Ancient Adornment | A Timeless Practice

Since the earliest times, we have looked to the sky, to nature, and to one another for signs and symbols to guide us. We can distinguish safety from danger by being mindful and pausing to look and listen intentionally to the world around us. We distinguish safe from poisonous fruit by noting not only the color, form, and size of the fruit itself, but also the colors, textures, and shapes of the plant’s leaves and bark. We heed nature’s signs of warning, as well: a silent forest, a green-clouded windless sky over a plain, waters quickly receding from the ocean shoreline. As natural beings ourselves, we learn from nature how to wordlessly share ourselves – our identities, desires, intentions – with one another through the subtle use of color, material, and symbol.

Earth’s natural metal ores communicate strength, beauty, and brilliance; stones coupled with and nestled in these metals magnify steadfast traits that are indelible elements of who we are. The prophetess might wear a gray diamond or smoky topaz nestled in silver for her ability to see beyond the mundane and material; the empress may be draped in carnelian, her determination mirrored by the stone’s incredible hardness and strength; the high priestess’ body might be adorned in lapis lazuli, with its midnight blues and flecks of glimmering pyrite mirroring the power and mystery of the cosmos. By gracing our body with particular materials, we illuminate the deeply rooted traits that already resonate deeply within each of us. By charging gemstones and metals with the forms symbols, we introduce deeper intention to more clearly reflect our inner selves and our place in the world, while amplifying the manifestation of a higher self. An oracle wearing the constellation of Orion’s Belt might find her communion with astral elements enhanced; she may find deeper, heightened power when drawing upon the stories and deities borne through the ages by these stars. Through adornment, we can choose to share elements of our inner lives, our deeply personal identities, desires, and intentions wordlessly with others. Talismans not only subtly amplify but boldly empower, heirloom knowledge kept and shared, passed down by our earliest ancestors.

In the ancient world, the practice of adornment – the sacred nature of selecting and wrapping the body in different fibers and fabrics, of draping garments and jewelry to lay against the body just so – speaks volumes about the role a person plays in society. Just as the elements of stone and metal, together with the alchemical power of symbols, reveal status, access, and identity, so too do the colors and patterns of the garments. Each aspect of a piece of clothing or jewelry corresponds to something different, nuanced, and important about the wearer. In the ancient world as today, dressing, robing, and shrouding ceremonies are some of the most important preparatory components of rituals. Greek wall paintings more than 3,500 years old show these sacred rites in The House of the Ladies from the archaeological site of Akrotiri on the island of Santorini. Although damaged, the fresco preserves part of a robing scene: a woman reaches to the right, holding a special garment toward another (now missing) woman. This sacred tradition of adornment is an indelible part of Greek ritual life. The practice continued for thousands of years in a variety of forms, and by the Classical Period (ca. 500-300 BCE), Athenians processed to the heights of the Acropolis to present a precious, new, saffron-dyed garment to a statue of the goddess Athena before dressing her in the priceless, sacred robes.

Some of the oldest tales in the world detail the transformative and protective nature of intentional adornment. Sumerian and Akkadian myths recount the ways divinities dressed for battle, travel, or sacred rites. Consider Inanna (who became Ištar, Astarte, and eventually Aphrodite in later history). She is the glowing, fearless goddess of battle, sex, and defiance. Before setting off on a daring, perilous journey to the realm of the dead, she armed herself in items of power: earrings, strings of lapis and other beads at her neck and waist, and golden bangles on her wrists and ankles. Inanna invokes protection, power, and strength by placing potent gemstones and symbols in positions that align with her intention – a practice that we continue today. The glowing pieces from the Artifact Collection bear such metaphysical properties, which emanate from the combination of stone, metal, and the symbols and forms into which they are crafted.

These mystical properties of these materials are summoned in Ancient Egypt, but they are transformed into other shapes, their inherent powers channeled in different ways. Broad, flexible beadwork collars interweave lapis lazuli, turquoise, and carnelian beads. For Egypt, these stones are some of the oldest and most valuable symbols of permanence, longevity, and divinity, and they complement the solar power invoked by the gold that connects them.  The beaded collars were, when worn by the living, fastened at the back of the wearer’s neck to create a closed ring: a symbol of the everlasting life of the divine ruler, the pharaoh. The funerary mask of King Tutankhamun shows him wearing one of these large collars, which visually communicates and metaphysically enhances his divinity and might. In death, his body and soul are protected and his power is visualized by the beaded collar he wears for eternity.

Gallic and Celtic Gods also wore collars and neckrings (torqs), which whisper to us of the wearer’s divinity. These adornments were thought to be imbued with mystical properties and magic of their own. When made and worn by mortals, these items instead speak to the person’s roles and influences, and sometimes their allegiances: different patterns and symbols on the piece could indicate that a person belonged to one group or another. Although torqs were often easier to craft and wear every day as single or braided lengths of metal, collars were special, ritual adornments that required the gifted hands of highly trained artisans. Made of the most precious metals, collars were hammered painstakingly thin. They fanned radiantly outward from the neck of the wearer, shining across the shoulders and chest. Although almost impossibly delicate, the collar emphasizes the grace, wealth, and access to mystical, often secret knowledge and skills, of the wearer.

The ancient histories and varying forms of these pieces have been distilled into modern form: the Chantara Collar. In Thai, Chantara means moon water, and the undulating surface of the piece evokes the constant and yet ever-changing, ever-flowing cycles found in nature. Just as the moon shines with the light of the sun, the collar brilliantly reflects and illuminates. Resting sleekly against the collarbone, this adornment enhances and refracts flowing energies, rippling like water along ancient shores. By alchemizing the wearer’s inherent inner strength, the Chantara Collar amplifies the wearer’s resilience to meet and transcend life’s challenges whether through radiant grace, inner knowledge, gentling kindness, or cosmic mysticism. 

By practicing the art of adornment, we can bring greater intention and awareness to both our inner and outer worlds. By intuitively choosing the talismans – combinations of materials and symbols – that resonate with us and by curating their placement on our earthly bodies, we choose to more deeply understand ourselves while we also embrace the opportunity to be seen and better understood by others. Such a long tradition of subtle communication is timeless, borne on the fingers, around the necks, and dangling from the ears of countless generations before us. Whether we practice the art of adornment during our sacred rites and rituals, every day, or only when we feel we need it, the power of choice, material, symbol, and placement reverberates through us and aids in our journey with one another and with the earth.