And so we come to the end of a long and difficult week. Mere survival has seemed tenuous this week, as though winds and tides might blow the earth off its very axis. A bare and thirsty earth, far too dry for this time of year, feels shaky and uncertain beneath our feet.
At times like this, we tend to call upon forces more powerful than ourselves for help. But sometimes the best gift they can give us is that of a shift in perspective.
In our traditions, there are beings with the power to shift form and shape. Some are malign spirits, true, but by no means all. For many of our peoples, the belief that certain medicine persons, just like certain spirits, hold the power of access to other beings, to the forms and their forces and abilities. Popular culture is now rife with tales of shapeshifters (and worse, “skinwalkers,” most of which betray a fundamental misunderstanding of both the term and the culture whence it comes), but in such hands they devolve either into something entirely unrecognizeable to our peoples or to plain bloody horror.
It’s both simpler and more complex than that, and requires a blood-level understanding of a specific cultures spirits and ways to get it right.
Here, one of the Pueblo’s masters has long summoned into being spirits able to shift between forms and shapes, powerful elders capable of accessing the qualities of other beings, such as Eagle and Bear. Ned Archuleta is known for his figurative sculptures, but my favorites among his works have always been those that push the boundaries of human form, eliding the invisible lines that separate the power of humans from the power of other spirits. In his hands, it becomes clear that this is no vanishingly-rare phenomenon, but a question of perception: A shift in perspective is required to see how the spirits of our world are bound and braided together.
Today’s work is a perfect example of this style of sculpture, and it’s always been one of my favorites among Ned’s body of work. From its description in the Other Artists: Sculpture gallery here on the site:
BearHawk Figurative Sculpture
In his trademark style, master carver Ned Archuleta (Taos Pueblo) melds together the spirits of a traditional elder and an animal into one mystical piece. Here, it’s the elder and a bear, traditional symbol of medicine and power, rendered in smooth, flowing, silken lines of clay-colored alabaster shot with bits of warm golden-hued streaks in the stone. About six inches in overall length, it sits on a wooden base.
Alabaster on wooden base
$225 + shipping, handling, and insurance
Requires special handling; extra shipping charges apply
In this instance, what seems to be a melding of two spirits, human and bear, is actually three: The name of the work is BearHawk, incorporating the powers of the great raptor into it as well. The elder’s hair (or, depending on one’s experience and perspective, traditional blanket) drapes downward like the hawk’s wings, folded quietly yet ready for flight. Human head and bear head emerge on opposite sides out of one body, a sharing of power and simple being that. combined with the qualities of the hawk, hints at access to powers of earth and sky, protection and medicine, ceremony and prayer.
Now, as we enter the harshest part of the year, when the winds threaten to strip the bark from the trees and the very skin from our bones, when the mercury swings fifty or more degrees each day, when what should be a snow-covered earth remains dry as ash and dust, such beings remind us that we can call upon powers from all corners of our existence. All that is required of us is a shift in perspective.
~ Aji
All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2018; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owners.
