Friday, August 29, 2008

Westering 15: Gazing from the Galleries of Santa Fe
Reflections on the World’s Largest Turquoise Nugget



The Pueblo Indians in New Mexico realize that clay is living spirit; they talk to it, and it talks to them. Thus their authentic pottery is alive. The problem for me is I know the difference in the quality of Southwest pottery, and the inexpensive pieces do not talk to me. They’re really tourist gewgaws. And I can’t afford the stuff they sell in places like the Andrea Fisher Fine Pottery gallery in Santa Fe. But I love to look.

And that’s how I happened to be touching the World’s Largest Turquoise Nugget at Rodeo on the Plaza. There it was amidst the Acoma and Santa Clara. Weighing in at 191 pounds, one side had been polished, and the other left unfinished. It was the rough side that my hand was touching, letting the power of the stone begin its circulation through my body.

Indians believe turquoise to have healing powers; it was used as such by medicine men and warriors. We Westerners have only just begun to understand that the visible material world is really energy. Science is unearthing some incredible discoveries which as of yet have not impressed themselves into the popular mentality as its new paradigm. It’s still reeling under that old Newtonian apple.

But the traditional Indian way of thinking has for ages known this, although it may be mixed with superstition. Or not. It’s not a matter of belief that the energy of this stone is blending with my own. That’s scientific fact. Exactly what is going on within that energetic brew is a matter of faith alone. My fingers feel each blue protuberance to be a mountain spire; my heart can feel the universe within its mass.

Oh, there’s a reason why they make plutonium forty minutes up the road in Los Alamos; and there’s a reason why we like to carry turquoise on our self.

~Son Rivers 2008



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