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(From website http://www.mir.com.my/rb/photography/leofoo/Thai-amulets/amulet-cases/index.htm)
After the house burnt down, I really hated material objects. My housemates put an unholy importance on objects, and when the cats were dying, those material things stifled judgment.
The worst part of my displeasure is that I'm a sinner. I constantly buy things that I don't really want. It's horrendous addiction, you don't stop, even when it sickens you.
Now that time has passed, I still despise my urge to shop, and yet I do it anyway. It costs me dearly, but I know I do it because I don't know how to live and survive without it.
I can't get emotional comfort, food, warmth, transportation or the cultural motivation without shopping. I am wholly dependent on shopping, and there is no shame in trying to survive and live.
That said, my displeasure of material objects is not fully rational. I value art. When does a material thing become art? I have no clue, but art seems to be a very human. We create and play, it is built into who we are and what we do. Just look at music, it has no practical function but to inspire.
Recently I read the book, The Yemenites: Two Thousand Years of Jewish Culture by Ester Muchawsky-Schnapper and it elucidates the lifestyle of the Jewish Yemenite people and their historic customs. One particular custom, that I found fascinating, was the usage of amulets. This is jewelry, that has magical powers of protection. It becomes an object that is beyond itself.
So that said, material objects may not have a use, but when you infuse them with an intention, they become more than their molecular components. They have meaning. They have language. They are gateways into our emotional selves.
That idea has inspired my current interest in history, archaeology and cultural art. I'm currently reading Art History: A View of the World: Part One by Marilyn Stokstad, and I really do feel that this book is opening up awareness to cultures I might have ignored. From people long ago, art is the only thing that will help us to understand their mentality. I seek guidance from our ancestors.
That said, amulets are interesting...
Personally, I feel so cut off and socially isolated, that it is hard for me gather the positive energy that I need to do hard tasks. (this is sounding very hippie) So, I'm going to start a personal holiday for celebrate my accomplishments and create objects that will harbor the energy/intention of those accomplishments for future success. This holiday will happen four times during the year, that correspond to the changing of the seasons.
For now, I'm just making a list of amulets or magical pendents. (Geeze, I used magical. I'm deviating..)
So my first amulet is the amulet of feathers, earned for the bravery of rock climbing. (I don't have details spelled out for it yet). My next goals need to be worked out, but I am planning to prescribe amulets for my accomplishments.
Monk Sewing. Japan. Kamakura Period, early 14th century.
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