Fable of the lamp

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From antiquity the first people sent us living stories. It was predetermined that they would send us their legends and that they would pass them on for generations; from father to son and then to grandson.

  In this way the first people have given us the knowledge of both the spiritual and physical worlds and instructed us about the ways of living, both the traditional and inspirational; even unto our modern age.

  But so much has changed. Everything in our modern world! But we must understand that both the past and the future are immutable. The future's roots reach deep to antiquity. And it is known that through the roots the whole is nourished.

  So from its roots the future receives the whole of knowledge and the whole of inspiration. This truth comes to us from all spirits, both human and animal, both living and dead.

  Time has frozen Paradise ! But now it survives forever like a living fossil. This spiritual place is called by many names and it co-exists forever in both the future and in the past. It only lacks permanent existence in the fleeting moment of the present.

  And the power that sustains this place is the power of the spirit. The power of those that desire a belief in a place suspended inside of a heartbeat and of a moment that stretches out forever and ever.

  This power comes from our genetic makeup. The makeup that creates human out of unseen forces. This is written in the strings of coiled code from the moment our species came about. The truth is imbedded in our DNA! It cannot be removed from the mind and heart of humankind!

  Is not it the belief of a spiritual place that sooths the heart from our struggles? Does not it give us relief from our daily trials? Doesn't belief smooth the sharpened edge of hardship that is our days and is our lives? This is the destiny of all nations and of all people. Is not hope for all the people of the Earth?

  Again! The bison roams the plains of tall grass; as they have and as they will. Didn't the Sprit Dance ordain this? Hasn't this been predicated by the desires of the first people?

  And in this place the hills are made of colorful stones; the most desirable flints! The sky is crystal-clear obsidian, as clear as the still water that rises from the earth. The sky is laced with wispy clouds of the finest stone. From the rich soil of the Earth the Camas plant, the Arrow plant, and the Acorn tree grow in great abundance.

  The rivers are filled with fish! The deer and bison wait for the hunt! Willingly they give their skins for the need of the people! They give their skins for dwellings, clothes, and charms; and for leather to protect the runner's feet.

  The bison and the antlered deer wait for the hunt in anticipation! Their gift is received by the Great Spirit, the spirit that is the whole consciousness of the Earth and all that is in it. This spirit is in the plants and trees and in all that swim and all those that fly; either at night or in the day. Their gift is acceptable! Their spirit returns again. The hunt is always successful; none go hungry!

  In that place the trees reach to the heights of the mountains. The tallest mountains! The tall mountain the chief's son climbs for the sake of his father. The trees touch the stars in the night sky, the Bear and the Star that remains still as the sky turns about.

  And from the trees fall a bounty of arrowheads that grow from its branches and leaves. They fall to the Earth for the needs of the people. Scrapers grow from the trunks of the trees and from the roots of mighty trees ax heads are found.

  And from the clouds and mountain tops bird points and spear points fall for the hunt. They fall like rain!

  In those days the bones of the fish are always be returned to the rivers. The chief's worriers are proud and brave. They never grow weary! They never suffer shame! The shaman of the tribe is wise and always divines the truth.

  And through all seasons the ceremonies never fail to be held at the appointed times.

The chief's sons play at the open door of his tent! All the women have a child on their bosom and a small child that holds her skirt. Her eldest is brave and well respected!

  The pipe is passed from elder to elder and the smoke always rises from the bowl and it never goes out.

Description of This Lamp

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I like to call lamps that are very complicated - with lots of pieces mega-lamps, even if they are smallish lamps.

My flowering lotus inspired lamp was the first mega-lamp I made. Tiffany's designs have a lot of mega-lamps - and I've made those - but this lamp listed here is all my own.

Even I will never make a copy of it. Because of the nature of this lamp there will never be a pattern for this lamp - ever! Inspired lamps might be possible but a pattern or copy will be impossible. This lamp is the totally different then my other listed lamp. This lamp will always be one of a kind.

As an example of how creative one can be with Unimold tools is the following project.

The lamp is about 13 inches in diameter. The basic design is a tree where the trunk comes up one half of the lamp and branches go down the other side. The theme of the lamp is a Native American landscape with water and a mountain background.

The unique thing about this lamp is that foiled in with the glass are arrowheads, scrapers, and flakes of agate that were struck off as the Indian made his stone tool. Layered over the tree are bird points, spear points and other American Indian artifacts so when the light is off the lamp looks like a chipped stone jeweled Faberge egg – well actually a Faberge sphere.

The stone and the glass are mixed together and some of the glass has been fused thick then struck with a hammer on the edge leaving the same sort of chipped jewel look as the stone. So the reflection off the surface of the chipped glass is contrasted with the chipped stone giving a very unusual look to the surface of this lamp.

Yet with the light on the colors of the lamp and stone meld together and the lamp - though still complicated enough that it's difficult to recognize the tree element - is still less jumbled looking then without the light. There is a striking difference between the light on and the light off.

I must point out that there are no artifacts of serious archaeological interest or real monetary value in this lamp. Most of the arrowheads and points are not even collectable because they are nicked, broken, or there are chips off them. So even though the artifacts in this lamp were collected before the Archaeological Resources Protection Act of 1979 the Indian stone flakes and broken arrowheads would still be legal to collect today. Section 6 (g)

(However the river that washed the chipped colored agates to shore has washed them away again and where they went – and I have looked - I have no idea.)

The obsidian arrowheads were collected in Nevada and the agate artifacts in Washington and Oregon .

The real value of the artifacts is the beauty of the workmanship and the jeweled stone look they give to the lamp that no photograph can actually show.

This lamp is made from the following materials:

This lamp is made from the following materials:

Fused, slumped, and flat glass - there is Bullseye, Uroboros, Fisher, Genesis, and Blenko

There are stone tools and flakes from tool making.

Copper foil, 12 gauge copper wire - some of the wire has been hammered flat, 3/16 round brass, 50/50 and 60/40 solder, and thin brass wire.

Bullseye frit and confetti flakes.

  All the agates in lamp are made of agate drills, scrapers, and chips that were flaked off during the manufacture of stone tools by the American Indians. There are no natural or saw cut agates in this lamp.

I made a conscious effort not to alter any of the shapes of the artifacts from they way they were found. Only on some of the larger pieces were the edges roughed up with the grinder so the foil would stick better.

I enjoyed handling and looking at the stones while I was while working on this project and I often admired the skill it must have taken to shape the arrowhead . I was struck by the way the surface of the agate was rippled by the pressure from the effort of the tool maker that accidentally exposed the beauty inside of the agate as the worker concentrated on his real objective – a stone tool so he could hunt food down for his family.

Like I said I copied the look of the surface of the stone in glass but I did it by standing the glass on edge crushing it with a hammer and picking up the pieces that were large enough to use. (And wiping off the blood. No subtle skills were used!)

I found it interesting that if the materials I used to assemble the lamp were available when the arrowheads were made, such as the copper in the foil or wire, the brass rebar, even the lead from the solder, those materials would have made better arrowheads then the stone. Even the stained glass would be desirable to the Indians for tools.

I love the rich brown, yellow, and red colors in the agates I used for the background mountains; yet what I like best - and what really makes the lamp - are the Indian arrowheads and the surface quality of the flaked stones. I kept thinking that these stones would have never been chipped had any of the other materials in the lamp been available at the time the artifacts were made.