Hand Crafted or Not?

[Night Electric]

You know they are.
I love handcrafting ritual items. Takes forever though; I have an short-attention span xd So usually I have like 5 projects going at the same time. Also I'm an artistic freak. Love making candles, that's my favorite (even though I make a mess)

 

[Ainwyn]

I have a friend who's currently making her own tarot cards right now. She had 14 of them up on display for her senior art show, and they are gorgeous! She told me she's going to try to get all the artwork done, then see what happens. She has her Hermit up on her website, so y'all can see what she's doing smile  

[patch99329]

Rajani Kali

I have a friend who's currently making her own tarot cards right now. She had 14 of them up on display for her senior art show, and they are gorgeous! She told me she's going to try to get all the artwork done, then see what happens. She has her Hermit up on her website, so y'all can see what she's doing smile

Woah, mad skillz.

I really want to start making my own jewelry! I went to the garden centre the other day and was enthralled by all the pretty beads.
I could make ones with specific meanings and offer them to the gods, and if I ever got good, I could sell them!  

[Gambling Setzer]

As far as handmade items go, it depends. A wand or simple staff could be made of a branch near the house. Can you imagine how long it would take to build a sword from scratch, let alone, try making one in your living room?  

[RubyLight]

It depends on the item. My bowl and cup are store bought. My pentical is hand-made. It may look like a cookie, but it means a lot more to me than any store-bought-wooden-$4-punch-out. If I can make it my self, I will. It's kind of fulfilling, even though mine don't look that pretty. biggrin  

[Tesa Tezemeda]

I don't think that in the end there's much difference whether or not the item is hand-made. A bowl is a bowl, after all, what you use it for defines what it is, not who made it. I agree, though, that making your own ritual items does feel nicer than using a mass produced one.

I have made some things myself. The runes I use for divination I made by painting the runes in small shells I've been collecting. About a year ago I found a flat, almost round stone that was about the same size as my hands together, and I painted some pictures and symbols in it. Now I use it on my altar. It was just what I had been looking for.

And that symbol stone brought to my mind... I've come to realize that sometimes hand-making might be the only choice you have. Yes, it's easy to find a mass producted altar pentacle, since there are so many new age stores around, but if you need something more rare, you might have to look for years to find it - unless you're willing (and able) to make it yourself. My altar stone was one of those things. I didn't even bother to look around on stores searching for one, I knew I couldn't find it. So I made it myself.  

[Labores Luna]

While I appreciate the work that’s put into handmade items, at this point in time I am not too entirely concerned if everything I use is hand-made. Most of the things I do keep on my altar are ones that I found in nature or that are natural themselves, such as plants, rocks, shells, wood, etc. There are a few items I use that I have not made, mostly due to practicality and/or aesthetic reasons. These include candles, a silver chalice I have, a decorative figure (that is symbolic to me, but not of a God/dess), a fire-resistant bowl, and a few other things.

I do like to craft, though. While I don’t always do arts and crafts for my practice or “Craft”, the arts become a part of my practice. If that makes any sense. What I am saying is that when I am in the process of creating something, may it be tangible or perhaps just something I’ve written, it is usually meaningful to me. Sometimes I will directly integrate spiritual practices into whatever it is that I am making. For example, I may make a necklace to serve a specific purpose. I will pick out the beads that are appropriate (by color and type of bead, such as amethyst or turquoise) as well as the charms/pendant. I have worked with this in some light ritual. By the time I am done with it, it is something sacred. I used to do more beadwork, but right now I’m getting into hemp. There are a few other crafty things that I enjoy doing, and I’m usually trying new things or just embellishing on items that are already made, such as painting on bottles and boxes or general diy-ing. I am certainly not an expert in any particular field, though.

As far as mass production goes, it generally annoys me. It’s not that mass-produced products aren’t convenient or practical on our world, because they certainly are, and I am a consumer as well. It’s mostly the advertising industry, and the item-hoarding mentality that is popular in our society that really irks me. In general, I think it is good to have a balance of both. Buying what is necessary while being aware of your resources (is it really necessary to go through 30 pounds of non-degradable plastic a month buying things or spending a lot of $$ on something that you could more easily and enjoyably make yourself?). Being aware of where your mass-produced items are coming from while appreciating the work and skill being put into handcrafted and unique items. I for one can say that I still need to work on that primary statement.

I do think that it’s important for artists to preserve these traditions, because they are beautiful and have spirit, personality, and history. If we looked at the ancient cultures before us and didn’t find any art, how interesting would they be then, and how far would we generally pursue to uncover a culture without a sense of uniqueness compared to ones that do? Without art or individuality, life, at least in the human world, becomes relatively uninteresting and bland. Everybody has a different field that they’re adept in, though. I am currently 17 and while I enjoy being crafty my creativity and focus is shifted in other directions, such as education and travel. Instead of painting or sculpting something, I often feel that is more worth my time to be reading, absorbing information, writing, and making plans. Of course, that is not all that I do. There are some art projects that I want to do, but don’t have necessarily a good enough reason to set aside time at the moment to complete them. So I keep them as very casual hobbies. When I’m more “settled down”, which could be in 5, 10, or 30 years, then I imagine that I would spend much more of my time crafting and wanting to stay at home more to do those things. In some ways, I look forward to old-age, but I want to have an interesting life first.

Man I ramble way too much.