Two weeks before the solstice, and winter is here. You wouldn’t know it from the snow cover — or, rather, the lack thereof; even now, there’s virtually none atop the highest peaks, and nothing at all on our increasingly dry ground. But our pond is frozen solid, as are the ditches leading to it, and a wind that seems to come from all directions cuts as deep as a scalpel, albeit one tipped with ice.
It’s not a good day to be abroad, and yet too many of us must. But weakened immune systems grow weaker still under the wind’s relentless onslaught, and bodies shiver with a cold they cannot shake.
On a day so brutal, we need medicine. On a day so short, we need the medicine of the light.
And the light — more specifically, Father Sun himself — seems to inhabit today’s featured work. It’s a medicine bear, one of my favorites, one that carries a mysteriously complex offering bundle. It’s also one whose very form and shape channels the sun’s fire. From its description in the Other Artists: Sculpture gallery here on the site:
This alabaster medicine bear by master carver Mark Swazo-Hinds (Tesuque Pueblo) is hewn in the classic vintage Southwest Indian style. The surface is smooth, silky, and touchable, in a brilliant clear orange with a translucent white marbled matrix. In Mark’s trademark style, the medicine bundle is made of macaw and turkey feathers, shells, pottery sherds, and bits of turquoise.
Orange alabaster; turkey feathers; macaw feathers; pottery sherds; turquoise; shells
$425 + shipping, handling, and insurance
Requires special handling; extra shipping charges apply
In such bitter cold, our own power drifts at a low ebb, sluggish, frozen in place. It’s hard to keep the body warm, much less a fire blazing in the spirit.
Sometimes, we need other beings, other forces, other spirits to help us keep our souls aflame.
And sometimes, all we need is a gentle reminder — from a diminutive bear, with the help of Father Sun, who brings us the medicine of the light.
~ Aji
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