These are the hardest days of spring.
It’s sunny, but not bright; cloudy, but without rain; the winds are high, the air bitter cold, and dust and pollen everywhere. At this season, there is no comfort to be found.
And that is at the best of times. This year is far from that.
We are fortunate that this pandemic has forced relatively few changes upon our day-to-day lives. Virtually all of our work is here, inside our own boundaries, save for the occasional foray to ship an item or buy supplies that cannot be ordered online.But we know, better than most, how precarious is that balance, how fragile our very existence, and so we recommit ourselves to the work even as we redouble our prayers for guidance.
It is a way of life here, prayer: It accompanies our rising in the morning and the setting of the sun, it informs our work and our words and the steps of our feet as we move through this world the spirits have granted us. And in times such as these, we find renewed value in ways that are as contemporary as they are ancient, ways that at once have stood the test of time and are also timeless, without boundaries or borders of purpose, or of efficacy.
We send our prayers aloft on tendrils of cedar or tobacco smoke, emergent from a sacred pipe or fanned along their skyward path by Eagle’s feather. The smoke is an offering, an acknowledgment, a token of honor and respect, a testament to the fact that we are neither so greedy nor so self-absorbed as to come to the spirits empty-handed.
Our prayers find the spirits when the smoke finds the light.
Today’s featured work embodies purpose and process, object and act. It’s a replica of a traditional pipe, created in the old and beautiful way, brought down to a size both deeply personal and yet sufficient to be shared. From its description in the Other Artists: Leatherwork, Antler, and Bone gallery here on the site:
In the old way, serious contemplation or conversation was often accompanied by the ceremonial smoking of a pipe. This small personalized version, expertly hand-carved in vintage style by Joseph “Joe T” Trujillo (Taos Pueblo) is infused with the meditative and spiritual qualities of the old ways. Bowl and stem are all one piece, wrought by hand out of deer antler and inlaid at the bowl’s base and partway up the stem with beautifully grained walnut. Both antler and walnut are covered with clear, transparent stain to strengthen the pipe and seal it against the elements; pipe is fully functional, useable with traditional Indian tobacco, commercial tobacco, or kinnickinnick or other smoking mixtures. Full pipe is a compact 3-3/8″ long; bowl is 1-7/8″ high; stem portion above the bowl is 1-3/4″ high (dimensions approximate). Other views shown below.
Sealed deer antler; sealed natural walnut wood
$125 + shipping, handling, and insurance
Outside, the tree branches are thrashing again. What should by rights be a warm day will instead be spent with our backs bowed against a bitter wind. The ferocity of the forces of spring remains as throughly beyond our control as the invisible microbe that is steadily making its way through the population outside our borders. All that we can do is to adapt: to respond, but also to anticipate, to redouble our efforts at best practices and safety not only for ourselves but for everyone else, as well.
That requires guidance, wisdom, illumination. And so we seek it in prayer.
And our prayers find the spirits when the smoke finds the light.
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