Martial Arts Kung Fu Animal System Identity Jewelry has been designed to be reminders of the physical and spiritual components of each Animal System.

The basic spiritual component is the Eight Trigrams surrounding each animal. The Trigrams which many of us have been exposed to through the I-Ching, represent reality in Taoist tradition. They are comprised of broken and unbroken lines. The broken lines represent Yin (feminine) and the unbroken lines represent Yang (masculine). The Eight Trigrams are Sky, Lake, Fire, Thunder, Wind, Mountain and Earth. I designed the Eight Trigrams to surround the animal in each piece so that we always remember there is a spiritual aspect to each system.

The Animal Systems I used are Dragon, White Crane, Praying Mantis, Tiger, Snake and Monkey. Each has it’s own unique characteristics. The images I created are meant to visually remind us of these characteristics.  The following are brief explanations of these animals.

Dragon represents both physical and spiritual wisdom.  The dragon prefers zig zaging  motions and rising and falling, swinging and whipping movements to overcome its adversaries. The dragon is also adaptable and can change into any animal at any moment. It is the most mystical of all animal forms.

White Crane is the epitome of grace. It prefers to stay away from close confrontations, and instead uses its long legs and powerful wings. The beak is also used when an opportunity presents itself.

Praying Mantis is known for its unwillingness to retreat from an opponent and for standing its ground and fighting fiercely against all odds. The Mantis can begin at long range and move instantly to close range. The Mantis is known to successfully overcome multiple attackers.

Tiger’s natural fluidity hides it's ferocious power. Armed with deadly claws, sharp and strong jaws, the Tiger  is one of direct and powerful. In any confrontation it leaps into attack going for the quick and direct resolution of the conflict.

Snake represents endurance, flexibility and accuracy. It is known for its suppleness and rhythmic endurance. The snake is also cunning and deceptive when necessary. The snake is completely supple in body and mind.

Monkey is considered one of the most unusual and effective styles in Kung Fu.  Its deceiving and unorthodox techniques of tumbling and rolling make it an awesome and strange sight to behold. In addition, there are mental attitudes such as elusiveness and unpredictability.

Inspiration: As a young woman I studied Northern Shaolin Kung Fu. The impact of this study and practice changed the course of my entire life. Recently I began having dreams of the various animal styles associated with Shaolin Kung Fu and Tai Chi Chuan. The vivid memories of these forms and the attributes of each animal inspired me to create jewelry that depicted the physical and spiritual qualities of each animal style.

Artist: Paula Bidwell of Native Talisman Art is an American Indian artist, jeweler and author. She is also considered an Indigenous Healer and spent many years on the reservation learning traditional healing and ceremony. She combines being an artist and indigenous healer into her art. Paula believes strongly that we are all related and there is very little separation between us. Her art resonates with all cultures and peoples.

Inspiration: The sacred owl is a very powerful bird. It’s abilities are far reaching and very diverse. Many Native Americans tribes are wary of the owl, but for me the owl was always a helper and friend. Guiding and protecting me through events that could have been tragic.

Recently, the owl has been very active in my life and I wanted to wear a symbol or image of it. As I searched for earrings and necklaces, all I found were cute or comic images trivializing the power and sacredness of the owl, so I create my own. I hope you can feel the power of the owl in the image I created.

Blue Native American Bead Design Earrings with Six Dangle Eagle Feathers

Description: The bead design rectangle is .75 inches wide by 1 inch long. The six dangle eagle feathers are .25 inches wide by 1 inch long. The entire earring with eagle feathers measures .75 inches wide by 2.5 inches long. Made of hardened acrylic and hand cut. The ear wires are surgical steel. These earrings are extremely light weight and can be worn even through the night.

Symbolism:

The beadwork pattern on these earrings represents the home, the family or the clan. There are four tipis (teepees) facing above and below. This represents the past, present and future. It also states that we carry the memories of our ancestors and we are protected and guide by them.

The Eagle Feather will take our prayers, wishes and desires directly to the Creator. The feather is considered a great gift from the Eagle who listens intently to our words and even our silent thoughts. The Eagle also closely watches all of our actions.

