messages are writ in stardust. The light demands our attention, not merely in the daylight but within the bounds of night.
~ 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.
