The theme for today seems to be snow.
More accurately, snow, sleet, slush. Too much warmth for the white stuff; melt occurring more rapidly than accumulation.
It feels like spring, and that’s not good here. Maybe invoking the spirits of the snowflakes, their mineralogical manifestation, will slow the warming process.
This is one of those pieces that possesses such a strong identity, such inherent power, that it will not easily find its home. It will no doubt require what appears to be a chance meeting, one of those congruences of serendipity and synchronicity that bring together a boldly dichotomous work and a person able to reconcile its contradictions.
It was part of a collection in miniature that Wings created last year for his one-man show, a collection of three pieces entitled Fire and Ice. This was the biggest piece, the central one, and its description, found in the Bracelets Gallery, shows why:
In the interstices inhabited by the elemental powers, Spirit catalyzes fire and ice, bringing them to life in our world, their full strength and power yet held back: a reminder that if we are careful, we may use their gifts rather than be consumed by them. Here, Spirit’s Eye traces the length of the band of this heavy-gauge cuff, accented on all sides by traditional symbols. At the center, two fiery garnet cabochons flank three larger oval stones: snowflake obsidian, representations of ice born naturally of the union of earth and heat and flame. Companion piece to the Fire and Ice solitaire ring in the Rings Gallery.
Sterling silver; snowflake obsidian; garnet
$725 + shipping, handling, and insurance
The description also shows why today’s weather brought it to mind: Oppositional elements embodied in weather patterns have spent the entire day engaged in games of parry and thrust, hide and seek, fencing and dodging, bobbing and weaving throughout the atmosphere. It feels like a game, the sun prancing out into the open this morning to hold forth, only to retreat coyly behind clouds by noon, every now and again peeking around a banked wall of gray to brighten the blanket of snow upon the earth for a few shimmery moments before trying to render it entirely invisible, warmed into water run off into the soil beneath.
And above it all, the Eye of Spirit watches from a place not within our own line of sight. It’s easy to forget its protective presence, especially when the unsettled conditions of daily existence extend to the very air itself. It’s probably why it’s a popular motif in traditional Native art: reminder and talisman alike, something tangible to hold onto when circumstances cloud our own vision.
On a day like this, it’s a talisman I need, too. That and the feeling of harnessing the power of the elements — sun and snow, fire and ice — in the service of navigating the good road, the proper way of being, the sacred hoop, harmony.
~ Aji
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