Itsy Bitsy Etsy: jewelery

Friday, September 24, 2010

Proud Peacock

Peacocks are notably a symbol of materialistic desire and pride, but the symbolism of the beautiful bird goes further than this common conception. Peacocks often times eat poisonous plants, unaffected, giving them the symbolic traits of incorruptibility and immortality. In Greek mythology the Goddess Hera was said to have placed eyes on their feathers, manifesting them with wisdom and knowledge. Hinduism sees the peacock as a representation of kindness, patience, and good fortune, denoting the qualities of their Goddess Lakshmi. In China and Japan, the peacock is sacred to the goddesses of mercy, Kwan-yin and Kwannon. Buddhism beliefs connect the wide spreading of a peacock's tail with openness and acceptance, also connecting their ability to stomach poisonous plants with the ability to thrive through times of suffering.

"In jungles of poisonous plants strut the peacocks,

Through medicine gardens of beauty lie near.

The masses of peacocks do not find gardens pleasant,

But thrive on the essence of poisonous plants,

In similar fashion the brave bodhisattvas

Remain in the jungle of worlds concern.

No matter how joyful this world pleasure garden,

These brave ones are never attracted to pleasures,

But thrive in the jungle of suffering and pain."

~"The wheel of Sharp Weapons", written by Dharmaraksita

There are many other visions describing the significance of peacocks, stories from the Sufi's, Christians, Others from Hinduism, but one thing is agreed upon throughout all these tales, the magnificence of a peacock is undeniable.

In honor of Halloween I am creating a series of blogs to give others costume ideas. With a little creativity this Halloween your costume can be more than the common white-bed-sheet-ghost. There's nothing keeping you from gathering your costume piece by piece. This gives the excitement of the holiday a little more attention and allows expression to be unleashed submerging you entirely in the experience. On Etsy, there are countless of artists putting their time into what they love to do. Here are just a few that present the feathers of immortality. If you see something that you love, click the link below the picture to see the artist's shop.

Strut your stuff in these peacock designs this Halloween:

Liaison

Kimonos

Three Five Eighty Five

Intrinsic Imagination

Atala

Sol Kat

Inshel

Delicious Clothing Co.

Junk Yard Buccaneer

Surreptitious Sloth

Crusaders 3

If you enjoyed this number you might enjoy:
Alice in Wonderland Costume Collection
The Nightmare Before Christmas Collection

Sunday, September 19, 2010

El Dia de los Muertos...Day of the Dead

The Day of the Dead is a tradition that has been practiced in Latin American for approximately 3,000 years. Originally it was a tradition of the Aztecs that has over the years merged with Catholic beliefs, but still keeping the concepts originally practiced. The Aztecs saw death as being the commencement of rebirth. They saw life as being in a dream and in death you awaken. Spaniards attempted to kill the tradition and bring the Catholic faith to the indigenous people, but the custom lived on. A month long ceremony was originally held, but was cut down to two days, November 1 and 2, do to the Catholic merge of the Spanish inquisition, coinciding with their custom of "all saints day."
The idea of El Dia de los Muertos is a celebration of the dead that still live on in spirit. In honor of those spirits, altars are created at home and at the grave stone. The gravestones and altars are adorned with marigolds, cempazuchil, the favorite food and drink of the person celebrated and toys for children. Other offerings include el pan de los muertos, a traditional bread and los dulces, candies. Common decorations found are candles, skeletons (including katrina, and sugar skulls), the cross, insence (copal), sugar skulls, and paper cut outs (el papel picado.) The candles are meant to guide the souls to the altar. It is said that the food and drink loose all of the taste and nutrients after the holiday is over, the belief is the spirits drain the food of these elements.
This is a beautiful tradition that I had the honor of partaking in last year. At Lorain County Community College, the art department asked me to create an altar that would represent this holiday. This gave me the opportunity to learn and teach others about this cultural holiday. After creating the altar, the community was encouraged to place their own offerings on the altar. Being exposed to another culture's customs is an experience I will always remember.
Here is a brief article about the celebration:
Lorain County Community College Students Celebrate Day of the Dead

In honor of the Day of the Dead, I have selected a group of items from etsy that are relate to this Latin tradition. All the artwork is handmade by artists found on Etsy.com. If you see something that stops you in your tracks, take a look at their other items by clicking on the link below the picture.