Today dawned clear and cold, morning temperatures back into the twenties now. But the rising sun revealed the storm clouds gathered at the western horizon, then violet blue in the golden light, now blue gray and already embracing us on all sides.
Winter is not yet ready to abandon this place.
Meanwhile, storms mount on all sides, both literal and metaphorical: one tornado in Arkansas, others predicted elsewhere for today and on into this week; a storm of sickness and death visiting itself upon the land in, and from, all directions. Much of both could have been prevented, but colonialism manages pandemics in the same way that it manages stewardship of the earth, which is to say, the only concerns are those bound up with greed and white supremacy. All else is dispensable, disposable.
The land is paying the price for that now, and so are we.
But for an earth, and a collective humanity, so badly in need of healing, it sometimes feels as though there is precious little to be found anywhere. Of governmental leadership we have none, at least at the federal level. Our peoples have always known, so the arrival of the first invaders, that it is always down to us, that only we will save ourselves. The rest of the world is now learning what that feels like.
We find medicine in the work, but we find it in dreams, too. Ours are visionary ways, ways that know well the value of spirits, ancestors, elders, prophets, the value of visions and dreams and the work needed to make them real. Our very lives are the result of such dreams, and such work, but they are in no way “fruition.” Instead, we in our turn do the work to serve the spirits, to honor the ancestors, the learn from the elders, to fulfill the prophecies. This is what the prophecy of the Seventh Generation means: It is not an end to be reached, but a path, a journey, a way of life and the work we do to leave behind a world fit for the future. It is life lived from a visionary vantage point, one that works continually to bring the dream into being, a better world for generations unborn and unconceived.
It’s life itself as medicine.
Today’s featured work embodies the goal, the work, and the always-ongoing result, the prophetic and healing power of elemental spirits and the protection they provide in times good and bad alike. From its description in the relevant section of the Bracelets Gallery here on the site:
Dream Medicine Cuff Bracelet
Dream medicine heals the spirit, illuminating our worldly path by means of a link to the forces of other worlds. Wings evokes healing powers and visionary experiences with this cuff, wrought of heavy-gauge sterling silver triangle wire. On each angled side of the band’s surface, graceful, flowing lines link bearpaw prints, traditional symbols of protection and medicine. Directly on top of the triangle’s apex, he has stamped scores of tiny crescents in a meticulous, consistent repeating pattern. The stampwork is bold, deep, and clean; the ends of the band are rounded and filed smooth for comfort. At the very center of the band’s surface, in a scalloped bezel trimmed with twisted silver, rests a freeform oval cabochon of ultra-high-grade Black Web Kingman turquoise, an electric sky blue tightly spiderwebbed with an inky black matrix and shimmering flashes of pyrite. The spectacular center cabochon is flanked on either side by richly textured moon-like orbs, a pair of highly domed, faceted cabochons of rainbow moonstone set in plain, low-profile bezels. The stones suggest the luminous web of visions and dreams, holding within it the illuminating powers of Medicine. Cuff is 6″ long by 3/8″ across at the triangle’s “base”; turquoise cabochon is 3/4″ long by 3/8″ across at the widest point; rainbow moonstone cabochons are 3/8″ across (dimensions approximate). Other views shown at the link.
Sterling silver; ultra-high-grade Black-Web Kingman turquoise; rainbow moonstone
$2,000 + shipping, handling, and insurance
It’s a stunningly beautiful work for a time of great danger, and great promise. It reminds us that there are powers beyond our own, forces upon which we may call, from which may learn how best to keep the earth, and each other.
Because both need us now, and the ordinary ways of colonial life are not merely insufficient to the task, but diametrically opposed to it. It’s time for old dreams made new again, and life lived from a visionary vantage point.
~ Aji
All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2020; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.
