The Afterlife Tomb. Hummingbird skulls and Onyx.

Inspired by a merging of the Afterlife series with the Crystal Tomb series, this necklace features an onyx pyramid cradled by two sterling silver hummingbird skulls. Both collections are inspired by a deep loss I experienced in 2008 after the sudden passing of my father. As a way to seek comfort from my seemingly bottom-less grief, I became interested in how jewelry can take on the feel of a kind of psychic armor. 

 Here, the hummingbird sentinels represent the afterlife, cradling the pyramid with a protective stance.The hummingbird is known as the only bird that can fly backwards as well as forwards, suggesting a kind of time traveling or extra sensory ability other birds as symbols lack. Birds in general are often associated with having a place in both the earthly world as well as the spirit world, making them sensitive to death and higher consciousness.

Being relegated to the Western hemisphere only, the hummingbird turns up in native and Aztec lore and myth. The Aztecs wore hummingbird fetishes as emblems of strength, and for the image of their sharp beaks, symbolic of bloodletting and piercing. The image was carved onto the shoulders of priests, and hummingbirds were also considered to be reincarnated warriors. This idea is often found in other cultures and thus the hummingbird is often associated with containing the spirits of those who have crossed over.

The pyramid shape of the stone suggests a tomb, a burial place where the ancient Egyptians laid their Pharaohs to rest. The design was suggestive of the descending rays of the sun and suggested a sort of stairway for the buried dead to ascend into the heavens Pyramids are also symbolically linked with the primordial mound from which the Egyptians believed the earth was created, having arisen from the lifeless waters of Chaos.