We live in a vortex.
That is true, of course, in the metaphorical sense, as well, but I mean it here in a very literal way.
We live at the foot of the peaks, the mountain range that is one of the eternal markers of this land. Even so, we sit at a higher elevation than the town, which is a few miles to the south and a bit below us. But we are surrounded, if at a bit of a distance in some directions, by mountains on all sides, which means that our home is in a valley.
In the precise area where we are situated, it is also a vortex.
To the west, the distant peaks are punctuated by broad flat stretches of open prairie, the sort of topography that welcomes the winds, drawing them down from the spaces between the peaks and funneling them into spirals of great power, then releasing them in a rushing blast across the flatlands to race toward us to the east. To points farther south, that is all they do, particularly this time of year: Much of this state is one vast wind tunnel, the gale force constant, all blowing in one consistent direction.
It’s different here.
The presence of the towering range just north and east of us creates a funnel of its own, a barrier against which the racing southwestern winds crash and ricochet, turning them into a spiraling whirlwind that spins and dances from all directions . . . and turning our place here into a vortex in which the Four Winds meet.
Now, with climate change accelerating daily, that effect has only increased.
The ordinary winds of this season and place are those that arrive from the southwest, carrying the jet stream’s warmer air, even if their force makes our own air seem cold. North and east winds are typically rare here, confining themselves mostly to winter storms and the occasional late-summer monsoonal spiral. But during the course of a day in this particular spot, the wind will change course countless times, coming first from the southwest, running headlong into the nearest mountainside to bounce off, spin dizzily for a moment, then return from the northeast. The clouds will build, and the temperature will rise or drop accordingly, and the wind may skip due south, thence west, perhaps even directly from the north with all the frigidity that a north wind implies. And in this season, dry as it is, we are seeing the early stages of dust-devil season, those small yet oft-destructive whirlwinds that race across the land, gathering up red sand and flinging it far and wide in a frenzied dance.
The wind is temperamental; the whirlwind, even moreso.
It’s why so many of cultures associate the whirlwind with volatile spirits — children to young to understand the full consequences of their actions; tricksters too powerful to care. It is the season when spirits of both sorts must spend their frenzied energies, so that the land may enjoy a measure of calm when the busier planting and growing seasons arrive.
In the middle of the maelstrom, though, it’s hard to remember that the lessons of the wheel still apply: that all of life is a hoop, circle and cycle, and while we may currently be stuck in a stage marked by discomfort and inconvenience, it is a necessary phase, one that permits us to experience and enjoy that which comes next.
The outside world has long termed this approach fatalism; it reveres notions of “progress” that depend upon attempts to exert iron control over the world, over the fundamental forces of nature. Newer practices from that world, those tat seek to appropriate and pretend, take from yet another indigenous tradition half a world away and call it “mindfulness.”
It’s neither.
It is, at bottom, a very practical approach to life: one that recognizes that there are forces far stronger than any we can exert, and that those forces have their own role to play in keeping the world in balance. Indeed, one of the main reasons for their current extreme nature stems from the very fact that humanity as a whole has forgotten this lesson, or, rather, disregarded it entirely. Our collective efforts to circumvent the natural order of things, ever more fast, ever more cheaply, with ever greater ease and convenience have led directly to the vortex in which the whole world now finds itself: a vortex of another, far more dangerous sort, and spiraling downward fast.
A point is fast approaching at which the world will be forced into a reckoning with the powers of nature. That point’s leading edge is already here, and we will all be forced to adapt to the ways imposed by the tricksters, the whirlwind spirits, that our own behavior has summoned into being.
A lesson is to be found in the old ways, ways that have always respected the powers of the winds, of the sacred directions and those who guard and keep their gates.
It is these more ancient spirits that Wings has summoned with today’s featured work, one of great simplicity of design and a timelessness of symbol that crosses cultural lines. From its description in the Necklaces Gallery here on the site:
Dance of the Whirlwind Spirits Necklace
When the winds come from the Four Directions to meet at the center of all that is, they summon the spirit of the whirlwind to dance in the vortex of the storm. Wings summons all of the spirits in this work, a large, heavy talismanic medallion of solid sterling silver, hammered by hand and lightly domed in repoussé fashion. A symbol of the Four Sacred Direction in a flaring stylized cross shape rests atop the medallion as an overlay. Each spoke is marked with a single cabochon of cobalt-blue lapis lazuli, the color of the rain; they spin inward toward the vortex at the center, embodied in a large round onyx cabochon of mysteriously glossy depths. The hand-made bail is accented with tiny hand-stamped hoops, the shape of the spiraling wind itself. The pendant hangs from an alternating strand of round sterling silver and lapis lazuli beads, with small square lapis and round onyx beads stretching toward either end of the strand, each end terminating in two tiny Florentine-finish silver beads. Pendant is 2-1/8 inches long (including bail) by 2-1/4 inches across; beads are 19 inches long (dimensions approximate). Close-up views of the pendant shown above and at the link.
Sterling silver; onyx; lapis lazuli
$1,500 + shipping, handling, and insurance
It is one of his most inspirited works, one instilled with power of the Medicine Wheel, infused with the spirits of the Four Sacred Directions and the winds that guard them. It manifests in its own vortex of artistic, cultural, and spiritual power, distilled to a scale that permits the symbols of such power, their reminders and lessons, to be worn on one’s person.
For those of us who live in the valley, in the vortex, they are sustaining symbols indeed.
~ Aji
All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2016; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owners.
