Today, I’m honored to introduce Wings’s latest collection, by way of the first entry in it: The Seventh Fire.
This is a series within a series, the first installment in a set of seven sets of coil bracelets that will form the larger collection. It has been in the works since the morning of November 9th, a direct response to the political perversions of the past month, Wings’s own form of resistance. That morning, our conversation turned to thoughts of indigenous resistance, ancient and contemporary alike, and to the prophecies of our various peoples that have foretold the very events we live today.
And in that conversation he found his inspiration.
This collection is a tribute, and directly so, to a concept found among many of our peoples, one I’ve alluded to here recently: the concept of fire as more than a means of warmth, as a visionary tool and center of council, as both mechanism for and product of prophecy and dreams. In the tradition of those leading the resistance to the Black Snake far to the north, it represents council and communication and community. In my own, it is prophecy for the ages, for past and present and future all linked in the sacred hoop.
Wings has chosen the latter as the symbolism his latest work honors: In our way, the Seventh Fire is a prophecy that foretells the reclaiming of the land, of the people, of the old ways, of a traditional and sovereign spirit. In our way, seven is also the number of spirit, of life itself: of the spirits, of the directions, of the clans, of the gifts. The gifts are what the outside world might call virtues — those expressions of inherent character that point to a life well lived. The gifts are respect, love, truth, bravery, wisdom, generosity, and humility. In some lessons, they are imparted in a specific order, but all are equally important. And he has chosen to create his latest collection in a series of seven sets: one for each of the gifts, each of which contains seven separate entries that embody aspects of that particular gift.
In light of the events that sparked this particular fire in his soul, he chose to take them out of the order listed above. On November 9th, it was clear that this would be a time for resistance, a time to be ready to stand strong and willing to fight back — a time for bravery.
And so the set of seven coils featured here today, jointly designed by the two of us, are The Bravery Collection, seven separate entries whose colors and composition were chosen specifically to embody aspects of this traditional indigenous virtue. [As I have time over the next day or so, I’ll give each its own entry in the Bracelets Gallery here on the site. For now, they are presented here as the collection they are. I should also note that these are slightly higher in cost than his usual price point; each consists of a minimum of four full coils, in an unusual array of precious and semi-precious gems, and are more complex in their construction.]
We begin with Courage:
Bravery can exist in one act, but courage is a way of the heart. True leaders know this, and live their lives accordingly. Blue is the color of leadership, of loyalty to community and fidelity to cause. Wings brings concept and character together in this coil bracelet formed of cobalt-blue and white sodalite nuggets, interspersed at set intervals with four polished ovals of lapis lazuli. At either end, rectangular lapis lazuli beads terminate in four sterling silver round beads: two Florentine finish, two polished silver.
Memory wire; lapis lazuli; sodalite; sterling silver
$325 + shipping, handling, and insurance
Both bravery and courage are needed for action, and sometimes action becomes absolutely necessary. While the dominant culture attempted to turn it into a slur and a tool for fear, our peoples have reclaimed the word: Uprising.
While the outside world considers it a bad thing, to our peoples, uprising is the natural act for a spirit imbued with courage: defense of the people; protection of children, elders, the vulnerable; a willingness to stand up when required even as one remains rooted firmly in one’s ancestral tradition. Wings infuses this coil with the colors and symbolism of an uprising, beginning at either end with the fiery earth of old-style copper barrel beads. Next come turquoise nuggets in equally earthy matrix, the rich blues and greens of the waters aswirl with boulders and rich brown soil. Next are bright green nuggets of peridot, the brilliant green of the grass, the trees, the medicine plants, all firmly rooted in the earth, stretching upward toward the light, catching it and refracting it. The plants reach up through the air, bright blue turquoise with webbed clouds of matrix. At the center, the apex, is the ethereal blue of the upper atmosphere, chunky bits of amazonite in hues ranging from the color of ice to the indigo of the desert sky.
Memory wire; blue amazonite; blue turquoise; boulder turquoise; peridot; copper
$325 + shipping, handling, and insurance
SOLD
Occasionally, more than simply a willingness to stand up, to step up, is also required of us. Our own histories have shown us the importance of an active Resistance:
True resistance requires a thorough grounding; it requires firm deep roots from which to draw sustenance and strength. When one is rooted in history, in tradition, in the power and spirit of the ancestors, one is granted the spiritual abundance needed to resist on behalf of the people. Wings pays tribute to such roots, and the literal and metaphorical warriors that grow from them to stand tall and strong, with this coil in earthy browns and the greens of abundant life: Tiny green turquoise chips are interspersed with bits of earth and fire and water, tiny copper barrel beads and golden-brown olivella-shell heishi. Spiraling around the center are segments of chunky blue and green fluorite nuggets in emerald, forest, and leafy green shades. Accenting each section of fluorite beads is a segment taken directly from the old warriors themselves: warm brown cedar-berry beads, harvested directly from the cedar trees, dried, drilled, and polished.
