Twenty-seven degrees, and the world outside the window is frozen.
It is the twentieth of May, and yet winter is here: The dark earth, so long blanketed with green, is rimed with frost, the blades of grass beneath my feet crunchy and white.
It looks just like the stone in today’s featured work, a work also aptly named: Mother Earth, for the stone’s appearance, domed with irregular peaks, grass green save for the veins and valleys of brown-black chert that wend through it — and just a hint of white around the edges, the surface glossy as ice. From its description in the Rings Gallery here on the site:
Mother Earth Ring
Like a parent, she nourishes and nurtures us, setting us the path of our daily lives, providing for our needs. Here, our Mother Earth is embodied in a rich green turquoise cabochon, sky and plant spirits melded together, mapped by her own paths of rich brown soil. Directional arrows alternating with symbols of love trace either side of the scored band. Cabochon is 5/8″ square (dimensions approximate); band is sizeable. Other views shown below.
Sterling silver; natural Royston turquoise
$350 + shipping, handling, and insurance
I have always thought of this work as one of spring and summer, of green worlds and warmer winds. Today, the only sign of spring is the pair of ducks gliding silently across the surface of the pond, the water just deep enough not to have frozen overnight. However bright the sun this morning, it will be hours yet before our small world here shakes off the winter chill.
Winter’s return is irrelevant to the tasks before us; we must move forward on our path around the hoop. The question is not if, but rather how: How do we proceed, when forces as power and elemental as weather and season place obstacles in our path?
Wings’s work on the band is instructive for me on this day. It’s made of paired strands of sterling silver half-round wire, their edges wedding them smoothly into one. On each strand are stamped traditional symbols in an alternating pattern: arrows, both straight and broken, signs of guidance and direction even when the road is not straight and the way is not clear, signifiers of the warrior’s strength and the peacemaker’s power in moving forward; and hearts, that ancient symbol of love and spirit, of soul and life.
It’s a reminder that even if the road ahead is not straightforward, if the path is winding and rocky and the way unclear, there are two things that will get us through: persistence and love. After all, it’s the path of a greening Mother Earth, of the grass, of spring — in a world frozen solid by winter’s sudden return, the grass still reaches for the sun.
~ 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.
