Fall and spring are threshold seasons: neither all one thing or the other, but a blending of opposites; a time of waiting, as though the world itself is held in abeyance.
They share another common feature, too, that of earth, revealed.
In spring, it’s a phenomenon of a warming world, snow melting to show the land beneath. Now, in the early days of an autumn moving fast, it’s the receding of the green that exposes anew the face of soil and rock, crag and cliff. We have been watching this in real time over the last couple of weeks, as the mountain slopes begin to shed their deciduous leaves early, leaving behind a patchwork of evergreen and a mix of rocky brown tundra and bouldered cliff faces. There is no visible aspen line yet, no bright gold bands among the green, but the green that remains is paler, less intense, more sparse in its ground cover, as the autumnal earth rises within and around it.
Here, that earth is formed of sandstone and slate, quartzite and mica and basaltic lava rock. Today’s featured work embodies their shape and shade, substance and even spirit, itself a small spirit coaxed into being in a vintage traditional style out of the very slate that forms much of our small world here. From its description in the Other Artists: Fetishes gallery here on the site:
This brown slate beaver fetish is carved vintage-style, coaxing the larger shape of the animal spirit from the stone, by a member of Taos Pueblo’s Gomez family of carvers. Not visible in the photo is the cross-hatching detail on the top of the tail.
Brown slate
$45 + shipping/insurance
This one is unsigned, but its essential style marks it as having come from a member of the Gomez family. One of their masters, who walked on some twelve or thirteen years ago, was one of Wings’s closest friends. His nephews have taken up his mantle now, and are doing his legacy proud.
Here we tend to think of Beaver in connection with spring. Certainly he helps with clearing the earth then, gnawing tree trunks, breaking branches into smaller pieces, collecting twigs and stockpiling mud to build dams and lodges. But the fact of the matter is that they are a presence in our ecosystem year-round. While their activity level slows in the winter, they do not hibernate; instead, they remain inside their lodges as much as possible, although they will venture out if they need additional food, able to swim under the ice despite the frigid temperatures. For the moment, though, they are engaged much as we are: weatherizing their shelter, stockpiling food, and otherwise making ready to ride out the cold season as comfortably as possible. There is a reason for the saying “busy as a beaver,” and it all leads to this point in the year.
Today, our world here is a little less green than it was yesterday, a little more gold and red and brown, but also a little more bare. The ground cover has receded just that tiny bit more, and a few more leaves have fallen from the trees to drift upon the autumn wind. Before the arrival of real winter and the snows that rise with it, we shall have a chance to see more of our mother’s face again, of earth, revealed, vulnerable and yet utterly strong.
~ Aji
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