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"Medicine Pouches" in memory of Vex
14 years ago
General
I put the term in quotes as I am (at best) a layman at proper AmerInd rituals beyond what English-language books and articles I've read. I have only my best intentions and limited skills at researching to guide me in this endeavor.
I'm going to make a small collection of very basic pouches, akin to what a lowly warrior might make for themselves or as gifts. I will be keeping one for myself as my first 'made for myself' medicine bag, one for SillySerpentine, and the others I would like to make for those that knew Vex in some way, but could not be at the funeral for whatever reason. Each will be customized to some extent based on who their future owner is.
There are a couple of items common to all the bags that I have a very limited supply of, so I can only make approximately 10 bags total while keeping a proper connection to Vex. This means at most 8 other bags will be made as gifts, possibly less.
It will be a couple of months before I can begin making these, as much so I can recover my personal energies, strength, and mental stability after being so utterly drained by the funeral and burial ceremonies as anything else.
These are not intended as casual keepsakes left hanging from a rear-view mirror, but something to be respected. Akin to a cross cast from melted bullets recovered from a battlefield, if you will, though far more gentle and positive.
I will be constructing a work space w/ a cedar working surface, smudging the work space, tools, and myself w/ sage (to push out negatives), cedar (for cleansing), and sweetgrass (to draw in positives) as appropriate prior to and during construction of each bag. For me, dedication to and care with my work is meditative, so while I will speak some words as I make each bag they will by no means have anything one could call a ritual or ceremony involved in their creation beyond the dedication of an artisan to their craft.
They will be created from brain-tanned smoked buckskin. I'm specifying this up front so nobody misunderstands or thinks these are simple fabric pouches I'm going to be building.
The pouches will be drawstring, each with a flap as well with this beading design on the flap. They will have enough extra length on the drawstring to be worn as a necklace, or the drawstring can be shortened as needed.
The contents of each bag will share some items:
1) piece of the dirt from his grave site immediately after burial
2) lock of my hair as the creator
3) small singed piece of all three cleansing plants
4) fragment of tobacco leaf, NOT shredded tobacco
5) lock of the fur from Lumi V1.0's head
6) further owner-specific item(s)
These items will be smudged appropriately before being put in, and the whole bag smudged appropriately upon completion.
Lumi V1.0's head is the strongest tie I have w/ Vex from two events that inter-relate:
1) The 'bleating sheep' incident w/ Vex at Further Confusion; I was wearing Lumi v1.0 all during that. It was my first time suiting at a con in over half a decade.
2) Vex wore him around for hours and hours when he was sent to a training class out in my region and went out to pick up the t-shirts and aware plaques; he wore Lumi around extensively while we drive about picking things up, waving at people, etc.
----
If you were a friend of Vex, are someone I either know or are willing to let me get to know you fairly well, and wish to have one of these? Please comment.
THIS IS NOT FIRST COME, FIRST SERVE! I will prioritize these to those people I know the best, and there's a long window before I'll make these, so please understand if you don't get one of these 'special' pouches. I'll be more than happy to make other folks a basic pouch after these are done.
I'm going to make a small collection of very basic pouches, akin to what a lowly warrior might make for themselves or as gifts. I will be keeping one for myself as my first 'made for myself' medicine bag, one for SillySerpentine, and the others I would like to make for those that knew Vex in some way, but could not be at the funeral for whatever reason. Each will be customized to some extent based on who their future owner is.
There are a couple of items common to all the bags that I have a very limited supply of, so I can only make approximately 10 bags total while keeping a proper connection to Vex. This means at most 8 other bags will be made as gifts, possibly less.
It will be a couple of months before I can begin making these, as much so I can recover my personal energies, strength, and mental stability after being so utterly drained by the funeral and burial ceremonies as anything else.
These are not intended as casual keepsakes left hanging from a rear-view mirror, but something to be respected. Akin to a cross cast from melted bullets recovered from a battlefield, if you will, though far more gentle and positive.
I will be constructing a work space w/ a cedar working surface, smudging the work space, tools, and myself w/ sage (to push out negatives), cedar (for cleansing), and sweetgrass (to draw in positives) as appropriate prior to and during construction of each bag. For me, dedication to and care with my work is meditative, so while I will speak some words as I make each bag they will by no means have anything one could call a ritual or ceremony involved in their creation beyond the dedication of an artisan to their craft.
They will be created from brain-tanned smoked buckskin. I'm specifying this up front so nobody misunderstands or thinks these are simple fabric pouches I'm going to be building.
The pouches will be drawstring, each with a flap as well with this beading design on the flap. They will have enough extra length on the drawstring to be worn as a necklace, or the drawstring can be shortened as needed.
The contents of each bag will share some items:
1) piece of the dirt from his grave site immediately after burial
2) lock of my hair as the creator
3) small singed piece of all three cleansing plants
4) fragment of tobacco leaf, NOT shredded tobacco
5) lock of the fur from Lumi V1.0's head
6) further owner-specific item(s)
These items will be smudged appropriately before being put in, and the whole bag smudged appropriately upon completion.
Lumi V1.0's head is the strongest tie I have w/ Vex from two events that inter-relate:
1) The 'bleating sheep' incident w/ Vex at Further Confusion; I was wearing Lumi v1.0 all during that. It was my first time suiting at a con in over half a decade.
2) Vex wore him around for hours and hours when he was sent to a training class out in my region and went out to pick up the t-shirts and aware plaques; he wore Lumi around extensively while we drive about picking things up, waving at people, etc.
----
If you were a friend of Vex, are someone I either know or are willing to let me get to know you fairly well, and wish to have one of these? Please comment.
THIS IS NOT FIRST COME, FIRST SERVE! I will prioritize these to those people I know the best, and there's a long window before I'll make these, so please understand if you don't get one of these 'special' pouches. I'll be more than happy to make other folks a basic pouch after these are done.
And yes, I have noticed both of you being affected by this whole mess, I just haven't known either of you enough to really follow what's been going on with everything I've been dealing with personally and with closer friends. *hugs* So this isn't a no, it's more a "tell me more so I can actually decide" rather. =^.^=
the both of us had been talking to Vex literally the day before his passing. Vel n' i were at the mall getting some icecream when he was talking to us. He was just keeping tabs on us and making sure the both of us were okay and that we were happy... The both of us will always love him dearly and miss him very much.
I'll post a general update journal on these, I'm hoping to have these done in time for MFF. Most of this delay has been due to my new job turning out to be INCREDIBLY high tempo these first few months.