Memory wire; blue and green fluorite; green turquoise; cedar berries; olivella-shell heishi; copper
$325 + shipping, handling, and insurance
Sometimes, it’s necessary to call upon other spirits for leadership, inspiration, and the instilling of courage and a strong heart. In our way, one such spirit is The War Eagle:
The Golden Eagle, the largest of the indigenous raptors that serve as messengers and guides, is known as The War Eagle. It is he whose presence instills courage in the hearts of the warriors, he who lends his powers of swiftness and accuracy to their efforts. Wings honors the great spirit bird with this coil in the colors of his feathered cloak: Small copper barrel beads at either end meet white-lip heishi, which is interspersed with lengths of African opal in bright golden yellow and rusty peach shades. Stretching up toward the center, brilliant, intense nuggets of translucent orange amber connect on either side with black-lip heishi, each length bisected at its center by a “wing” in the form of a fanned teardrop-shaped abalone nugget bead. At the center, like Eagle’s craggy face and beak, a series of highly-polished black obsidian chips stand out from the coil’s body.
Memory wire; copper; white-lip heishi; black-lip heishi; yellow and peach African opal; amber; obsidian
$325 + shipping, handling, and insurance
Standing up, stepping up, engaging in resistance all require, perhaps above all, the one quality all great warriors share — A Strong Heart:
Every warrior knows the importance of a strong heart. It’s a way of living, one that calls upon the ancestors for courage and guidance, one that is willing to put aside personal risk to defend the vulnerable, one that is steadfast in commitment to cause and community. Wings pays tribute to this virtue, and to the sacrifices it entails, in the composition of this coil, one that draws upon the water and fire to embody a spirit fully grounded, yet true to the blood. Each end is strung with alternating lengths of fiery hematite and red sponge-coral rondels, meeting up with round beads of highly polished onyx. Next come small chunky nuggets of bright red and white spiny oyster shell, merging into a graduated strand of blood-red apple coral rondels at either side of the center. Between the largest apple coral rondels are two sets of four glossy obsidian nuggets, bisected by a single round blood-red disc bead of apple coral, a perfect hoop like the strong heart of the world itself.
Memory wire; apple coral; sponge coral; red spiny oyster shell; obsidian; onyx; hematite
$325 + shipping, handling, and insurance
Bravery requires us to call upon all of our reserves of strength, courage, and character, but sometimes, it helps to have a little external evidence if the fighting spirit. It’s one reason our warriors wear War Paint:
War paint is a tool, a weapon, a way of bolstering the strength and courage of one’s own spirit. It’s also a way to instill fear and trepidation into the hearts of the opposition, and way to honor and invoke the powers of the spirits who guide and protect us. We add it to our own faces and bodies, and to our horses, too. Wings invokes the power of war paint in this coil, a vortex of power in the four colors common to many of our peoples: white, yellow, red, and black. it begins at either end with four small onyx rondels, leading into lengths of white-shell heishi bisected by single glowing nuggets of gold-colored iron pyrite, next come alternating segments of old blood-red branch coral and chunky black obsidian interspersed with small lengths of red and white spiny oyster shell nuggets. At the very center of the coil, offset by the glossy obsidian, is a single large golden nugget of iron pyrite.
Memory wire; obsidian, branch coral, red spiny oyster shell, white-shell heishi, onyx, iron pyrite
$325 + shipping, handling, and insurance
Of course, no amount of courage, no amount of war paint, no presence of the eagle will suffice on its own. And this is what every warrior knows, where true bravery resides: in A Warrior Spirit.
A warrior spirit is the spirit of the truly brave individual, one who devotes him- or herself to a life lived well, as the ancestors have given to us to do, one who calls upon the ancestors and the other spirits for courage, wisdom, guidance, strength. Wings honors this spirit, and the spirits who make it possible, with this coil that evokes the elemental spirits. At either end, segments of bright purple spiny oyster shell are interspersed with nuggets made of the shell of its red cousin, spirits of the waters in the colors of blood and twilight. The shells flank a long spiral of glossy black obsidian nuggets chunky and random and combining earth and fire to create that which our ancestors used as the tip of arrow and spear. At four discrete intervals, the obsidian strand is accented with short segments of bright blue freeform Sleeping Beauty turquoise beads, the Skystone that melds all four elements together in the blue of the leader, the elder, the warrior.
Memory wire; obsidian; Sleeping Beauty turquoise; purple spiny oyster shell; red spiny oyster shell
$325 + shipping, handling, and insurance
SOLD
This collection was slated for introduction today, completion permitting. It turned out to be more than serendipity — it was synchronicity.
This is a day when our cousins distant more by geography than blood, warriors on the front lines against a toxic colonial enemy, achieved a truly heroic victory.
This is a day when an elder of Wings’s own people, a centenarian, a leader, a traditional man, and a warrior’s warrior, a survivor of the bloody brutality of the Bataan Death March, walked on to the spirit world.
This is a day when we are reminded, again and again, of the presence of prophecy, of the importance of the Seventh Fire, and of our own calling to bravery: to a warrior spirit.
~ 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.
