The first day of what most of the world calls 2021, and despite hearing and seeing “Happy New Year” on repeat as equal parts mantra and shibboleth, precious little seems to undergoing change of any sort.
We celebrated we we regard as our own new year eleven days past now, and Wings has decided that he’s no longer going to succumb to the colonial reframing, instead choosing to wish people a “Happy 2021” (and for the record, I am doing likewise). And the colonial world will no doubt regard that as equal part pointless and passive-aggressive, but it’s neither of those things. The dominant forces in the world, ascended to that status directly through violence and genocide, have succeeded in reframing and reorganizing the elemental structures and systems of our world in the ways and for the means of colonialism and empire — even time itself is now recast in a way that reflects the artificial “reality” that serves their ends.
It is a small form of resistance, but a very real one nonetheless.
Those same cultures and their mouthpieces and figureheads are busy exhorting us now to “unity,” another label every bit as much false advertising as the ones they apply to time. What they mean is that the marginalized should be quiet and fall in line for what they deem “the greater good,” and nothing changes, because in their minds, nothing is supposed to change. Despite the ravages of the last four years, the world remains, fundamentally, as they believe it should be: power in the hands of colonial white supremacy, with some small provision made for the poor and the oppressed, those facing the tip of genocide’s spear, that keeps us all firmly in “our place” while they maintain authority and control.
The world, of course, may have other ideas; they are directly responsible for loosing the monster of climate change upon us all, and have lost all possibility of controlling it. The current deadly pandemic, raging murderously unchecked in colonialism’s own houses, is only the tip of that spear. The Earth has whole armies behind her that remain eternally outside of human control.
We do as we have always, on this first day of a miscalculated series of millennia: We do the work in and on and for ourselves, the work that keeps our own small part of the larger world in good health and harmony and enables us to share aspects of it with the world beyond our doors. It is hard work, and thankless, too; it occurs outside the spotlight, with no audience or applause or public appreciation. But it is the work that is necessary, the same work handed down to us by the elders and the ancestors and the spirits themselves: work that is elemental and essential, of a smaller, more fundamental unity; the work of courage and strength of heart, of honor and wisdom and truth itself; the work of holding and refracting the First Medicines — of sharing the gifts of the water, and the light.
Today’s featured work, by one of our favorite pottery artists, is manifest in this spirit of water and light, of all the elemental powers brought together to represent unity, wrought of a material that speaks of illumination, too. From its description in the Other Artists: Pottery gallery here on the site:
Water is life, and breath, and love. Olivia Martinez (Taos Pueblo) honors them all with this traditional wedding vase. Made of hand-coiled local micaceous clay, it arises out of a large round bowl nearly spherical in shape, with a gracefully angled ridge around its widest point that gives the impression of a lid. From the bowl emerge twin spouts, each flowing upward into a narrow inner lip that arcs over the top, entwined in a tall braid to represent the union of spirits in marriage. The entire vase stands 14.5″ high; it measures 9″ across the spouts at the widest point; and the bowl is 7″ across at its widest point (dimensions approximate).
Micaceous clay
$775 + shipping, handling, and insurance
Size, weight, and fragility require special handling; extra shipping charges apply
This work is a traditional Pueblo wedding vase, an object design to honor, and in a sense to reify, both the blessings and the obligations of romantic love. But as a wholly Indigenous symbol, it accomplishes far more. It’s made of the materials of the elemental powers themselves: earth, air, fire, water, all combined to give form and shape to this vessel that, by its very nature, holds medicine and enables the sharing of it. It symbolizes a unity of spirits — two, become one with love and common purpose, yet retaining identity and self. And in Olivia’s hands, with her trademark braided handle, that interpretation of what unity means is reinforced: cooperation and collaboration, perhaps even conspiracy at times, that makes two stronger than the sum of their parts, yet preserves the integrity of each.
And it reminds us now of our obligations to others, to our world. This may not be the first day of the new year as we know it. It is, however, the one recognized and observed the structures and systems that prevent the world’s healing . . . and so it presents us with an opportunity to dismantle them and rebuild a better world in their place.
It will require much of us. We will need to be warriors, yes, but healers, too. And so let this be the day we arm ourselves, not merely in defense but with the tools of that healing: It is time fill our jars with Medicine, and share it in the light.
~ 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.
