Despite the clear skies at dawn, the clouds are moving in fast now — still high and light, but coalescing fast in anticipation of the snow now slated to arrive tonight. Outside, the very air seems to hold its breath, a feeling of waiting enveloping the land.
There is a sense, as is usual at this time of year, of something looming: of omens and portents; of gathering storms, tangible and otherwise; of the arrival of the spirits to commence their yearly walk.
We were talking about it only this morning, as the dogs repeatedly jumped up, baying, to pursue something neither of us could see. Each time, it resulted in a mad dash, then to halt, confused, mid-field, as whatever amorphous prey their vision captured vanished once again like so much smoke upon the cold thin air. They will find much to chase these next two weeks or so, and most of it will remain outside our human abilities to perceive.
But however active both dogs and less substantial beings may be throughout the day, it’s nothing compared to their nocturnal pursuits. Despite the cold, all three canines insist on the right to guard and give chase throughout the early hours of the morning, and the pace has ratcheted steadily upward in recent days.
In this time of the waning moon, month and warmth both waning with it, the spirits of night are abroad upon a dark, forbidding landscape. The night way is never an easy path, but now the moon and stars, those whose powers are used to illuminate, must contend with competing forces that revel in the dark.
Today’s featured work captures the beauty of the this path at its best, a deep velvet dark lit from within by sky spirits of pure silvered light. From its description in the Necklaces Gallery here on the site:
The Night Way Necklace
The night way is the path of dreams, a bridge to other worlds lit by a billion stars. Wings braids darkness and path and light together in a single cosmos with this necklace, beads and pendant in all the shades of the night. The pendant’s focal point is a free-form black jade cabochon of otherworldly beauty, not quite a teardrop, big and bold and absolutely ethereal. It sits in the embrace of a scalloped bezel trimmed with twisted silver and hangs from a flared hand-made bail buffed to a velvet finish. Four tiny round hawk’s eye beads, midnight blue and chatoyant with bands of gold and silver, are threaded through the bail, anchor the ends, and are interspersed throughout with round beads of mysteriously luminous Labradorite. These smaller beads alternate with length of rounded onyx barrel beads in two sizes, both impossibly glossy with a color deep as darkest night; the smaller barrel beads are faceted all the way around their surfaces. Bead strand is 22″ long, excluding findings; Pendant and bail hang another 2-5/8″ long by 1-1/8 across at the widest point; visible area of black jade cabochon is 2″ long; bail is 7/16″ long by 3/8″ across at the widest point (dimensions approximate). Close-up view of pendant shown below.
Sterling silver; black jade; onyx; Labradorite; hawk’s eye
$1,850 + shipping, handling, and insurance
Today’s piece is a work of phenomenal power and breathtaking beauty, one that captures the darks and transforms it into pure gentle illumination . . . a manifestation not only of the night way but of the medicine to be found along, of the wisdom in the dreams and visions that lie beyond its glossy depths.
And it reminds us, too, that there are worlds beyond this surface one in which we walk. At such seasons as this, the barriers between ours and others is thinner, more permeable; those with unfinished business or urgent messages, or perhaps merely a taste for mischief find their way back along the road between them now.
As the dogs know instinctively, there are dangers in the dark, but more benevolent beings abroad, as well. Not all who walk now have ulterior motives. Now is a time to honor the ancestors, those who have walked on before. It’s also a time to honor the spirits of the night, the moon and stars and constellations who help keep the dangers at bay by lending their light to our path.
~ Aji
All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2019; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.
