Today, we wrap up our closer look at Wings’s newest collection with its final three entries: works whose symbolism might described, respectively, as substance, quality, and life.
By that, I don’t mean market value, or even intangible value. I’m referring, instead, to [one of] the broader categories that each as a symbolic work represents. They are categories, too, that shift with need and context, but these will do for now. In each instance, as today’s title suggests, they refer to teachers of wisdom, sources of light. And as has been the case all week, not all remain available; in this grouping, two have already sold. Nonetheless, there is value in what they represent, and what it has to teach us about illumination, about wisdom, about resistance, about the good way of living.
The first work, the one shown above, is the one that embodies a substance, although it might also be said to embody a person, an archetype. It’s all in the name, one that has multiple meanings, and one that, for our peoples, denominates one of the sacred substances that we use in prayer and ceremony. From its description in its section of the Bracelets Gallery here on the site:
Sage Coil Bracelet
In some cultures, a sage is a seer, a spiritual leader revered for his or her powers of wisdom and foresight. In ours, sage is equally mystical, a medicine given to us in the form of a plant by which, dried and lit with flame, we cleanse our world and ourselves, and seek the wisdom of the spirits through the prayers its smoke sends spiraling skyward. Wings pays tribute to this medicine of wisdom with this coil bracelet, one in the greens and browns of the plant itself. The coil is anchored at either by a short segment of old-style copper barrel beads; another short segment of tiny green turquoise nuggets emerges from it, as though arising from the earth itself. It then flowers slower, first in the soft spring green of peridot, then in the mysterious hues of nuggety green fluorite, from only a silvery sage-like hint of green to deep teal shades like raw emerald. at the center are seven Eyes of Spirit, glowing oval orbs of diamond-faceted smoky quartz, the source of wisdom and power that the sage’s smoke seeks. Fifth in The Wisdom Collection of The Seventh Fire Series. Designed jointly by Wings and Aji.
Memory wire; smoky quartz; green fluorite; peridot; green turquoise; copper
$325 + shipping, handling, and insurance
Some our our indigenous cultures may adopt the word “sage” to refer to a medicine person; ours do not. I suspect it’s much more a European locution, since the word itself traces back through Middle English to Middle French to its Latin root. Of course, the European uses of the word are directly related: The Latin name of one of its forms, salvia, means to soothe, but the variant meanings, as an herb or referring to wisdom, all come from that same source, evolving by way of the “seasoning” referent. For us, it is an English translation of the many different different words our languages have for the sage plant, one that, once dried, produces the abundant smoke needed for cleansing and purification, for prayer and ceremony.
Still, even if we do not use it to refer to a seer, we do use it in connection with sight: that of Spirit. And so it’s fitting that it should be built around a tribute, via its bejeweled smoky quartz center, to the Eye of Spirit, the bringer of wisdom and dreams. It’s one expression of the identity of the spirit being to whom we send our prayers . . . sometimes spiraling aloft on tendrils of sage smoke.
And one of the reasons we pray, of course, is to seek illumination. Oh, it’s not always so straightforward; very often, we think we’re asking for things, when what we really need (and often want, too) is wisdom and guidance — an illuminated path, both for safety’s sake, and to help us to do what is right. Although the next piece in this grouping has already sold, it embodies this quality, one we all should seek. From its description:
Illumination Coil Bracelet
We depend upon Sun and Moon to light our path, to warm our world and brighten our days. Wings honors their luminary power with this coil bracelet, a spiral of pure sunlight in the many colors it wears over the course of a single day. It begins with rough-cut nuggets of bright yellow African opal at either end, extending inward to smaller lengths of smoother, more polished African opal in a warm peach shade. Short segments of fiery amber glow hot and intensely brilliant before cooling into a pair of long lengths of tiny branch coral nuggets in soft angelskin red. At the very center, and separating each individual segment of beads, are single smooth labradorite beads, seven in all, each a cool pearlescent silver like the moon, shimmering with all the colors of the spectrum in the shifting angles of the light. It’s a testament to the power of the light in all its forms, and a tribute to its powers of illumination as we go about our daily journey around the hoop. Sixth in The Wisdom Collection of The Seventh Fire Series. Designed jointly by Wings and Aji.
Memory wire; labradorite; branch coral; amber; peach and yellow African opal
$325 + shipping, handling, and insurance
SOLD
Illumination is one of those concepts reducible to very literal meaning and simultaneously capable of the most ethereal symbolism. We use it to refer to the light of the sun and moon and stars that makes it possible to navigate the road ahead. We also use it to refer to guidance, wisdom, enlightenment, the gifts of the spirit that help us chart a more internal path, as well. In our cultures, the notion of a road is a very real one, one that exists in (at least) both the physical world and the spiritual one.
Which brings us, logically, the last work in Wings’s new collection, one that likewise has already sold but in some ways is perhaps the most important, the one whose message holds the greatest urgency and immediacy for us as people. From its description:
The Red Road Coil Bracelet
The Red Road is a place of symbol and metaphor, a path of wisdom and a life lived well. For some, it is that which we call the Tipi Way; for others, it refers to sobriety; for still others, it denotes the way in which we are given to go well through life. Wings honors all three meanings with this coil, a spiraling path of fiery color and symbolic power. It begins at either end with tiny old-style faceted copper barrel beads, each leading into a length of warm red sponge-coral rondels, thence to tiny polished nuggets of branch coral. Paired segments of glowing amber, bisected by scarlet and white spiny ouster shell, lead to seven diamond-faceted faceted ovals of smoky quartz at the center, a tribute to the sacred number. It’s the embodiment of the Red Road, the Sacred Hoop, an infinite ribbon of sunlight and warm fire and the blood that flows through our veins, all leading toward the visionary wisdom of Spirit’s Eye. Seventh in The Wisdom Collection of The Seventh Fire Series. Designed jointly by Wings and Aji.
Memory wire; smoky quartz; amber; branch coral; sponge coral; copper
$325 + shipping, handling, and insurance
SOLD
Some traditions say that all roads lead to Spirit, but as a practical matter, we know that it is very to easy to get lost along the way, especially now. There are roadblocks and detours and attractive lures that induce us from the path. There is a perception, among those of the dominant culture, that being Native is somehow easy; it’s not. It’s a difficult road, and a costly one, too, and not merely in financial terms. To live as we have been charged, in a good way, requires much of us. It’s physically, mentally, and psychologically demanding, and also spiritually rigorous. To follow what we call the Red Road means that we fulfill our obligations to the past, the present, and the future all along the path around the hoop: to honor the ancestors; to care for our communities, particularly those in them who are most vulnerable; and to strive to leave a better world for the generations yet unborn.
It’s a heavy burden.
The trick is in learning to bear it with a brave heart and a generous spirit, aided by the active seeking of wisdom as we walk.
It is why the spirits granted to us the gifts of the virtues in the first place: They are teachers of wisdom, sources of light.
~ Aji
All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2017; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owners.
