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Himalayan Artifact
Information
In response to many
customer requests, we have created information blurbs below that you
may wish to display with some of the distinctly Himalayan cultural
items that you sell. If you instruct your web browser to print
this page onto 8.5 x 11 inch paper, you will get a couple of pages of
blurbs. Cut them out and display them as you like.
Please note that these
blurbs are based partly on information in the book titled Short
Description of Gods, Goddesses, and Ritual Objects of Buddhism and
Hinduism in Nepal, published in 1999 by the Handicraft Association
of Nepal, in Kathmandu. (We offer this very useful little book
for the retail price of $8.) Countless other sources of such
information have been assimilated into these blurbs, based on
discussions with silver dealers and other craftspeople in Nepal,
Tibetan Buddhist monks and devotees in the USA, various websites, and
even customers who seemed to be knowledgeable on relevant topics.
Given the many undocumented sources, I will make the same disclaimer as
the book does: There could be some inaccuracies, or, at least,
some concepts that don't translate well into our language. For
those of you who spot such problems, we apologize and we thank you for
any notes you might send to us about corrections or clarifications.
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Bell
and Dorje:
The bell
represents the female aspect of sentient beings and symbolizes
wisdom. It is held in the left hand while the Dorje or Vajra,
the thunderbolt that destroys all kinds of ignorance
and represents the male principle, is held in the right hand.
They are always used together in ritual ceremonies and the two
together are believed to lead to enlightenment.
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Coin
Bottles:
Coin
Bottles were created when Tibetans who fled the Chinese to seek refuge
in other countries found themselves with worthless coins to make these
charming eyeliner bottles and sold them in exchange for the more useful
currency of their host country. Today, there are no new Tibetan
coins so these bottles are made of Bhutanese coins. In Western
countries the bottles are often used for pendants which can contain
thick wax perfumes (not oils). There is also a rumor that if a
wish blown into the bottle is corked quickly enough, the wish will come
true.
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Singing
Bowls:
Created
in the monasteries of Tibet and Nepal, the singing bowls are
individually spun and hammered from a combination of 7 metals (bell
metal). Each bowl produces a unique harmony when it is played by
dragging a wooden dowel around the outside of its rim or when it is
struck with the heel of the hand. It is believed that these
harmonies are the vibrations of the prayers and praises to God which
are chanted as the bowls are created.
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Tingshas:
Often
used to clear the ethers before a Buddhist ceremony, tingshas, which
are made of bell metal, are used to help create a balanced or centered
state. also, they may be used to fix a moment or place in one's
memory.
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Medicine
Bracelets:
Throughout
Asia and Africa, medicine bracelets are used as preventative medicine
to help ward off arthritis. It is also claimed that the
combination of copper, brass, and nickel silver improves one's overall
sense of energy and well-being. Many of the medicine bracelet
designs are combined with semiprecious stones to which modern crystal
therapists attribute emotional healing properties.
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Tibetan
Prayer Wheels:
For over
1,000 years, Tibetan monks and Buddhist devotees have used prayer
wheels to churn the ethers. The prayer wheels are handmade and
each contains a prayer which is usually an invocation for peace and
prosperity. As the wheel is rotated clockwise 9looking at it from
the top down) prayers written in Sanskrit are believed to be released
into the ethers along with the thoughts and prayers of the person
turning the wheel. This practice, which is very much alive in
Tibet and Nepal today, is intended to keep one's mind centered so as to
focus on the desired result.
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Medicinal
Prayer Bracelets:
Throughout
Asia and Africa, medicine bracelets are used as preventative medicine
to help ward off arthritis. It is also claimed that the
combination of copper, brass, and nickel silver improves one's
well-being. Some of the medicine bracelets have inscriptions
usually written in Tibetan or Nepali. The most common prayer is
OM MA NE PAD ME HUM (six letters), which asks for long life and good
fortune.
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Gau
(Prayer Box):
These
often elaborately decorated portable shrines originally may have
contained nail clippings from the Dalai Lama, or a piece of robe, scrap
of food, or hair from a high-ranking lama's head. Today they are
more likely to hold Buddhist relics and mantras (prayers written on
paper). Though they are usually worn as a protective pendant,
they may be seen worn in the top knot of an aristocrat to assure divine
intervention in decision making.
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Prayer
Stones:
Carved
by pilgrims on journeys back to Buddha's homeland and important Tibetan
Buddhist Stupas, these white or gray river stones usually are inscribed
with the Sanskrit letter 'OM' for 'God,' or a longer prayer such as 'OM
MA NE PAD ME HUM,' meaning 'God give long life and good fortune.'
Other symbols inscribed on these stones may include the Compassionate
Eyes of Buddha or his hands or feet.
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Salagrama
(Black River Stones):
This
ammonite is more than 150 million years old and three times more
ancient than the Himalayas themselves, and it is proof that the
Himalayas were once beneath the ocean waves. The mysterious
universal spiral (a fossil of a chambered nautilus) is said to be the
earthly manifestation of Great Vishnu, Preserver of all life, and
therefore sacred. The stones are opened by hurling them against a
boulder and if they shatter they are considered 'uncooked' or 'not
ready to come out yet.' I have retrieved some stones that are
cooked. No two stones will ever appear to be broken in the same
way.
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Phurba:
The
enchanted dagger or magic dart is used for the ritual slaying of evil
or foe. Used by Tibetan lamaist magicians, these ornate daggers
are made of bronze, iron, wood, or ivory. A true initiate of
Tibetan secret lore would believe that the power or the weapon does not
depend on the substance of which it is carved, but on what is
communicated to it by the sorcerer that uses it and that, as time goes
on, a portion of this energy remains and its strength increases as it
becomes possessed with spiritual energy.
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Willendorf
Goddess:
Unearthed
near Willendorf, Austria, the Willendorf Goddess was originally carved
in limestone and is approximately 30,000 years old. She is the
oldest sculpture of a human form yet uncovered. It is believed
that she may have been planted feet first near the hearth to protect
the home. This primordial mother-goddess replica crafted of
sterling silver represents the abundance, bulk and stability of Earth.
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Tantric
Buddhist Skulls:
The
ritual decoration of these ornate skulls originated as long ago as the
14th century. It is said that during the cremation of a powerful
monk, his skull rolled out of the fire and toward the feet of the monks
attending the cremation. This was taken as a sign that his skull
should not be destroyed but glorified and used as a focal point in
meditation. Today, there is still a belief that skulls can be
used to capture and contain the flesh and blood of a demon
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Thangkas:
For
centuries, the Tibetan Buddhists have produced delicate and poignantly
beautiful oil painting accented with gold to be used as a focal point
in meditation. Often the paintings are of a mandala, a
representation of Hell, Fire, and Lotus-- in other words a
representation of all of creation and the cycle of life.
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