Amulets, votive gifts

Animals of knowledge and power - Secrets of the Celtic tradition

Background

The motives have come into being through an intensive study of "The Druid Animal
Oracle" by Philip and Stephanie Carr-Gomm (Eddison Sadd Editions) and the
"Lexikon der keltischen Mythologie" by Diederichs. I can only recommend these
books for an in-depth study. Christianisation bestowed the pagen rituals and
deities a new cloak. However, the attitude remained. The harmonising, life
enhancing and healing powers are opposed by threating, destructive and demonic
forces, and the one cannot be without the other, just like the two sides of a coin.

Function of amulets

The listed terms and metaphors describe the nature of an animal. The effect a
particular animal has depends on the realisation of the person wearing the amulet.
That means that the hand charms/amulets only work if you make a connection
with the spirit of that animal. They can be used as a companion/protector on
journeys to other realms, a burial object, a votive gift, a power animal, a totem,
for special protection or simply for their beauty. Besides its material worth,
each object has a spiritual value.

Making of amulets

All objects are based on the ancient Hallstatt technique of polished clay. The
almost mirrorlike shiny surface is achieved with the help of certain stones. This
quite time-consuming procedure has been known for at least 6000 years. However,
today it is used only in certain parts of the world (Portugal, Mexico, Hungary).
Each object has a unique shape, surface and colour. The pottery is first fired in
a furnace, then it's fired in the sawdust burner which takes a week. The final
colour is achieved by using "Schwarzbrennen" (black-firing) with various wood types.
The colours of a fired pottery range from red to brown and black.