It has been another difficult day, one filled with necessary tasks but also exhausting ones. More, it’s been the kind of day that holds out the tantalizing hope of real weather, clouds gentle, gray, and lowering with the mercury . . . only to yank it away in a blaze of end-of-the-afternoon sunlight.
For an earth as thirsty as ours is now, it seems an especially cruel and mocking development.
I prefer the clouds anyway, for so very many reasons, not least of which is that I was born a child of the storm. But my personal tastes, particularly coupled with the kind of exhaustion that plagues us all now, sometimes give me a blinkered view, and I have to remind myself to look beyond what I expect to see to observe what is truly there.
Yes, our drought-ridden world is thirsty. But today, the sun provides.
It has been cold enough that what remains of last week’s snow still covers most of the ground; the only truly clear spaces are those subject to human intervention in the form of Wings’s consistent sweeping and plowing efforts. And what that means is that there is mud in all the spaces between now.
As much of an irritant as it is, it’s a good sign, and mud is not the only thing visible now. There are in fact actual puddles here and there, something that has become vanishingly rare at every season, and beneath the fire at the heart of the sun, there is a slow and steady melt breathing life into the veins of Mother Earth.
For most of the day, of course, the sun shines silver, but at dawn this morning, its ascendant rays turned the cloud cover a deep, rich red momentarily. We have just enough remnant bands of trailing clouds around the horizon that sunset, too, will like set the western sky aflame, and I am reminded anew what an elemental love this world’s forces and spirits have for it, and for us.
Today’s featured work, one of Wings’s newest, embodies this love, and this fire, and the gifts of medicine that both impart. From its description in the relevant section of the Bracelets Gallery here on the site:
An Elemental Love Hook Bracelet
An elemental love holds all the power of fire and all the medicine of the rain. Wings summons both forces to the work of romance with this hook bracelet, silvered band saw-cut and scalloped freehand, its two ends wedded with a scarlet Rosarita heart. The band is lightweight, flexible, and a very scant six inches, designed for a smaller wrist; its beautifully sculpted edges embrace matched thunderhead symbols flanked by borders formed of a crescent-moon-and-star motif. Organic tabs extend from either end, formed into loop and toggle-hook closures fed through small round hoops. At the center, bezel-set and edged in twisted silver, sits a spectacular Rosarita heart cabochon, the impossibly glossy, glassy scarlet of gold slag glowing with the animating spirit of love itself. Band is 6″ long by 5/8″ across at the widest point; bezel is 1-1/8″ high by 1-1/8″ across at the widest point; cabochon is 7/8″ high by 7/8″ across at the widest point (all dimensions approximate). Other views shown above, below, and at the link.
Sterling silver; Rosarita (gold slag)
$1,200 + shipping, handling, and insurance
Note: Unlike a cuff, a 6″ band in this style will fit only a small wrist, 6 inches or less
in diameter. A longer band can be created for an additional $125 fee.
This work became an instant personal favorite, not only for its unique vintage style or for the intensity of its scarlet focal cabochon, but for the imagery that traces and embraces it.
The band, scalloped freehand, flows as gracefully as the water; on it underside, it’s adorned with symbols of earth and sky, of the nightfire and falling water, of cardinal and ordinal points that together create sacred space. It’s a distinctly powerful pattern perfect for holding the medicine of love and light firmly in place.
As bold as this piece is, it’s delicate, too: the subtle arc of the scalloped band, the lightweight and flexible silver, even the heart itself, strong and bright and yet always possessed of that reminder that hearts can be broken. But broken hearts mend, too — heal to burn brightly again with all the heat of love’s own flame.
Now, as the sun sets, there is in fact precious little crimson to be seen; instead, the sky is a mix of amber radiance behind a line of violet clouds. But what is scarlet if not the midpoint between the two shades? What is love if not the flame that keeps the spirit burning bright?
Today, I was reminded that even without what we think we need, our world is often granted what’s required all the same. And on this day, our world here healed just a little bit more, courtesy of the thaw . . . birthed by the fire at the heart of the sun.
~ Aji
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