Ra & Riddle of the Sphinx

My Ra necklace was inspired by the story of the Sphinx. There seems to be two riddles of this Sphinx: the first is why it was built. The second the legendary question the Sphinx is said to ask travelers. 

Egyptologists believe the 'travelers' question came about centuries after the original Sphinx was built and bears no meaning to why it was created. Actually, the Sphinx has been around for 45 centuries according to a NOVA special I found (which I highly recommend if you're interested in the subject). The Sphinx is the biggest and oldest statue in a land of colossal ancient monuments (according to Nova). The head alone is the size of the White House, and the body is nearly the length of a football field. And research done on the statue reveal that it was carved out of one massive piece of limestone. Truly amazing.

The riddle is mentioned in early written works like the Odyssey where the Sphinx is described as a monster terrorizing the people of Thebes. It is said that the Sphinx asked travelers a riddle that if they failed to answer correctly; they were killed. Oedipus is one of the travelers and is asked:

What goes on four legs at dawn, two legs at noon, and three in the evening?

Oedipus answers "man, who as a  baby crawls on four legs, then walks on two legs as an adult and in old age walks with a cane as his third leg.'

But this riddle has nothing to do with the origin of the great Sphinx. The statue itself is quite unusual with its 'part man-part animal' structure that seems to be guarding two of the pyramids. Typically deities had a human body with an animal head, but the Sphinx is the opposite. It has a man's head on the body of a lion. Which experts believe symbolizes the intelligence of man with the power of a lion; or power in control. This would likely be ascribed to a pharaoh. Experts conclude that the Sphinx represents both a god, and a pharaoh.

Unlike pyramids (or tombs) where we know who is buried inside them, and thus who likely built them, the Sphinx is more of a mystery as to who built it and why. Given its size and stature, only a pharaoh is likely to have built it. And probably it was a pharaoh who was buried in one of the two pyramids behind the statue, which were built by a father and son: Khufu and his son Khafra. But which one built the Sphinx? And why? 

One of the clues are hieroglyphs at the base of the statue. An important set identify the Sphinx as the guardian to the after life using a combined symbol of the falcon (Horus) which is positioned just above the symbol for the horizon (Akhet). These two together means "Horus on the horizon" or the name of a deity that guards the entrance to the after life. Not to be confused with Ra (the sun God) with the head of a falcon but the sun disc overhead. Ra was thought to travel among the living during the day, and passed over the horizon to the underworld at night. Only to then appear on the opposite horizon the following day for rebirth.

To ancient Egyptians, the horizon had great significance. We see it throughout their symbolism. Another hieroglyph has two lions back to back. The curve of the lions' backs represent the horizon with the sun disc held between them. This represents the deity Aker, the god who guards the gates to the after life. 

So why are all these symbols of the sun, lions and horizon important to the Sphinx? The answer is found in the sun temple directly in front of the Sphinx. When the setting sun hits just right (the spring and the fall equinox) it creates a line right over the shoulder of the Sphinx, past the pyramid of Khafra and marking the journey over the horizon to the after life. So likely the Sphinx was designed and built as the guardian to the after life for the son Khafra who wanted to ensure a safe journey. Mystery solved.

Will it ever stop snowing?

Right about this point in the winter I just want to see the flowers start to poke their heads above the snow. I just love those first arrivals with crocus followed by groups of snowdrops and small hyacinth. It blankets our side yard and tells us like a big neon sign that we're nearly through the other side of winter. 














These are some of our snow drops from 2 years ago. A girl can dream ... can't she? I got up today to heavy grey skies, a cold that felt like my head was in a fish bowl and all I wanted to do was crawl back into bed. I managed to stay up today only to watch the snow start to fall. Five hours later ... yep, still snowing. The thought of having to get out there and shovel once it stops is enough to make me cry. Yeah, I'm sick and don't have control of my senses. 

I've been meaning to post these little copper flower earrings, but my pesky day job has been busy lately. So today as I dream of crocus and snowdrops I'll post the only flowers I have in the house at the moment. 

Bernini Spiral

Yes, I have changed the name of this stitch. At least for me. A few posts back I talked about its origin, and its likeness to the columns that Bernini carved in St. Peter's Basilica. I'm sticking with my story.

I have avoided this stitch. It is one that has had me frustrated and baffled at many points. Never quite knowing which row I'm on and whether I should be switching up the beads. That is, until I realized that all I was really doing was peyote, in a circle, at an angle. Yes that doesn't necessarily sound easy. But it was the key that allowed me to relax and just bead. Peyote was the first stitch I learned. There is comfort in this stitch for me. A rhythm my fingers feel on their own.

Lately I've been wanting to combine beads and leather. I like the look. It feels slightly boho, not as heavy as full on beadwork and wearable everyday. This gorgeous thin, off-white leather was introduced to me from Melinda Orr. I would never, in a million years, have picked this up on my own. I would have looked at it in the store and moved on. But she sent me some, and it challenged me to get outside my box of browns and blacks. And now I can't imagine why I never thought of using leather in this way. Aren't friends amazing?

I think that I'm moving through a blue phase, perhaps an ombre phase. Whatever it is; I'm just letting it flow. There has been a lot of blue beads on the table lately and I've been working the hue. I can't say that blue was ever my 'go to' color. Normally it is green. I love green. 

One of the new tricks I've been embracing is glue. There, I said it. Yes, glue. It isn't sexy, doesn't feel 'handmade' and needs plenty of ventilation. But a tiny bit of it isn't reeeeallly cheating. It turned my Bernini spiral into a beaded bead that stays put. I used a flat disc bead at the end and dabbed just a touch of e6000 around the edges and attached them to the spiral. Now the 'bead' doesn't flop around on that sweet leather cord. Voilà

Twisting Beads and Words

I haven't been creating much lately as my mojo seems to have been frozen under all this snow that is piling up around me. Which is strange since typically this is the time of year when I'm beading like a crazy person and making piece after piece.

But this year is a little different. I recently had a rather harsh encounter with someone in the beady community that really surprised me. She was quite demanding with her request to alter some writing I was doing, and simply would not stop until it met her approval. The accusations were of the nature that I was being careless in my opinions and potentially dangerous in my advice. That of course stopped me in my tracks as I would never want anything that I was doing to mislead someone or cause them harm. I bead because I love it, and no one should get hurt in the name of beads. In my opinion. After all, its just beads.

I was so taken aback by the aggressiveness and harsh depiction of me that I needed to walk away. If only for a bit.

I have a rather stressful day job, and often deal with abrasive people. I'm used to it, and tend to take that in stride knowing that it is part of my job to navigate issues and problems and figure out the way forward. 

But my hobby is supposed to be something that relaxes me. Something to take my mind off work. So when she came at me relentlessly, I have to say I was a bit like a deer in the headlights. I needed to take a break.

Slowly I'm easing back in. But my blog has been neglected, and I apologize if I haven't been round to see your blog. I did finally finished a piece that had been on my bead table for some time. It uses a glass ribbon cab and a bit of twisted, bead braiding. Simple, relaxing and repetitious. It made me smile as it ended up looking a bit Scandinavian with all that blue and Viking-esk bead caps on the end. Thanks for those Melinda, and thanks for shoulder to lean on.