Look what I am getting!
Look what I am getting! Lovely Melissa of Siren Jewels has made a gorgeous piece of jewelry for me, inspired by the concept behind my series, STEWARDS OF THE PLANE.
The collaboration process was really fun and I can't wait to do it again in the future. I love Melissa's work which is why I approached her with the idea of the commission... She's going to ship it to me tomorrow :-)
Let me explain a little about the symbolism behind the piece:
The front side of the pendant is a version of the Hermetic Seal - an outer circle, a nested triangle, nested square and then another smaller circle inside of that. For the purposes of my story, this symbol while still relating to hermeticism, also relates to the Quarrel -- a group of four people - also known as stewards - that band together to defend the plane (dimension) from danger being brought against it by those in other planes who might seek to invade.
Each part of the smbol represents a member of the Quarrel:
The outer circle represents the Sage - a person who has the ability to access the Akashic Records and understand the layered meaning behind symbols and signs.
The triangle represents the Guardian - a person of strong will and character who defends the group against enemies not only here in the physical world, but also in the astral.
The square represents the Lantern - the dreamer of the group, this person can see things beyond the present moment, whether future, past, or another timeline altogether.
The inner circle represents the Light - a person who is able to not only feel the energy of other living beings, but also of the earth and is able to manipulate it for defense of the plane.
In looking for a name that would represent the four stewards, I searched for a word that meant 'four' but could also have another meaning. In this case. I chose the word quarrel, because it not only has the root word 'quar' (meaning 4) but also literally means a four-sided tip for a crossbow bolt. Which of course, looks like a pyramid - which of course looks like a trianle, which of course is one of the shapes incorporated into the seal of the Quarrel as described above. So naturally, that made the word 'Quarrel' a perfect fit for what I was trying to convey in my story.
And then on the back of the pendant we see arrows -- indicative of crossbow bolts -- but also, as you will find out in book two, A CALLING OF QUARRELS, arrows are an important piece of The Language of Sages, a secret code that Quarrels needed to use long ago, in times of persecution.
And then finally, when choosing a stone for the center bezel on the front of the pendant, I chose labroadorite -- because this just seemed so apropos:
Labradorite Crystal is a stone of magic... awakening within you mystical and magical abilities and psychic powers. .... In the past this lovely stone was known as a stone for magic, because it was clear that those who used it had access to a range of abilities that seemed almost magical. Perhaps this is partly because Labradorite Crystal brings you the gift of serendipity and synchronicity. These two things combined can make amazing things happen in your life. Those little coincidences... where you are in the right place at just the right time... just seem to occur more often once you begin to use this stone.
I really love the work that Melissa has done on this piece for me and I promise to share a photo when I get the necklace in the mail! Stop by Melissa's esty.com shop, Siren Jewels, and check out the other gorgeous items she has for sale!