There are times when the elemental aspect of Wings’s work speaks to me in a way that defies articulation. It’s work that, for me, resonates at such a deep and instinctive level, one that my soul understands even when my voice can find no words to express it, that I feel its message in heart and mind, body and spirit.
Today’s featured work is one.
Although no rain is forecast for several days, the scorching blue sky to the east is balanced by a thin veil of gathering gray clouds in the west. We are solidly into the storm season, that part of summer when the monsoons are the mark of the day, a season when the air can turn in the beat of a hummingbird’s wing from still brilliance to thunderous ignition that sparks the rain.
It’s elemental weather, a conjugation and consummation of opposites, air and water creating fire that weds the earth, all in a dance that midwifes the rains that ensure survival in this harsh and beautiful place . . . and all embodied in the Skystone that tells their stories even as it protects the people to whom this land was given.
With today’s work, one completed only yesterday, Wings has brought together these elemental forces, the winds and the rain and the brilliant blue sky and the fire that tempers the silvery gift of the earth, all in one pair of earrings that speak at so many levels and in so many voices that they seem to speak in the ancient tongues of the very winds themselves: two matched cabochons of high-grade boulder turquoise, each a stunning exemplar of the earth from which they came, shot through with bolts of robin’s-egg blue; each wrapped gently but solidly in a blanket of silver; each birthing a single strand of silver rain ending in a teardrop of ancient blue, the story of the Skystone given form and shape and substance. From their description in the Earrings Gallery:
Air meets earth and fire births water in these elemental earrings that bring the blessing of the rain. A pair of extraordinarily high-grade boulder turquoise cabochons reproduce in miniature the very soil from which they come, all the while reflecting the earth-toned clouds of the storm-ridden sky. Electric bolts of pale blue turquoise strike the surface in tandem with the geometric patterns of the host rock, lightning the color of a robin’s egg preceding the rain. Each rests in a scalloped bezel trimmed with twisted silver; the reverse of each setting bears a sacred hoop around Wings’s hallmark, from which emanate the four spokes of a guiding star. From each cabochon is suspended a single long sterling silver dangle, terminating in a single raindrop of very old Bisbee turquoise. Each earring hangs 2-3/8″ long including setting and drops (excluding wires); the setting is 5/8″ across at the widest point (dimensions approximate). Reverse shown below.
Sterling silver; high-grade Arizona boulder turquoise; old natural Bisbee turquoise
$525 + shipping, handling, and insurance
And on the reverse, Spirit’s own guides: a sacred hoop that births its own spokes, stretching toward the Four Sacred Directions and turning the entire image into powerful bisecting Eyes of Spirit that see in all directions.
I will concede that I covet these terribly. To me, they are flawless in both symbology and aesthetic, something that stirs the soul on levels as yet not wholly identified, much less tapped. Their elemental nature; the power of the lightning imagery, the electric arrows held, carried, thrown by my namesake; the old, old Skystones manifest as single drops of rain: All speak to me at a level that defies description. But they are meant for someone else . . . someone who needs the power of the lightning to ignite the air and birth the rain.
~ Aji
All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2015; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owners.
