Lately, I’ve been thinking backwards, as my mind tends to move in a labyrinthine rhythm. Turning to the past has always been dangerous for me, as I imagine it may be for many of you. I think of mistakes I’ve made, of people I’ve lost, of things I would have done differently; things I wish with near desperation I would have said, and things I wish I could unsay. What we do is never able to be undone, and equally, what is done to us, or what we bear witness to, is never able to truly be forgotten. Perhaps this is a particularly human grief, the ability to remember the past and dredge it into the present~and therefore, into our futures. The past is real, but it’s always distorted, never quite right, a ghost we live with that haunts the walls of our bodies, the tower made of our skin, our blood, our heart, our bones. We haunt ourselves and we are equally haunted by what has been done by us and what has been done to those we care about, to others, to the world. & yet……. 

& yet ~ there is a kind of magic in humans too - to write stories. To create. The other side of destruction. Since the days and nights we lived around and protected the fire, we crushed rocks and crystals, we charred bones and collected ash to make pigment and paint. We used this to create art on the inside of cave walls, imagining what we wanted through animal effigies before a hunt, or simply just marking our presence. We wrote to each other through time. I am here. I exist. I was here. I existed. 

We have desperately wanted to reach back into time and through the veil to seek our dead for one more message through the Medium and the planchette and its pencil marks - which in turn became a source of inspiration to the Surrealists as they mined the Séance for its applications of automatic writing and its way of accessing the unconscious for art making. Messages, letters from our dead became in turn, letters from our deepest selves. 

We have always pressed our ear to the other side, and also, always pressed an ear to our ‘other side’ - especially in times of grief, turmoil, and strangeness- when everything feels as if its ending, when we feel like the last of our kind to live a certain way ( as technology seems to be moving at such as dizzying and scary rate (but were there not other humans 100 years ago who felt the same too, I wonder, but don’t know ? )) These are times when story and creation are needed the most, when communication and kinship are needed the most, even if it is just with yourself. I find myself pulling on the tethers of others, the spider silk of the web of kinship that seemingly spreads out across the world via the same technology I now feel fearful of. 

Here, I was thinking of the ruins of The Tower card, thinking of myself and perhaps you too, gathering ash after the flames have died out, how the land has been seeded by the river of collective mourning, but is now ready to be something else, something new. How that ash can be made into ink for new mark making. A Séance (honoring your ancestors through writing them  letters for your altar). Automatic writing (morning pages?) to meet yourself. Journal writing. Reaching out to a loved one or a friend you may have fallen out of touch with because communication has been harder than ever these last few years. 

I was also thinking how The Tower is the Phoenix, and how the ashes of her nest  signifies rebuilding yourself after a hard time. These past few years have been wildly painful, & I can’t even imagine how they have been for you. This strand is for when everything feels ‘over’ or ending, for when we have to rebuild our lives, our little worlds, even ourselves, from the ash & write ourselves anew. These strands carry the letters of our new selves, a solid line of metaphorical ink that form around the body that says whatever you’d like it to, it's a Phoenix feather, a scorpion’s tail of protection, a suture string for a wound that may never quite heal but should be tended to gently all the same.

This strand is composed of star cut and smooth round onyx, sparkling spinel, and hollow sterling silver 'Pearl' beads that have been hand oxidized and lightly polished. It measures approximately 39.5 inches long from end to end, including clasp.

This 'Opera Length' makes it perfect for wearing doubled up as well as at its full length. Designed to compliment other Onyx jewels in the Mourning/Ritual bead line it also layers beautifully with other BloodMilk necklaces. Its light weight also makes it perfect to use for meditation or ritual practices. 

At its closure is our larger, double sided Séance clasp cast in sterling silver. 

Onyx:

Onyx is best known for being a natural stone that acts as a kind of 'psychic armor' against the negativity of others. It is also used to sooth grief and heartbreak. It's a wonderful grounding stone and stone of self mastery, enabling its wearers to have mental and spiritual focus.

These beads are hand cut and therefore may have very slight differences in size and may have small signs of the carver's hands along the edges. These are not fabricated by a machine, they are made by hand and therefore aren't uniformly perfect. The photographs accurately portray the quality of the stones and the cuts. 

Each bead has been hand selected for its quality.

Spinel:

Spinel is a potent stone for healing and protection: working to help clear intense emotions such as anger and rage, it imbues its wearer with a sense of calm. It is also used to heal the physical body and has powerful metaphysical qualities, helping its wearer to feel strong, assisting with perseverance, especially when dealing with issues from the past that have become difficult to overcome. Much like Onyx, it also helps repel negativity from others.

 **IMPORTANT***:

This strand is handmade to order, just for you, with care and focus. Please allow approximately 6 weeks for creation before shipping.          

*Length note: Because individual bead measurements vary slightly, total strand lengths are approximate within a few millimeters in either direction. Please reach out via email if you have any questions about this. 

Please visit the Policy Page to make an educated and informed purchase HERE.

Please email any questions to bloodmilkjewels@gmail.com for a timely and kind response.