PRIMORDIAL REVIVAL

afterculture  >LINK<

A classic resource from 2000,   DISCOVERING THE NORTH AMERICAN AFTERCULTURE is a glimpse of a future being shaped, and even lived, right now.   It imagines the culture that might emerge if we fully embraced a completely sustainable, sacred world-outlook. A diorama, crafted artifacts, paintings and photomurals show a new Indigenized people whose life-patterns are healing to a damaged land. They look like us: a mixture of races and backgrounds, and there are hints that much of the knowledge gathered in our time remains alive in oral tradition. But they are also profoundly unlike us. They know themselves as part of the web of life. Seeing the natural world as an expression of the sacred, they have simplified their lives to move in balance with it.  This is a glimpse of "a future that works" - sustainable, simple, sacred - and anthropologically defensible.  But it's not the only possible way we could live: the Afterculture signals a return to the rich "cultural biodiversity" that has characterized the human species for most of its sojourn here, and the viewer is challenged to imagine other versions, other tribes.

Browse the many  sections of this fascinating website.    

ARTIFACTS & IMAGES OF THE AFTERCULTURE   
​Source material for an anthropology of the future  >LINK<

Proposal for New York Diorama: The Solstice Ceremonies

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NIKIAH SEEDS, sacred path school >LINK<

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Neolithic Goddess shawl/
​Blanket and talisman set

I have long been fascinated by the life work of archeologist Marija Gimbutas, whom I discovered around the same time as the writing of Moon Mysteries, as I wanted to dive into the ancient knowledge of a matrilineal world. Her work deeply reflects this, as in her findings she discovered many sites of neolithic goddess figurines.

Carved onto these small figurines are beautiful details of spirals, chevrons, coils, serpents, and other lines holding sacred meanings, most of which tie into the spirals of life, death and rebirth.

The first of these were found in both Romania and Ukraine, date back to the first millennium BC, and have been linked to the Cucuteni-Trypillian culture, which dominated a large swath of Eastern Europe during the Late Neolithic period.

The figurines were likely used during Trypillian ceremonial practices, and archaeologists have identified these small statuettes as being sacred objects that can protect people from harm and promote fertility of the land. This was my starting and inspiration point for this offering.  The  long sacred shawl that can be wrapped around the body, used as a blanket, and in general will keep the wearer cozy and warm, paired with a Trypillian amulet with amber and copper beads.      I decided to make two different amulets, both with goddesses paired with ancient amber and Jasper beads.  The large one is modelled after the Trypillian clay goddess found in Romania, and the small one is a piece of hand-carved Jasper paired with stunning Rainforest Jasper beads and  amber. The shawl was made using local, hand-spun and raw wools, merino wool, and of course I had to add a string of ancient amber beads into the mix, along with a set of naturally dyed sheep locks.
Nikiah Bone Yaga / Sacred Path School of Animism & Sacred Arts ~  Online Offerings, Bone Oracle Readings, Ancestral Healing Sessions,  Weaving Workshop, Drum  Making, Course Offerings >LINK<

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