Universal Mother

Secret Island Find: Jamaican Crystal Quartz

12lb Jamaican Crystal Quartz rock found after mining for limestone. The quest is to smash it break it up, drill it and make something wearable.

Blessing Beads: Impromptu Photo Shoot

Blessing Beads: My secret island find they are protective and magical, of mother earth.  This impromptu photo shoot happened at Helshire Beach with friends who flew in to support New York performance artist Jodi Lynkeechow who performed at the Rex Nettleford Caribbean Art Conference.  Several Blessing Bead necklaces are layered on. One uber long consisting of 108 beads the other resting at a comfortable 32" in length as seen on Jodi who didn't mind showing her face for these impromptu pics.

Shop Story and Myth at the Shakti Shop

Story and Myth Malas are now at the Shakti Shop: 5 Bedford Park Avenue, Kingston 6, Jamaica.  These consist of 108 Blessing Beads hand strung with love from mother natures perfect bead known as Job's Tears.  The Blessing Bead is tear shaped and feels like porcelain when you tap it against your teeth.  The Blessing Beads are ethically sourced from the island and the OneHeart pendant is cast in bronze.

Shakti-Yoga in the Garden

story and myth

 

Shakti means sacred force or empowerment, it is the primordial cosmic energy  and represents the dynamic forces that are thought to move through the entire universe.  Shakti is the concept, or personification, of the divine feminine creative power. 

Shakti is also the agent of all change.  On the right

the conjoined forms of Lakshmi,  Parvati in the middle and Saraswati on the left. They are considered shakti's of their consorts Vishnu, Shiva and Brahma.
	Shiva (for Durga), Vishnu (For Lakshmi), Brahma (for Saraswati)

It was really wonderful to see so many people from all walks of life coming out to practice yoga in the garden-really wonderful to find that spirit here in Jamaica.  Since moving back I wanted to find something local, some secret island find from which to create and it is in the jobs tears seed bead also known as Mary's Tears.  So I made a 108 bead mala which is used for praying similar to a rosary, but instead of a cross I have a Shakti inspired pendant I refer to as the One Heart Pendant.  Of course the meaning is deeper so I will leave for another post.  Sharon Feanny of Shakti Mind Body Fitness Yoga wore the One Heart Mala as she led 350 plus people in yoga -she could have worn imported beads but she chose this beautiful locally sourced creation.

Story and Myth: A whimsical walk

Sea Goddesses: Summer Solstice

White coral necklace sketched with white nail polish, that is probably what I had in my bag at the time. Yemaja inspired this necklace she is a sea goddess.  In Africa she is known as Yemoja, in Brazil Yemanja, in Cuba Yemaya, in Haiti La Siren, in the USA Yemalla, in Uruguay Iemanja, in  the Dominican Republic Yemalla or Diosa del Mar (Sea Goddess).  She is also represented with Our Lady of Regla and Stella Maris.  In Italy she is known as the Black madonna of the Sea.  In some places she is synchretized with Diosa del Mar, LaSiren and Mami Wata, the later I believe is where Jamaica gets its "Riva Muma" folktales, "Riva Muma" (river mother) is a fresh water mermaid.  The African religions were an oral tradition hence the many regional variations on the name, in other parts of the diaspora like Brazil she is still honored, in Jamaica we are left with the myth of Riva Muma.
In parts of Brazil She is honored as the Ocean Goddess at the summer solstice.
Friday coming the Key Biscayne Goddesses in Florida will gather at the ocean to usher in the Summer Solstice.