In our way, everyone must be willing to be a warrior, even if the battlefield is at times unconventional. The outside world is only now discovering resistance, but it has been our peoples’ practice and praxis for more than five hundred years.
The ancestors have taught us well the value of arming ourselves, and of armoring ourselves, as well: The most skilled warrior protects no one if he catches an arrow — or if he becomes disabled by the impact of his own bowstring. By the same token, we cannot defend our own, our cultures, communities, and clans, if we are not armed and armored with spiritual protection. Skill and strategy are essential, but so, too, is the wisdom that comes in visions and dreams — and the rest and good health of a solid night’s sleep.
We have spent recent days reflecting upon the act of reaching for the sky — of emerging from our fundamentally earthbound state, of transcending the bonds of wind and air, of surviving, ascending, touching the light. We long for the elemental grace of the raptor spirits, able to walk upon the ground but at home in the heavens; of the force and power of the arrow, one that moves by the agency of another’s grace, yet escapes gravity’s clutching fingers, at least for a moment. And we seek to harness these talents in the service of a more essential aim: survival.
But unlike the path of an abstract arrow, the road to survival is neither neat nor simple. It requires planning, preparation, strategy, self-defense. It requires us to choose our arms wisely, and our armor, too, from bow guards to spirit beings. Weaponry is important, but so, too, is the dreamcatcher’s web, the spiritual protection of dreams and the warrior spirits who inhabit their world.
Yesterday, Wings completed his latest masterwork, one that honors these spirits: the arrow and the armor; the dream warrior who wades into battle and the web that shields the world. It’s one that incorporates one of his works into something new, an ancient style and spirit given modern form and shape . . . one that pays tribute to equally ancient indigenous spirits by touching the sky — and bringing it down to earth — of an ancient indigenous culture half a world away. 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 above and below.
Sterling silver; high-grade Cloud Mountain turquoise; old blue-green turquoise; moosehide
$2,500 + shipping, handling, and insurance
It’s a work designed to be tailored to the wearer, hence the absence of trimmed edges and laces. Once purchased, it may be cut to measure, threaded with leather thongs, and tied securely in place.
And a word about the leather: It’s not the typical hide used for an ordinary bow guard, thin, dark, and stiff as a board. This is buttery soft and very nearly butter’s color, too, all warm earth and golden light. It’s a hide not common to this area, but once exceedingly well-known (and well-used) among my own people: moosehide. It’s exceptionally thick , its softness matched by its essential sturdiness, and while this specimen feels like velvet, it can be treated to stiffen it further. I can testify, though, to its strength and solidity; one of my pairs of moccasins in made from the same hide from which this piece came, and they are as comfortable as they are strong.
At the moment, at least, it’s unlikely that the average person will need the physical protection a bow guard provides, at least with regard to arming for literal war. But the best warriors hone their skills even in times of relative peace.
And the dream warriors, the ones who venture forth into other worlds? They are the most consistent of all . . . and the most in need of steady spiritual protection.
Protection like the dreamcatcher’s web . . . or the visionary’s bow guard.
~ 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.
