It’s warming up fast now, but at dawn, the chill was bitter indeed. Even now, the mercury hasn’t reached the middled forties yet, even in the brilliant glare of the midday sun. Yesterday’s snow was heavy and wet, delivering a good four inches’ worth that is now mostly soaking into the thirsty earth.
It’s enough to inspire hope.
This, you see, is our usual pattern here: a first snow, and not a particularly small one, either, by the middle of October; then a mix of sunny days and smaller storms until December, when winter takes up residence for the duration.
It has not been our pattern in recent years.
But with land locked in the death grip of a twelve-hundred-year drought, one that has already ignited the process of aridification of the soil and the subsequent die-off of trees and plants, any hint of normal weather is welcome now. This is, after all, the land on which we rely for our own survival; if it dies, so do we.
We know, of course, that too much damage has been done for one storm, or even one season, to correct this dangerous downward arc. But we also know that without even such small gifts, our world has no chance at all . . . and that a few years of building steadily upon whatever progress we can make is the way to the world’s recovery. And this time of year, leading, as it does, to what we hope will be a season of snow and what will regardless be one of renewal and rebirth. is perhaps the best time to focus on that work.
Winter is when our new year and new world are born, and the steps we take now lay the groundwork for an earth rising, refreshed and self-reclaimed, in spring.
Today’s featured work embodies this seasonal gift and process. It’s a work that insists on the reality of prophecy fulfilled and shows us the power of worlds yet unborn. From its description in the relevant section of the Bracelets Gallery here on the site:
Earth Rising Cuff Bracelet
It is a time of elemental change, Earth rising to link past and present and future in a sacred hoop of protection and survival. Wings links them in more tangible ways with this spectacularly complex cuff, one that fuses one of his very early pieces into a whole new work that honors elemental powers, sacred numbers, and ancient spirits. It begins with a solid sterling silver cuff, scored freehand into eight separate lines, the number of the cardinal and ordinal directions. At either end, a sterling silver overlay in the shape of Grandmother Turtle, she who holds the world on her back, climbs steadily upward. Each turtle is cut, freehand, with a tiny jeweler’s saw, articulated head, legs, and tail each stamped with traditional patterns to form scales and provide texture and dimensionality. Each turtle’s shell is gently scalloped with stampwork around the edge, a Morning Star stretched across the shell’s center. Wings brought old to new and melded them together at the top of the cuff with the addition of one of his very early pieces from his personal collection: a hat pin in the form of a medicine shield that doubles as a medicine wheel, cut freehand and centered by Buffalo’s skull, our Elder Brother of the Earth. The horizontal spokes of the medicine shield are sculpted and stamped in the shape of a ceremonial pipe, eagle feathers suspended at either end. The entire wheel is overlaid onto a backing of hand-hammered sterling silver. Cuff band is 7″ long by roughly 1-1/8″ across; turtle overlays are 1-1/4″ long by 15/16″ across at the widest point; buffalo medicine wheel overlay is 1-7/16″ high by 1-3/8″ across at the widest point (dimensions approximate). Other views shown below.
Sterling silver
$1,900 + shipping, handling, and insurance
This masterwork, featuring an array of silversmithing techniques, shows us the possibilities and potentialities of the worlds we have the power to create. It reminds us of the help we have been given all along the way, help relayed to us in stories passed down by the ancestors and prophets: of Elder Brother, Buffalo, who lent us every part of his very self, that the people might survive the harsh northern winters; Eagle, who lent us his feathers to hold our pipes and shields sacred and send our prayers to Spirit; Grandmother Turtle, who gave some of the First People the world itself her back.
It is a work of hoops and shields, lines and shells: a reminder that there is a path laid out for us, and a destination too; that there is a world for us to inhabit, if we build it with work and prayer.
On this day, winter is already here, if only for a brief visit; fall will return in the days to come. This is the season of prayer and preparation, and there is much work to be done. We have a new world to build.
~ 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.
