In this place, summer is a dance of the whirlwind spirits, spiral animated by the power of summoning storms.
Such medicine was on full display last night, rotating winds sending the rain lashing the house on all sides before settling into a steady downpour to last near the whole of the dark hours. Such rains are a special gift here: not so much force that the ground cannot absorb it, sending the water racing off in a flood; not so much heat and light that it evaporates near as fast as it falls. Instead, sky and earth meet in the flow of a vertical river, and our whole world is vibrantly alive today and all the better for it.
Of course, not every storm is so cooperative; over the last week, we’ve had a few so fierce that the drops could scarcely be described as “rain” at all — a battering torrent that falls with such force that the water bounces a foot off every surface. Such extreme weather does good, but it cannot be approached cavalierly. Still, the same elemental forces that make this landscape hazardous likewise give it its stark beauty.
Now, the clouds have retreated to the horizon, there to bide their time until the moment arrives to unleash their fury, and their gifts, upon the land anew. The forecast predicts late afternoon or evening once again, and if current patterns hold, they will begin with the rotating of the winds, each direction’s guardian contributing its own powers and particular force.
It’s a phenomenon that finds expression in today’s featured work, one manifest as storm and wind and sacred directions all in one shimmering, spangled whole. From its description in the Necklaces Gallery here on the site:
Dance of the Whirlwind Spirits Necklace
When the winds come from the Four Directions to meet at the center of all that is, they summon the spirit of the whirlwind to dance in the vortex of the storm. Wings summons all of the spirits in this work, a large, heavy talismanic medallion of solid sterling silver, hammered by hand and lightly domed in repoussé fashion. A symbol of the Four Sacred Direction in a flaring stylized cross shape rests atop the medallion as an overlay. Each spoke is marked with a single cabochon of cobalt-blue lapis lazuli, the color of the rain; they spin inward toward the vortex at the center, embodied in a large round onyx cabochon of mysteriously glossy depths. The hand-made bail is accented with tiny hand-stamped hoops, the shape of the spiraling wind itself. The pendant hangs from an alternating strand of round sterling silver and lapis lazuli beads, with small square lapis and round onyx beads stretching toward either end of the strand, each end terminating in two tiny Florentine-finish silver beads. Pendant is 2-1/8 inches long (including bail) by 2-1/4 inches across; beads are 19 inches long (dimensions approximate). Other views shown above and at the link.
Sterling silver; onyx; lapis lazuli
$1,500 + shipping, handling, and insurance
This has always been one of my favorites in its category. It’s not, perhaps, Wings’s more usual style, given its resemblance to a particular four-spoked motif from colonial cultures. But in his hands, it’s wholly Indigenous, a whirling, flaring, wide-open embrace of the Four Sacred Directions, an invitation to the winds that guard them, and an embodiment and inhabiting of the elemental power of the storm.
In our world, the storm is nothing to be avoided; it’s to be welcomed, honored, thanked for its presence and the blessings it brings.
I think we may have the chance to welcome, to honor, to thank it again today.
~ 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.
