A coyote just appeared at the bird feeder. It’s a young one, healthy but hungry, more afraid of the wild birds than they are of him. But the smell of old lard in suet proved irresistible even for his skittish self, especially on a morning when the cold scent of the storm is already on the air.
Winter weather is a colorful thing. We think of it as white when in reality it is a thousand shades of gray, from the color of ice to black iron, and all the blues in between. Bands of dove and pewter hang low between the peaks, but at the horizon, the clouds’ bases are near the color of midnight. And in the stillness, we wait, our world in abeyance — awaiting a phenomenon of winter as old as time, the spiraling force of cobalt winds and a violet storm.
Today’s featured work symbolizes both, indeed, embodies both — winds and storm, and the snow that rides with them, now only a few hours distant, if the forecast is to be believed. From its description in the Pendants Gallery here on the site:
An Ancient Spiral Pendant
An ancient spiral draws earth and sky, the four winds and the sacred directions, at once into its embrace. Wings summons the spirits of the vortex and their cosmic, timeless power into the spiral of this vintage-style pendant wrought of deer antler. The point is polished lightly, the spiral scorework carved entirely freehand in the old way. Near the top, he reserved a space to honor the Four Sacred Directions, brought together in a flowing diagonal formed of tiny round lapis lazuli cabochons inlaid into the antler. A hand-wrought cap of sterling silver holds the pendant firmly in its grasp. Ships suspended from a white deerhide thong. Pendant hangs 2-5/8″ long; thong is some 26″ long (dimensions approximate). Other views shown above and below.
Sterling silver; lapis lazuli; deer antler; deerhide
$625 + shipping, handling, and insurance
I’ve always been intrigued by the similarities in English words that seem to have no connection to each other, yet somehow relate anyway: violet, a shade of purplish-blue, and violent, referring to the use of force. Both have Latin roots, the former, for a purple flower, and the latter, from a word that translates, more or less literally, to force. And yet they have come down to the colonial language now most in use on this land mass, both through French and then Middle English, only one letter, and the lack thereof, separating them.
Perhaps it’s not so accidental.
In the worlds of medieval and pre-medieval Europe, force certainly reigned, and violence, too; indeed, it was the one constant they transferred to this continent to inflict upon our peoples. It was how power, or rather, authority and control, were taken, and how they were enforced, from the top down. And at that top, the houses of the European monarchs, royalty robed itself in shades of purple and blue.
Even today, those who pretend to know the spiritual meaning of color describe rich blues and purples as shades of leadership, or royalty. No great leap, then, also to associate it with the use of force.
We have no royalty among our own. Leadership may be inherited or bestowed, or simply earned outright, but its power lies in neither robes nor crown, no armies commanded nor subjugation inflicted. Our power, such as it is, lies not in authority or control of others but in our ties to the earth, to the elements and the spirits, to our abilities to navigate such forces sufficiently to leave a better world to our children. And in a world now ailing from the same colonial practices as the ones inflicted by those who robed themselves in shades of purple, our abilities to live in harmony with the elements and use them to heal may be the only thing that saves us all.
And so we wait, ready to welcome the weather and the winter that drives it, to welcome the cobalt winds and a violet storm.
~ 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.
