Zenith Adriana

The social media hot topic these days is 'New Year's resolution'. I had never adopted this tradition so I thought to give it a try.
As my colleague Lukas recommended, the best way to go about this is to do a dry run so that you will be able to set proper expectations for yourself.
Well said. So let's get to it!

I set myself as a goal to migrate my blog content from zenithadriana.wordpress.com to zenith-adriana.blogspot.com, install a new theme and personalize it. This was something I wanted to do for almost 2 years and had always procrastinated on it.
I estimated the effort to be around 10 hours and that I can do it over 1-2 weeks next year.

Turns out I started working and, 10 hours later, I had a new blog. Cool!
I like challenges, especially that the author of the GPL licensed theme said the code is obfuscated and discouraged people from altering it. However, that sounded like an invitation to me.

Now I know why I never had a 'New Year's resolution'. I never leave stuff to do later, except learning Czech. The exception only confirms the rule.

And this is my first post to try out the new blog features.

Zenith Adriana, 2018

I've been waiting all summer for the chestnuts to appear and now I'm really excited to finally have my own chestnut rune set.

If you wish to read more about runes, you can do so in my older post Elder Futhark Staves.

Items needed:

24 small chestnuts

Pyrography tool kit

How to make it:

1. Collect 24 chestnuts and let them dry.





2. Draw the runes with a pencil.





Fehu (Cattle) Letter: F Wealth; Money, mobile property, finacial prosperity.

Uruz (Aurochs) Letter: U Strength; Physical strength and vitality.

Thurisaz (Thurs) Letters: TH Violence; Conflicts and complexities of an aggressive nature.

Ansuz (Aesir) Letter: A Inspiration; The multiverse in magical and religious acts, gaining knowledge.

Raido (Riding) Letter: R Journey; Travel, both in physical terms and those of life-style direction.

Kenaz (Tourch) Letter: K Guidance; Creativity, and the strengthening of abilities in all realms.

Gebo (Gift) Letter: G Generosity; All matters relating to exchanges, including contracts and sacrifice.

Wunjo (Joy) Letter: W Satisfaction; Happiness, general success and recognition of worth.

Hagalaz (Hail) Letter: H Disruption; Disruption by natural events and uncontrolled forces.

Nauthiz (Need) Letter: N Trouble; Needs as opposed to wants, must be overcome hard work.

Isa (Ice) Letter: I Blockage; A standstill which may be good or bad.

Jera (Year) Letters: J and Y Harvest; Hopes and expectations the results of earlier efforts are realized.

Eihwaz (Yew) Letters: EI Enduring; Resilient strength to deflect difficulty or problems.

Perthro (Lot-cup) Letter: P Concealed; Something unknown, or not yet revealed; a mystery in the same sense that an unborn child is a mystery.

Algiz (Elk) Letter: Z Protection; Shelter oneself, luck through striving, a successful outcome to a quest.

Sowulo (Sun) Letter: S Victory; Success or other favorable circumstances.

Teiwaz (Tyr) Letter: T Justice; Success in competition in legal matters, honor, leadership and authority.

Berkana (Birch) Letter: B Renewal; Healing, recovery, physical or spiritual regeneration, a new growth from old roots, motherhood.

Ehwaz (Horse) Letter: E Loyalty; Status as it relates between you and others.

Mannaz (Man) Letter: M Intellect; Power of human intelligence, rationality, memory, and tradition.

Laguz (Water) Letter: L Passage; Initiation into life as when a heathen child is sprinkled with water and given a name; the primal waters of Niflheimer.

Inguz (Ing) Letters: NG Gestation; Potential energy that must undergo a period of time in order to gain strength.

Dagaz (Day) Letter: D Awakening; Daylight clarity a time to embark on a new enterprise.

Othila (Property) Letter: O Folkland; Inheritances, Your home, physical and spiritual heritage.

3. Engrave the letters with the pyrography tool.





Elder Futhark Runes, Woodburn on chestnuts, 2015, Zenith Adi

This ring tells the story of inner and outer strength of one of my best friends. He successfully combines strength with different abilities such as attunement or intuition in his personal life challenges as well as techniques to solve difficult physics problems in everyday activities.

The writing reads Neart in ogham, the early medieval symbols used to write the old Irish language. It's interpretation is: strength or power.

Items needed:

Wood piece

Roughing knife

Drilling machine

Sandpaper

Pyrography Tool

Lacquer

1. Use a Forestner drill bit to create the center hole. I used one already made. Shape the outside of the ring with a roughing knife and sandpaper.





2. Draw the writing on the ring.






3. Engrave it and then apply lacquer.





Neart, 2015, Woodburn on soft wood, Zenith Adi

Nkyinkyim (twisting) is the Adinkra symbol for initiative, dynamism and versatility.

Adinkra are visual symbols, originally created by the Akan (meta-ethnicity and Potou–Tano Kwa ethno-linguistic group residing on the Gulf of Guinea), that represent concepts or aphorisms.

