Psychopomp Wall Hanging

[hermeticdog]

My fucking iPhone camera really doesn't do it justice.

I took a rook wing (legally taken in the UK), and attached a deerskin leather loop for hanging, then added hemp cord dangles with domestic dog bone and magatama. In mythology, the rook (along with the crow and raven) is considered a psychopomp, as is the dog. The magatama is seen as the representation of the soul.

For sale on my Etsy page here

Comments

[witchchild]

ooooh. :)

[primaldog.livejournal.com]

*grin* This was fun to do. I hope to do more like it sometime.

[vrisanfra.livejournal.com]

Oh my gods. That is...amazing. O_O It's one of those pieces that really hits in some place for some unexplicable reason, you know?

-Rachel

[primaldog.livejournal.com]

Hey, I'm really glad you like it enough, and that it hits the right spot, to give it a home with you *g* Thanks a whole lot! I'll have this carefully packaged up and shipped off to you this weekend. Awesome.

Heh, this helps give me an ego-boost with my art, too. Thanks again *g*

[vrisanfra.livejournal.com]

*g* Yay, I'm glad! I love it when it just so happens that something goes "I BELONG TO YOUUUUU" (Or, rather, "YOU ARE MIIIIIEN") enough for me to instantly glomp (happened with "my" spear, as well), and that it happens to do just as much for the artist. Srsly, love the whole synchronicity thing. I've been on the artists end. *grin*

Thanks so much for posting it up on LJ, btw. I would never have seen it if you hadn't, and it's...really, really a great thing for some of the stuff going on in my spiritual life right now. I can't exactly explain why, because I really don't know, but...it's just one of those puzzle pieces, you know?

I'm really looking forward to opening the box! Thank you so much, too. *moar grin*

*edit* Also, as another note, because apparantly I'm very wordy today, I really am amazed by all the people I know who can use animal parts like this, and do it properly. My arts are in the textiles, and I can do the same thing with those-but with things like these, I fall short of "good enough". I can never get it quite right for the purpose, or the specific piece, and with things like this-I have a personal standard of if I can't get it right for the piece and the purpose, I don't make it. It's stricter when I'm using pieces like this, which are most likely awakened (animist, hi *waves, heh*). So...yeah. More rambling and stuff, and being wordy. And such. */endedit*

-Rachel

[primaldog.livejournal.com]

This makes me really happy to know...lets me know I am doing my job both as an artist and as a shamanist. As well as helping fulfil my Father's work (long story, more on this later).

I'll make sure this is all packed up for you, and goes out with my next mailing this weekend when I get to the post office, so it is in your hands as soon as possible. I'm going to find a box or some stiff cardboard to secure it in so the feathers don't get bent.

I think it goes with exposure, too. It took me some years and, to me, a lot of balls before I decided to start creating artwork from awakened bits--and by that I mean, I only really started this year. I hold myself to some very high standards too, and if I find something that needs reworking, reviving or remaking, and I don't have the skill for that level of restoration, I pass it to someone skilled who does. Being a fellow animist myself, I understand these things all too well.

Which brings me nicely into this next related topic. Care and feeding. Since it is a preserved wing, keep it dry and away from moisture. As for spiritual sort of things, incense, and offerings of grain. In Germany the name for a rook is something akin to "grain bird" or "cereal bird"...I'll have to get the word from my fiancee again. But that's one of the reasons why they are considered a pest in parts of the European continent--they rather have a taste for grain, let alone carrion. Rooks are strongly associated with death--they are believed to forecast death, and act as psychopomp. Very similar roles to their cousins, and in some cases are largely interchangeable, as in Semitic lore.

I hope this helps, and I'm glad to be able to unite you with a meaningful piece like this, and that I could create something like that for you.

[white9-fox.livejournal.com]

Name's Gawron, or Gawrony. I should know, as it's my family name XD

[vrisanfra.livejournal.com]

As well as helping fulfil my Father's work (long story, more on this later).

Wow, I feel like that so much. And not only with my Mother, with....uh, all of Them. Or, those of Them that I belong to. Heh. And then go "Hmm, maybe I should keep this to one on one convo...dammit I don't have person x's screenname or phone number grr!". ;-)

I hold myself to some very high standards too, and if I find something that needs reworking, reviving or remaking, and I don't have the skill for that level of restoration, I pass it to someone skilled who does.

