Today is absolutely beautiful.
Oh, there was a haze at the western horizon at dawn, which could have been smoke, pollen, dust, clouds, or any combination thereof, and there is more rain in the forecast for this afternoon. But a cold clear sunrise has given way to warm bright morning, air mostly still and alive with silvery light.
It reminds me of what I love so much about summer here. For a child of the storm who nonetheless loves the intense shades and spirit of a sunny morning, it’s the best of all worlds: brilliant early hours beneath a cobalt sky, then the wild dance of the thunderstorm in afternoon before the sun sets in an explosion of otherworldly light.
Summer weather patterns are only one aspect of what make our small world here a refuge — less from the storm than fully invested in it.
It’s clear that other beings find this space a sanctuary of sorts, too. For the first time that either of us can ever recall, the red-tailed hawks have remained into the warm season instead of moving on shortly after the equinox, as is their more usual path. The small bright songbirds that wintered with us out of season over the past year have remained, too, as have most of the larger jays and woodpeckers. And while the elk have long since vanished up into their mountain home once more, we learned from a friend this morning that deer are reappearing in the area.
For us, these are the indicators of a world in health and harmony: defining the edges of sacred space by what is drawn to the land, what fulfills the prophecies and answers prayer.
Today’s featured work is the embodiment of these boundaries, and of the sheltering space within them, wrought in an old style that honors traditional ways and wisdoms of silversmithing. From its description in the relevant section of the Bracelets Gallery here on the site:
Refuge Cuff Bracelet
The space between Spirit’s eyes is a place of refuge, a sanctuary filled with life in full abundant flower that extends to all directions. With this simple, spare traditional cuff, Wings combines the symbologies of sacred space and Spirit with the imagery of the directions, of illuminating guidance and the forces of abundance. Cut freehand of heavy-gauge sterling silver, the slender band is chased with traditional imagery on all four sides: top, bottom, and either edge, all stamped deeply, consistently, and similarly freehand. At the center sits a deeply stamped ancient motif used variously to represent the force of the thunderhead, the powers of the winds and the sacred directions, and the traditional stair-stepped lines that evoke a specific kind of sacred space. It’s flanked by paired sunrise symbols, the rays emergent from a bank of clouds to create triangles that, when conjoined at their open bases, together produce Eyes of Spirit, symbols of wisdom, illumination, and guidance. The pattern alternates down each side of the band, ending in paired directional spaces and anchored at each end by a single deep flower; more flowering motifs edge the narrow sides of the band. The inner band is lined at either edge in a repeating pattern of subtler motifs of illumination, the silvery light of crescent moons. Cuff is 6″ long by 3/8″ across (dimensions approximate). Other views shown above, below, and at the link.
Sterling silver
$1,050 + shipping, handling, and insurance
This work is heavy — not in weight, but in substance and symbol and spirit. The silver is solid, a nine-gauge band cut and rounded and shaped freehand, edges filed as smooth and silken and the filament-like edges of the space its pattern represents. It summons to its circle the avatars of earth and sky, of a radiant sun and the most powerful of the storms, those that keep this thirsty land alive to flower like the medicine imagery placed at either end of the band.
But it’s a design that is far greater than the mere sum of its parts. The radiant sun symbols are conjoined at their bases, creating illumination of another sort: the Eye of Spirit, a symbol of wisdom and guidance and, yes, protection, too. The thunderheads are likewise united at their open bases, creating a closed space that points, via corner and spoke, to all of the sacred directions, rendering the deeply-defined negative space within a refuge in its own right.
And it reminds me to look outside the window, to cast my eyes in all directions when out of doors: to appreciate the beauty we are granted, to revere the dust of this ancient earth and the rocky outcroppings of the peaks, to honor the sky and the clouds now rapidly converging overhead, heavy with the promise of new rain.
The colonial world spends much time trying to set the boundaries of property and profit, the better to retain authority and wield control.
This day, and this work, reminds us that our own time, energy, resources, and focus are better spent on defining the edges of sacred space, and then conducting our work and our lives within them.
~ Aji
All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2021; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.