The symbols have a decorative function but also represent objects that encapsulate evocative messages that convey traditional wisdom, aspects of life or the environment. There are many different symbols with distinct meanings, often linked with proverbs. In the words of Anthony Appiah (African historiographer), they were one of the means in a pre-literate society for "supporting the transmission of a complex and nuanced body of practice and belief".

This artwork was made by my friend Erunise, with a little guidance from me :)

Items needed:

Piece of wood

Sandpaper

Drilling machine

Pyrography tool

1.Cut a piece of wood to about 5x3x0.5 cm. I used a cherry tree branch which was particularly hard to cut.





2. Sand it down and drill the string hole. Engrave it.




Nkyinkyim, 2015, Woodburn on cherry wood, Zenith Adi and Erunise

This project was made by my friend Erunise. The writings on the necklaces are ogham and their translation from old Irish Gaelic to modern English is: Gra meaning Love and Sonas meaning Happiness.

Items needed:

Some branches or roots

Drilling machine

Sandpaper

Pyrography Tool

1. Dice the branches to the size of each item. Slice them in half.





2. Use the sandpaper to smooth the surface of the wood. Drill holes for the necklace string.





3. Engrave it using a pyrography tool





Love and Happyness, 2015, Woodburn on hornbeam (Carpinus betulus), Zenith Adi and Erunise

This necklace is a gift I’ve made for my lovely friend Erunise. Her beauty inspired me to craft the Maise ogham necklace. It’s translation from Scottish Gaelic word to modern English is beauty, grace, elegance, charm.

The Bríatharogam explains the meanings of the letters in Ogham alphabet. Each letter represents the names of a tree in druid spirituality and each tree has a symbolic meaning. I’ve chosen these letters to best describe my friend:
Muin – Old Irish Muin: the kennings connect this name to three different words, muin “neck, upper part of the back”, muin “wile, ruse”, and muin “love, esteem”. The arboreal tradition has finemhain “vine”. Meaning: Prophecy – Instinct – Inspiration
Sail – Old Irish Sail means “willow-tree”, cognate to Latin salix.  Meaning: Unconscious mind – Intuition – Emotions – The Moon – The Feminine

Items needed:

Wood root with soft bark

Drilling machine

Sandpaper

Pyrography Tool

Lacquer

Findings

1. Find some tree roots with soft bark. They should be 1-1.5 cm in diameter and at least 6 cm long.





2. Dice the branches to the size of each item. Slice them in half.





3. Use the sandpaper to smooth the surface of the wood. Drill holes for the earnings and the necklace string. Engrave it.





4. Apply lacquer with a soft brush and let it dry. I use a matte lacquer that is safe for children and dry food contact. Reapply several times if necessary until you get a nice protective coating. I used 3 coatings.





5. Enjoy it!









Maise, 2012, Woodburn on hornbeam (Carpinus betulus), Zenith Adi

Along the years I've collected a couple of things I hold dear to me. So I've decided to place them into a Native American medicine bag.

A medicine bag is an ancient item that spiritually represents the person who wears it. It traditionally has several items that the wearer finds as holding magical powers. It most often holds things such as stones, roots and barks, herbs, feathers or wood from a tree struck by lightening. Medicine items attributed with various abilities for the bag would often be procured in a tribal custom known as a vision quest.  Typical powers ascribed to medicine bags and their items include increasing hunting abilities, aiding fighting skills, healing allies, hindering enemies and altering the weather. Many warriors carried a bag around the neck. They contained items that would remind the warrior of home, of where he came from. No person, apart from the owner, was allowed to look inside this bag. When the owner died, they were buried with it.

So I can't tell you what is in the bag... However, what I can  tell you is that modern medicine is finding more and more proof of the powerful healing ability of the psyche. We modernly call it placebo, and the reverse of it nocebo. The medicine bag is of course magical because it nurtures the soul which in turn heals the body. It acts by turning on the parasympathetic nervous system and thus releasing healing hormones like oxytocin, dopamine, nitric oixide, endorphins and enabling our body's natural self repair mechanisms.

I've made this happiness and friendship talisman for Iva, my best friend, as a thank you for always being there for me.

As you probably noticed, I used the elder futhark alphabet and runebinded:

Gebo (Gift) Letter: G for giving & receiving

Wunjo (Joy) Letter: W for fulfillment of wishes

Isa (Ice) Letter: I for a good standstill

The additional rune on the necklace and earrings is:

Sowulo (Sun) Letter: S for victory, success or other favorable circumstances

Items needed:

A small 5 cm x 0.8-0.9 cm branch with soft interior

Saw

Sandpaper

Pyrography tool kit

Lacquer

Findings - Silver this time

How to make it:

1. Cut the talisman piece of about 5 cm and each earring piece of about 0.3-0.4 cm. Scoop out the soft interior.





2. Draw the design with a pencil and then engrave it with the pyrography tool.





3. Apply lacquer and let it dry. I used 3 coatings.









4. Attach the findings. For this set I used the silver ones because they matched very well with the silverish wood bark color.





Happiness and Friendship, Woodburn on unknown wood, 2015, Zenith Adi