The morning wears a heavy gray hood, only a thin line of wan yellow light willing to show itself at the horizon. It looks like the threshold between earth and sky, both dull and dark and slightly forbidding; what little light appears seems itself more intimidating than welcoming.
After several days of near-summery highs, the weather is changing. If the forecast holds, by nightfall we will be back in the grip of winter, snow and all.
As we bid at least a temporary farewell to the unseasonal warmth of the past week, I want to spend one more day immersed in the colors of spring and summer, of the turquoise skies and indigo waters of the warmer seasons. To do so in the presence of a spirit who sits at the thresholds seems somehow especially fitting on this day.
Today’s featured work is Wings’s own summoning of the spirit of Spider Woman. She appears in the stories and cosmologies of many indigenous cultures all over Turtle Island, often as a gatekeeper at the portals to other worlds: those beyond death, and those beyond life — dream worlds and future worlds alike. We have encountered her here before, as well as her male counterparts, but her most tangible incarnation appears in her description in the Bracelets Gallery here on the site:
Spider Woman Cuff Bracelet
Our dreams are the threshold between our contemporary existence and ways much older than memory. In many traditions, Spider Woman is the gatekeeper of such thresholds, and today, we still use the gift of her web to protect our dreams. Here, her ancient power is embodied in this spectacular cuff, hand-formed from a single piece of sterling silver and adorned with stones of protection and power. Her eight legs, texturized by hand-stamping extend from the dazzling oval lapis cabochon that forms her body. Hand-cut, hand-stamped pincers and silver spacer beads accent the protective Skystone of Sleeping Beauty turquoise that forms her head. Another view shown below.
Sterling silver, lapis lazuli, and Sleeping Beauty turquoise
$1,200 + shipping, handling, and insurance
In recent days, her diminutive counterparts in this world have awakened and found their way indoors: two Black Widows who have set up housekeeping in corners of one room, another house spider on the kitchen ceiling, a near-microscopic one racing across the television stand. We regard them as bringers of good luck, or at least as barriers to bad: In a season when the whole world teeters upon several thresholds simultaneously, they are tiny but powerful spirits of stability who keep the gates. Besides, the warm season is also fly season, and they have already begun to show their numbers; Spider Woman keeps them comfortably at bay.
This has long been on of my favorites among Wings’s works, not merely for its powerful spiritual imagery, but for its tangible beauty. The Sleeping Beauty Slystone that forms her head is unusually clear and bright, the exact color of the sky overhead on a sunny spring day. Her body is formed of one of the most beautiful cabochons of lapis lazuli I’ve ever seen — shades of cobalt, indigo, and even violet marbled together in a solid sea of mysteriously ancient depths. And the cutwork and stampwork are so finely detailed, so meticulous and laborious, a tribute to Wings’s craftsmanship and to this subject’s own spirit.
She is clearly waiting for a very specific home, one perhaps in need of a being who will keep the spiritual flies at bay . . . or who will guard the gates to the worlds beyond this one, worlds beyond death, and beyond dreams.
~ Aji
All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2016; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owners.
