For today, and for the weekend, too, we’re in the fortunate position of featuring some of Wings’s newest works that have already sold. Of the seven coils in the new Wisdom Collection, only three remain. That said, the message that underlies the creation of each is still one worth exploring, especially now. And so we move forward, as originally planned, although I’ll be featuring them in a slightly different order to account for it.
We’ve been looking, thus far this week, at indigenous sources and understandings of wisdom, and especially that which might be called “women’s wisdom.” It’s not quantitatively different from men’s, nor from that which might be said to be either nonbinary or that which is entirely gender-neutral (as is the case with some traditional spirit beings). It’s also not qualitatively different in the sense of “better” or “worse,” but it does, in some ways, tend to be different.
I’ve noted before that there is great divergence among our peoples on spiritual matters (as, indeed, with everything else). In some tribal nations, the status of medicine person is restricted by gender; in others, it is not. But the dominant culture’s understanding of the term “medicine persons” very frequently functions as a catch-all label, an umbrella term that covers what are, in point of fact, many very different types of individuals who fill very specific roles, with unique practices.
Some are spiritual elders in the moral and familial sense, people to whom the rest of the community looks for guidance and, yes, wisdom, someone who can answer questions on matters deep and old. They may do nothing else in this regard, but simply being is enough. Some are healers of various types, from the family herbalist to the formal leader of a nation’s Medicine Society, and points along the enormous spectrum between the two.
And some are dreamers, visionaries, prophets.
Of course, none of these roles necessarily excludes any of the others, and in some cultures, there are persons who engage in all of them. Some cultures place a greater emphasis on the Medicine of dreams than others; even deeply personal visions may be bestowed for the benefit of the entire community, and in some traditions, they are accorded respect collectively, as well.
The two works from Wings’s new series that I’ve chosen to feature today are pieces that embody aspects of these visionary practices. One is the source; the other, the act. Both are works of beauty and power, two of my favorites among the entire collection.
The first is the source, what might be called the spiritual wellspring of visions and dreams. Its name refers to a motif found in traditional symbolism in various cultures, one that betokens the literal vision of the spirits and their ability to use it as means to transmit wisdom to us through dream worlds and altered states. From its description in the Bracelets Gallery here on the site:
The Eye of Spirit Coil Bracelet
In our cultures, we look to Spirit as the source of Creation, of guidance, of wisdom itself. An ancient traditional symbol is the Eye of Spirit, a roughly diamond-shaped image that evokes the Great Mystery’s omniscient powers of sight, powers than can be transmitted to us in visions and dreams. Wings honors this great symbol of Spirit with this coil bracelet, centered with three great beads of smoky quartz, each diamond-faceted across its broad surface to form dozens of small eyes within the greater Eye. The center beads are flanked with smooth shimmering nuggets of labradorite interspersed with glossy onyx barrel beads in two separate lengths, like daylight studding strands of night wound around in the great infinite that is life’s sacred hoop. Single faceted smoky quartz beads separate the segments of shorter onyx beads, and bisect them from their longer counterparts. The coil terminates at either end in a length of small glowing heishi-cut disc beads of shimmering labradorite. Combined, they embrace the Eye of Spirit in the grounding of earth and ascendance of light, in the illumination of the moon and the color of night. First in The Wisdom Collection of The Seventh Fire Series. Designed jointly by Wings and Aji.
Memory wire; smoky quartz; labradorite; onyx
$325 + shipping, handling, and insurance
SOLD
Of this particular set of seven, this was the first one he created, and it has, from the beginning, been my favorite of the entire collection. Part of it is the combination of colors and the luminous quality of the stones. Part of it is the symbolism, which I find especially powerful. And part of it is simply the way it all came together. And so I have to say that it doesn’t surprise me that the person who bought it made for this one first.
The second one featured today remains in inventory, although perhaps not for long, if the current pace of sales from this series is any indication. This one appears fourth in his ordering of the series, but it was the last one to be created. As I watched it take shape, I remained unsure about its form, even though I had a hand in its design. I had difficulty seeing it whole in my mind’s eye.
All my reservations vanished at the moment he completed it.
It was, in fact, rather like the visions for which it is named: a bit confusing as it uncoils, seemingly disparate elements that seem somehow to go together, but do not yet fall into proper alignment. And then suddenly, the meaning comes clear, and one sees it whole and entire. that, for me, was this piece. From its description in the same gallery:
Vision Coil Bracelet
Visions are sources of wisdom and guidance, of prophecy and power. In our cultures, they are to be sought, and heeded, too. With this coil bracelet, Wings summons the symbolism of visionary worlds and the guidance they offer us in creating a better world for the generations yet to come. At either end, four smooth-polished nuggets of sky-blue Sleeping Beauty turquoise anchor the hoop. Flowing inward like drops of light-spangled water are long lengths of clear blue amazonite, separated from strands of sodalite nuggets in the deep blue of the storm by four smooth roundish orbs of labradorite, each a small moon that holds the rainbow’s own light. Seven glowing Eyes of Spirit at the center, each a diamond-faceted oval of smoky quartz, represents the visions source. Taken together, it links earth and water, air and light, with the sky realms where the spirits dwell, and whence come the visionary wisdom that guides us on our path. Fourth in The Wisdom Collection of The Seventh Fire Series. Designed jointly by Wings and Aji.
Memory wire; smoky quartz; sodalite; labradorite; amazonite; Sleeping Beauty turquoise
$325 + shipping, handling, and insurance
As the world reels, shell-shocked, from the events of last Friday and the days since, each day bringing with it fresh horrors for the most marginalized populations and peoples, it sometimes feels as though dreams are all we have left. But the trick is to transform amorphous dreams into workable visions, to turn the gift of Spirit’s wisdom into acts that will help create a better world for our children.
These entries in Wings’s latest series serve, to me, as reminders that we can do just that. The road will not always be well-lit, the path not always clear. Sometimes wisdom will come only in brief flashes of illumination. But with patience and resilience, our resistance becomes a visionary blueprint, a map of the future to guide us around the hoop.
~ 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.
