MEANING: The children’s story of The Ugly Duckling is illustrative of Swan’s power of Awakening to Self. The story covers the journey of one who is labeled as a misfit, different and rejected for it, yet grows and develops into the most elegant Swan. Thus, Swan teaches us that we all have inner grace and beauty, and discovering this teaches us self-esteem. When we realize our own beauty and worth we find that innate ability to bridge new realms and new powers within ourselves.
Swan’s Wisdom Includes awakening the power of self, balance, grace, inner beauty, innocence, self-esteem, understanding dream symbols, seeing into the future, understanding spiritual, evolution, developing intuitive abilities, divination, grace in dealing with others and commitment.
In Celtic tradition, The Swan is one of the most ancient and powerful power animals and is associated with deities of healing waters and the sun. They are associated with music, love, purity and the soul. They are shape-shifters, can take human form, and have mastered the elements of water, earth and air. They can always be recognized by the gold or silver chain that hangs around their neck.
Among Druids, the Swan represents the soul, and is associated with the Festival of Samhain. Swan aids us in traveling to the Otherworld. Swans are also sacred to Bards, who were both poets and musicians, and their skin and feathers were used to make the tugen, the ceremonial Bardic Cloak
Swans appear throughout Irish folklore. An Otherworldly bird, they are often the disguise of Fairy Women. At certain times of year, a swan maiden can transform herself back into a human, such as Summer Solstice, Beltaine or Samhain, when the veils between the worlds are thin.
The White Swans of the Wilderness were children of the Tuatha de Danaan, who settled Ireland, and became the sidhe after the invasion of the Milesians.
There are many other tales of humans shape shifting into swans within the Celtic/Irish lore that highlight the deepest meaning of Swan medicine.
Swan represents grace and beauty on many levels. It is associated with love, poetry and music. The swan was sacred to Venus, the love goddess in Roman mythology. The swan was often pictured singing to a lyre in Greek tradition.
THE CARVING:
Our carvings are single pieces of western red cedar, designed and carved to be wall hangings. Each carving begins as a 1 X 12 inch cedar board. While we use power tools (Scroll Saw, Rotary shaft Tool, handheld detail sanders etc.), we use no laser’s, CNC machines or computer operated cutting machines. All work is done with our hands and eyes…
We cut the 2 dimensional blanks with scroll and jig saws (double-sized custom orders have to be cut with jigsaw). Carving is done with rotary shaft tools and disc grinders. The 80 grit sanding is the final phase of the carving process, removing the nicks and gouges from the carving tools, and finishes the shaping of the weave. The next 2 sandings with 120 then 220 grit finishes the smoothing and polishing. They are finished with Clear Danish Oil to seal the piece, bringing out the grain and the color.
SIZE: One picture has the piece on a quilting board, lined up on the 1 inch marks. The quilting board, at its simplest, is a one inch grid. So with the piece on the board, you look at the top and follow the line to the left and look at the right side at the widest point and follow the line to the bottom and you have height by width...but wait! It's not that easy! The way this board I have is laid out, if I lined it up on the zero points it would cover up the numbers and on some pieces you wouldn't be able to see them...so, I line it up on the 1 inch marks which means when you get the numbers, you have to subtract 1 inch... TA DA! Measurements may vary slightly from piece to piece.