Wow, we're a lot alike in how we do this kind of stuff. o.o Whee, synchronization? My standards, when I'm doing spiritual pieces, is near-exactly the same. I'm lucky with my specific arts, though, I can practice. Sketch out a design for a silkpainting or for beadwork ten dozen times before actually doing the WORK work, restringing a necklace if it isn't JUST PERFECT, doing practice pieces to get the techniques perfect, etc etc etc. I have no idea if you end up with that luck or not.

Which brings me nicely into this next related topic. Care and feeding.

Thank you SO MUCH for telling me all this. Because, yeah. I would have forgotten to ask about the latter, the feeding, and I might have forgotten to ask about the prior for a while (which would have made for unhappy rook).

-Rachel

[le-gris.livejournal.com]

If I had the extra cash I would pick that up. Then again, I don't think it can legally ship here. :/

[primaldog.livejournal.com]

Hey, thanks a lot! I hope to do similar work like this sometime soon.

I don't think I've had problems shipping animal bits over the border before, and it was legally harvested in the UK. Hmm.

[sannion.livejournal.com]

i like!

[unknownbinaries.livejournal.com]

SHIny.

If there's ever a Raven one, poke me?

[primaldog.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately, being caught with raven bits in the US is illegal I'm afraid, as is American crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos). I'm not sure about the Eurasian raven, though. I do know that carrion crow (corvus corax) bits are legal, and I have more than a few crow feet. I only have one matched pair however, huge feet, which I already promised to a friend. But if you're interested in anything crow, let me know!

[unknownbinaries.livejournal.com]

Hm. Actually, you're giving me ideas. Where do you get your magatama? Looking up just that gets me something like seed beads more often than not, and the one person I found selling those on EBay was charging an arm and a leg.

[primaldog.livejournal.com]

Hehe, if you're thinking the same thing I'm thinking, I was considering doing a "Tengu" piece (tengu are crowgoblins in Japanese mythology) featuring a crow claw and a magatama, either as a pendant or some other dangly piece.

This is my top source for magatama. Reasonably priced, and ships within the US instead of China or Japan like the other shops, and this seller ships super-quick. I've only had excellent experiences in the past with this one. You can find some good overseas prices on magatama, but you'd be paying more for shipping, and waiting longer to get it. But there are some other good ones out there on eBay if you look hard enough.

If you have something in mind, let me know. I'd be happy to work on something for you if you like.

[vrisanfra.livejournal.com]

Omg. I am now looking at all the magatama, and now I am wanting to work with those ones. And realizing that I'm not quite good enough yet. >D

Now just to be patient until I am. Heh.

-R

[white9-fox.livejournal.com]

Fuck, too late to buy.

Any chance you'll have a Rook piece in the future?

[primaldog.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately that was the only rook piece I had. I do have other crow bits (c. corax) if interested, though.

I'll have your deer legbone wrapped up and shipped off to you this weekend.

[white9-fox.livejournal.com]

No thanks, I'll content myself with the deer bone instead XD Thanks for shipping it off so fast.

[primaldog.livejournal.com]

No problem! It'll go out in the mail tomorrow *g*

[lupabitch.livejournal.com]

Nice!

[primaldog.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I really appreciate any feedback you have to offer on my artwork. Helps out a lot.

[alfrecht.livejournal.com]

Very nice indeed! Lovin' the syncretism!

[primaldog.livejournal.com]

*g* Thanks a lot!

[storm-seeker.livejournal.com]

Which mythology is the dog considered a psychopomp in? I know the various legends of black dogs etc but I mean beyond those.

[primaldog.livejournal.com]

Lets see: Egyptian, Mesoamerican, Greco-Roman, Native American, Indian, Arabian, Chinese and I think Japanese too, as well as numerous others I probably didn't pull off the top of my head.

Lore of the Dog by Patricia Dale-Green and Myths of the Dog-Man by David Gordon-White are exceptionally good sources in this area, as well as a few other titles. I can pull some more for you if you're interested in pursuing the subject further.