We’ve spent most of this week looking at the concept of lines and spaces and means of navigating them, whether in tangible or metaphorical terms. Sometimes, the lines and spaces are negative ones, as when rupture creates a rift, and that was our focus yesterday in a very different (and very real) sense, discarding commercial concerns to send thoughts, prayers, and we hope some financial support to our brothers and sisters in Nepal in the aftermath of the disaster there. At the end of this piece, I’ll repost the link to the aid organization whose work we believe does real good.
Today, we return to our regularly scheduled programming, although I confess that my heart is really not in it. Between the humanitarian crisis in Nepal and the one of a very different sort unfolding in Baltimore this weekend, our spirits share in the profound sense of grief and loss that has been imposed on the people in these places, brothers and sisters all.
But the week’s themes are themselves instructive, involving, as they do, symbols of survival, of continuing existence, when the path is unclear, when it is difficult and dangerous, when the lines refuse to make themselves known and the spaces between shift beneath one’s feet. sometimes in very literal terms.
These images coalesced in the piece featured in Wednesday’s post, one that melded motifs of lines and spaces and the navigation thereof with the substance and spirit of silver and stone, with symbols of our peoples that invoke guardians and guides. And so, today, I want to summon some of that imagery anew, perhaps as inspiration, perhaps as reassurance, perhaps simply as a reminder that while there is great need, there are ways large and small that we can help, if only we can navigate the lines and spaces that lead the way.
In many indigenous cultures, thresholds are interstitial spaces between this world and another, spaces that are sometimes permeable in one direction of the other, occasionally both. This permeability most often occurs in visions and dreams, but hints of it exist in the thresholds of daily life, too, and never more than in the dusk and dawn spaces that separate night from day. There are spirits of the sky that rule each world, the sun by light of day and the moon by dark of night, but there are others, too, lesser spirits, perhaps, but sometimes more accessible as guides.
One that regular appears across diverse traditional cultures is the guiding star.
In some cultures, such as certain of those of the Northern Plains, such stars may have six or even eight spokes. Among others, they may have four, emblematic of the Four Sacred Directions. Some are embodied in the Morning Star, that ruler of the dawn time; others, of the Evening Star, ascendant at twilight. Wings uses both on a regular basis; they serve as symbols of guidance and direction in either incarnation. There’s a reason that a star forms the focal point of the mariner’s compass, after all.
A couple of years ago, he launched a series of small belt buckles in solid sterling silver, each possessed of stampwork but no gemstones. All were smaller than traditional Southwestern-style Native buckles, intended for wear by men and women alike, and likewise designed to be appropriate for daily use, whether dress or casual. These are not the large concha buckles that most people envision when they think of Native buckles; they’re understated in size and design, but heavy on traditional symbolism.
Only two remain, and in an unusual turn, both bear the motifs of the four-pointed star. More, they are, in spirit, a bit of a matched pair, one evoking the guardian of night while the other summons the spirit of daylight. The one in the photo at the top of this post features the star that is the keeper of twilight. From its description in the Buckles Gallery here on the site:
Night Lodge Belt Buckle
At the center of this dress buckle, a hand-stamped evening star is surrounded by crescent moon patterns. Around the buckle’s edge in an alternating pattern are hand-stamped tipis, traditional representations of the lodges used by many peoples for living, sleeping, and healing. Buckle is 2″ long by 1-5/8″ high (dimensions approximate).
Sterling silver
$255 + shipping, handling, and insurance
The one just below evokes the star the presides over the sunrise:
Morning Star Blossoms Belt Buckle
At this buckle’s center, a Morning Star is surrounded by images of the setting crescent moon. Edging the buckle are hand-stamped representations of squash blossoms, slowly unfolding with dawn’s arrival. Buckle is 2″ long by 1-5/8″ high (dimensions approximate).
Sterling silver
$255 + shipping, handling, and insurance
Both are simple, almost spare. Both are solid silver, devoid of extraneous accents, embodying only the color of the stars themselves.
And both manifest potent reminders that guidance is there. Sometimes it’s dimmed by clouds and distance, but it will, once again, make its presence known, if only we are willing to look for it. It’s a gift of Spirit, a navigational guide to help us traverse the most difficult lines and most dangerous spaces.
~ Aji
Postscript: Spirit may provide guidance, but we’re required to do our part, too. Right now, with a death toll that has so far passed 2,500, and with the aftershocks still coming, our relatives in Nepal need our help. We are therefore asking our family, friends, and clients to join us in supporting the work of ShelterBox, whose staff are already en route to to the area to provide genuine relief work and supplies. You can read our take on the organization in yesterday’s post, here. If you’d like to go straight to their site to donate, you can do so here.
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 owner.
