It may be the growing season, but at a glance, the world here appears fully grown already. Rich brown soil gives rise to fertile green; the entire landscape is blanketed in verdant abundance.
Of course, “growing” is relative, especially for the greenery that dies only dormancy’s small death each year, rising each spring to begin the cycle anew. In such circumstances, growth is only one stage among a near-eternal many.
It’s not a luxury afforded us, we mere humans with our short and linear lives. For us, growth has a very literal meaning, even as transform it into metaphor and extend it to something that gives us, even in age, our youth again. For us, the symbolic form of the word works in its own cycles, too, although they are not the one of continual renewal, resurrection, and revival that is granted to Mother Earth.
That is, however, part of what makes her our mother: parent to us all, human and otherwise. She is womb, home, shelter, sanctuary.
And her spirit infuses today’s featured work. From its description in the Rings Gallery here on the site:
Mother Earth Ring
Like a parent, she nourishes and nurtures us, setting us the path of our daily lives, providing for our needs. Here, our Mother Earth is embodied in a rich green turquoise cabochon, sky and plant spirits melded together, mapped by her own paths of rich brown soil. Directional arrows alternating with symbols of love trace either side of the scored band. Cabochon is 5/8″ square (dimensions approximate); band is sizeable. Other views shown below.
Sterling silver; natural Royston turquoise
$350 + shipping, handling, and insurance
The stone that gave rise to the work’s name is one of mysteriously beautiful color and finish; it evokes the shades of the season in subtly earthy ways. It’s also a reminder, especially in some quarters, of how much we have lost, how much we have given away to external forces or simply allowed to erode, symbolically by political and cultural attrition, literally by physical harm.
Climate change is here. In this place, we know that better than most. We live it every day, and live also with its effects. Every year, they become more pronounced, more obvious, more visible even to the dimmest eye or hardest heart.
In too many ways, humanity has ceased to grow, preferring the stasis and stagnation of convenience. Of authority.
It is a time to return to roots — our own, and those of the natural world. It is a time to relearn, renew, recommit: time for growing with the earth.
~ Aji
All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2017; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owners.
