Description

I have long been fascinated by the life work of archeologist Marija Gimbutas whom I discovered around the same time we were writing our book Moon Mysteries, as I wanted to dive into ancient findings of a matrilineal world and her work deeply reflects this, as in her findings she discovered many sites of neolithic goddess figurines.

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Carved onto these small figurines were beautiful details of spirals and chevrons and, coils, serpents and other lines each holding sacred meanings, most of which tie into the spirals of life, death and rebirth.

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The first of these were found in both Romania and Ukraine and and these date back to the first millennium BC, and have been linked to the Cucuteni-Trypillian culture, which dominated a large swath of Eastern Europe during the Late Neolithic period

The figurines were likely used during Trypillian ceremonial practices, and archaeologists have identified these small statuettes as being sacred objects that can protect people from harm and promote fertility of the land. This was my starting and inspiration point for this offering.

–A long sacred shawl that can be wrapped around the body, used as a blanket and in general will keep the wearer cozy and warm, paired with a Trypillian amulet with amber and copper beads.

Here I decided to make two different amulets, both with goddesses aired with ancient amber and Jasper beads.

The large one is modelled after the Trypillian clay goddess found in Romania and the Small is a piece of hand carved Jasper paired with stunning polychrome Jasper beads and some amber.

The shawl was made using local, hand spun and raw wools, merino wool and of course I had to add a string of ancient amber beads into the mix, along with a set of naturally dyed sheep locks.