In an unstable time and unsettled season, when the world itself seems on the edge of disintegration, the shape of our dreams gives form and structure to our lives.
On days such as this, thirty degrees too warm, the earth bone-dry and half-dying now of thirst, it’s hard to believe that our climate has any hope of righting itself. We are long past the tipping point, of course; now, it’s amelioration and reclamation. But we are still in time to prevent rescue from being reduced merely to recovery of that which lives no more.
The earth is hurting, but still she lives. So do we, even when the path ahead is difficult and dark.
Near-summer temperatures notwithstanding, these are the dark days of the year, the ones leading up to the line at which winter is finally born. It is near full-dark here now by five, dawn long dark hours away. Endless winter nights are a time for dreams, and more, a time for dreams to shape our waking world.
We must be warriors, day and night, warriors in our waking acts and warriors in the dream world, as well.
For that, we need armor — physical, yes, but spiritual, too, the sort that Wings created in today’s featured work. From its description in the Accessories Gallery here on the site:
Dream Warrior Bow Guard
Some of our fiercest battles are fought in and over dreams. Wings invokes the dream warrior and and the warrior’s art in this old traditional-style bow guard. It begins with a solitary concha from one of his old belts, a piece that has spent decades in his private collection: multiple layers of solid, heavy sterling silver hand-cut into ovals of ascending size, the base layer scalloped gracefully around its edge, all stacked atop each other in an overlay pattern. Each layer is edged with hand-stamped chased images in traditional designs — the force of the lightning, the shelter of the lodge, the power of the rising sun. The center oval is domed, repoussé-fashion, and the entire finished concha is domed yet again to trace the line of the wrist. A small sturdy column of sterling silver arises from its center to hold the bezel of the central stone securely in place. The stone itself is an extraordinary giant cabochon of high-grade Cloud Mountain turquoise from China’s Hubei District, bright teal blue and webbed in inky indigo as tightly and thoroughly as Grandmother Spider’s dreamcatcher, set into a saw-toothed bezel and trimmed with bold twisted silver. Flanking the center concha are a pair of tiny round conchas whose stampwork repeat the lodge motif around diminutive round blue-green center stones. The conchas are screwed into a band of warm golden-hued moosehide, thick, sturdy and velvety to the touch. The band extends outward three inches beyond each small concha to allow for custom cutting and lacing to fit the wearer. In its current from, prior to sizing to suit, the full band extends 11.25″ long by 2.25″ high; the small conchas are 2-7/8″ across and their cabochons are 1/4″ across; the center concha is 3/5/8″ high by 2.75″ across, and the focal cabochon is 2″ high by 1-3/8″ across at the widest point (dimensions approximate). Other views shown at the link.
Sterling silver; high-grade Cloud Mountain turquoise; old blue-green turquoise; moosehide
$2,500 + shipping, handling, and insurance
In our way, dreams are a path to power, a portal to other worlds, a link and a line to the spirits. They can be acts of power in and of themselves, or a means to attaining it. As with all power, it is in how we choose to use it that it assumes a moral character (or lack thereof). It is in the web of our dreams, the bones and branches and braided hoops, that the illuminating light of Spirit filters through.
In unsettled seasons, in times when the world seemed near an end, dream warriors have always played a crucial role in shaping and reshaping our world. They have taught us when to resist, and when to retreat, when to dance, and how to hope. They draw and redraw Mother Earth in ways old and new, mapping her body even as they work to renew her spirit, and ours.
The shape of our dreams dictates the form of our world. It’s time to dream as warriors.
~ 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.
