Dreams serve a variety of purposes, from simple processing to memory to fear to inspiration. But in our cultures, when we talk about dreams with an unspoken capital D, we’re referring to something very specific: dreams in the form of visions, or at least visionary experiences, ones confined neither to day nor to night nor to altered states of consciousness, but a gift of the spirits that may come to a person anytime, anywhere. They may be individual or communal in nature, experiences that function as inspiration or warning, premonition or prophecy.
Fundamentally, they are messages that contain the wisdom of the spirits, a manifestation of their power in a way that awakens our own.
In a week in which wisdom has been, nationally, in woefully short supply, this day is a good one in which to revisit its lessons. It’s why Wings chose this week to release his latest series, The Wisdom Collection: It’s been painfully obvious that these would be terrible days, and on that score, they did not disappoint. We featured two from the collection on Wednesday, one of which had already sold, but whose symbolism and message were worth including nonetheless.
The same holds true today: We bring you two more from the same collection, one of which has sold, but whose meaning is consonant with the other — a pair of works whose messages deserve to be heard in tandem.
We begin, again, with the one that has already found its home. It’s a design that spoke to me particularly, although it was clearly intended for someone else, someone who has already found it. I have always been fascinated by the prophetic and premonitory power of dreams, by the spiritual utility of visions, and by their tendency to come when and how they will. This piece speaks to that propensity. From its description in its section of the Bracelets Gallery here on the site:
Dreams of Day and Night Coil Bracelet
Our peoples know that wisdom resides in the souls of those who dream, and that those dreams are not bound by time or sleep. The greatest visionaries find wisdom and guidance in all hours and seasons, in dreams of day and night. With this coil bracelet, Wings pays tribute to their practice and the power it puts to use on behalf of the people. Short glossy barrel beads of black onyx, the color of the night sky, anchor either end, flowing inward through small spiderweb turquoise nuggets and larger doughnut rondel beads in the brilliant blue of the western sky at morning. Longer onyx barrel beads link the rondels to larger turquoise nuggets, the ice-to-indigo spectrum of the noonday heavens. at the center, a length of large roundish orbs of pure rainbow light, smoothly polished labradorite beads, rest in the embrace of more sunny amber. Together, they link all the hours of day and night in all the colors of air and light. Second in The Wisdom Collection of The Seventh Fire Series. Designed jointly by Wings and Aji.
Memory wire; labradorite; amber; blue turquoise; onyx
$325 + shipping, handling, and insurance
SOLD
The colors in this work are the colors of this place: turquoise of unimaginable brilliance and intensity shot through with the fiery golden-orange of the sun; the deep jet of the night and the ethereal clarity of the light. It’s a bit like wearing the spirit of this land wrapped around one’s wrist.
It also serves as a reminder that visionary experiences are gifts whether they come in the night or in the day: There is value in dreams for the dark, and for the dawn.
Speaking of which, the second coil featured here today, the one still in inventory, is named for the dawn. From its description in the same gallery:
Dawn Coil Bracelet
Many of our peoples place a premium upon the dawn light, calling back the sun, singing him across the sky. At no time is this more true than in winter, when daylight is in short supply, and it’s no surprise that emerging from the dark of night into the sunlight of the new day is a cultural metaphor for wisdom and guidance. Wings honors the symbolism and the substance of the dawn with this coil bracelet in the colors of the sunrise sky: tiny bright blue spiderwebbed nuggets, doughnut rondels, and larger textured nuggets, each separated from its companion by short lengths of amber glowing like the sun in the new blue sky. At the coil’s center, more fiery amber frames a long cool length of light itself, smoothly polished orbs of labradorite, the silvery light that filters from hit sun through indigo atmosphere to light our path around the hoop. Third in The Wisdom Collection of The Seventh Fire Series. Designed jointly by Wings and Aji.
Memory wire; labradorite; amber; blue turquoise
$325 + shipping, handling, and insurance
Speaking for myself, I have found that my most vivid dreams are often those that visit my sleeping spirit just before waking, in the early down hours when the sun is only beginning to make its presence known to the world once again. Sometimes, they are interpretive dreams, or prophetic ones, ones that make sense of the past or the future. Sometimes, they are visitations: of spirits past, or far away. And sometimes, they are simply ordinary, the brain’s Technicolor effort to bring some new order to experience and memory.
But they tend to make their presence known, often more effectively than those that occur in the darkest hours of the night.
In these days when, no matter how brightly the sun shines, the world remains stubbornly dark and cold and unwelcoming to those who most need its help, we all could use the extra illumination that wisdom provides. We need to heed the visions that are granted to us, whenever they come: dreams for the dark, and for the dawn.
~ 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.
