After last night’s beautiful clarity, a night when the crescent moon shone like silver in the northwest sky, we awakened this morning to a heavy red-brown haze in the air. Somewhere, a fire is burning.
There are apparently no prescribed burns nearby today; no known wildfires, either, if this morning’s fire status report is to be believed. There are, however, at least known extant wildfires south and west of here, two in the Gila and one in Lincoln National Forest. Given just the right wind direction, any of them is enough to turn our blue skies brown and our air to smoke.
It’s made more complicated, this day, by the heaviness of our own air: humidity of a sort unusual for us, especially when the forecast predicts no real chance of monsoonal weather. It makes for an oppressive day, one better spent indoors where such renegade air cannot steal one’s breath.
Our best hope lies in wind and weather: a change in wind direction, and perhaps a quickening of its speed, as well; a faint hope of rain made real. Should we be granted any or all, perhaps we shall have clear skies again tonight.
On an almost-summer night, clear skies are a glorious thing.
Where I come from, we hope for a glimpse of the sky spirits the outside world knows as the Aurora Borealis. In this place, it’s more likely to be what that same world calls the Milky Way. Either way, it’s a chance to encounter each shimmering celestial spirit arcing across a black velvet sky: stardust messengers and cosmic butterflies, here to give us direction, to instill wisdom in our souls and infuse our hearts with courage.
Today’s featured work embodies messenger and message, star and spirit. From its description in the Pins Gallery here on the site:
Stardust Messenger Warrior Woman Pin
A stardust messenger delivers the gifts of the virtues and the teachings of the spirits. Wings beckons message and messengers alike into being with this latest entry in his signature Warrior Woman series, created in memory of his mother and to honor the courage, strength, and power of women. this warrior’s heart stands out in sharp relief above the beadwork on her dress, a powerfully layered image of four Eyes of Spirit, each formed of tiny Eyes of Spirit arrayed like stardust in their own diamond-shaped pattern. The guiding Eye motif is repeated in the flowering stylized diamond design of the sterling silver pattern wire that forms the serpent over her left shoulder, an image of prosperity and abundance. In her left hand rests the silvered crescent moon, adance with the wings of numerous butterflies, small messenger spirits of warmer winds; in her right hand, she holds a single small perfect cabochon of translucent aquamarine, the silvery blue of illuminating starlight. The pin stands 2.75″ high by 2 inches across at the widest point; the cabochon is 3/16″ across (dimensions approximate).
Sterling silver; aquamarine
$325 + shipping, handling, and insurance
The nature of the message is not unclear: In a world obscured now by smoke, it could not, perhaps, be more plain. The harder part is summoning the courage to do what must be done — and doing it with wisdom, with the foresight and vision to build a better world for future generations.
As I look out the window, the haze has lifted the smallest bit from the eastern peaks; the wind is rising, and has shifted direction just enough to ripple through the tops of the grass in the fields, wide green waves coursing over the land. Perhaps we shall be granted a glimpse of the stars tonight after all.
It’s best to be ready. Even better to work for it, and for a world of clarity and balance.
~ 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.
