Yes, the wine was necessary. This is the first wire-wrapped necklace that I’ve ever made, and after about an hour of stabbing myself in the fingertips and cursing the Ganges itself for producing such slippery stones I was a bit fried. It was 1 PM on a Thursday. I’m not yet employed for a week. Wine is fine.
The Ganges is one of the most iconic travel destinations in the world. It is known as a sacred river by around 900 millions Hindus, and especially the 120 million who attended the Kumbh Mela this year. In Varanasi the water was brownish and choked with offerings, trash, and bodies.
Luckily my stones come from further up the river toward the headwaters, in the semi-pure area of Rishikesh.
I collected these stones the day that a body was found (or perhaps lost) in the Ganges just after we’d been swimming in it. I believe that will be the next Snapshot post, so don’t worry if that statement sounds insane just now. I’ll try to flesh it out. Like the Ganga, I don’t promise any clarity.
The necklace itself is made of wire I bought around two years ago, some hemp twine of unknown origin (but roughly the color of the waters at our ashram), a few chain links, and a clasp from Nomad in Boulder. It’s heavy. It’s chunky. It’s a little bit messy on the back of the stones because I got frustrated. But this is what it looks like on…
If I ever get tired of wearing it, I can sell it to someone more interested in the spiritual properties. After all, I had someone tell me the river is a Cosmic one that runs between dimensions. Maybe this is a cosmic necklace.
Tell me what you think! Do I have any magic in my fingers for making jewelry? Would you wear a necklace this chunky?
Reverse Retrograde 
wonderfully magical – may the spirit of the dead body forever guide your decisions!
Wow…how wonderful to be wearing part of Mother Ganga around your neck…you are very clever 🙂
I hope so!