Inspiration:

I’m 57 years old and when I began beading many of the old ways were still in effect. I wasn’t allowed to just jump in and start beading. I had to hear the stories about beads and their history. How our patterns and designs came into being and how they changed throughout time. How to earn the rights to various designs and how to dream new ones. Throughout this education some of my favorite patterns were the tipis because they represented family life. I believe these patterns are important to everyone so I created this set of jewelry. I hope you wear the pieces in good health and well-being. Mitakuye Oyasin (We are all related)

Artist: Paula Bidwell of Native Talisman Art is an American Indian artist, jeweler and author. She is also considered an Indigenous Healer and spent many years on the reservation learning traditional healing and ceremony. She combines being an artist and indigenous healer into her art. Paula believes strongly that we are all related and there is very little separation between us. Her art resonates with all cultures and peoples.

Raven Crow Irish Celtic Gaelic Brown Earrings with Whirlwind and Dangling Black Raven Feather

Description: 1.25 inch diameter Raven with 1.25 inch long dangling black Raven feather. Made of hand cut hardened acrylic. Surgical steel ear wires. Very light weight.

Inspiration: The artist Paula Bidwell is Native American and married to an Irishman from Dublin, Ireland. In their many years together they discovered their cultures and traditions are very similar. Paula feels it is important to be able to create jewelry which is significant in it’s meaning whether Irish or Native American and to bring to the future the ancient customs and cultures of both of their people.

Symbolism: Raven is very important in Irish, Celtic and Gaelic cultures and spiritual practices. In general, Raven is known as an oracle, protector, and guide in both this world and the next. The two circular whirlwinds on Raven’s body and wing make Raven an even more powerful protector. One whirlwind spins counterclockwise which causes confusion to negative influences. The other spins clockwise and sweeps away all unwanted negative influences. The Raven feather dangling below is a gift from Raven representing this world and the next and reminding us to fear nothing in either world.

Artist: Paula Bidwell of Native Talisman Art is an American Indian artist, jeweler and author. She is also considered an Indigenous Healer and spent many years on the reservation learning traditional healing and ceremony. She combines being an artist and indigenous healer into her art. Paula believes strongly that we are all related and there is very little separation between us. Her art resonates with all cultures and peoples.

Symbolism: Turtle Island is another term for the North American continent. I remember hearing the story when I was a little girl. I’ll tell it as best as I can remember.

A long time ago there was a tremendous flood. The survivors were the creatures that could swim and fly. Immediately after the flood, the turtle, dove to the bottom and brought up a clod of earth and placed it on it’s back. Soon the other animals and birds followed the turtle and dove and dove into the water bringing up more and more earth placing it on Turtles back. Suddenly winds from all four directions gusted and gailed and the turtle became large and larger and the clods of earth grew larger and larger eventually making a new earth on the turtles back. Everything re-populated and we have the turtle to thank for saving the North american continent.

Symbolism: The Eagle Feathers take our prayers, wishes and desires directly to the Creator. The feather is considered a great gift from the Eagle who listens intently to our words and even our silent thoughts. The Eagle also closely watches all of our actions.

Inspiration: The turtle shield earrings have a green circle showing the earth and the red and green triangles showing the healing medicines from above and below. Head and tail pointing north and south show us we will never be lost. The Eagle feathers remind us that if we ask we will receive. The Eagle Feathers in these earrings are my design with the black tip in the shape of a Water Bird. The Water Bird dives into the water and brings up medicine from the bottom of lakes depositing them on the shore for us to use. Much like the Turtle, the Water Bird has an affiliation with land and water. These earrings are deeply symbolic and remind us that we have available everything necessary for a successful life in this world.

Teachings: Some turtles are engraved with thirteen segments on their shells. These represent the thirteen moons in a lunar year and the thirteen cycles in a woman’s body.  In each of these moon segments there are teachings. I cannot tell all the teachings, but in general there are lessons of patience in the slow  movement of the turtle, perseverance in the Turtle’s untiring completion of every journey, awareness of surroundings, knowledge that we have everything we need represented by Turtle’s home on it’s back and adaptability represented by the fact that Turtle can live on earth or in the water.

Artist: Paula Bidwell of Native Talisman Art is an American Indian artist, jeweler and author. She is also considered an Indigenous Healer and spent many years on the reservation learning traditional healing and ceremony. She combines being an artist and indigenous healer into her art. Paula believes strongly that we are all related and there is very little separation between us. Her art resonates with all cultures and peoples.

As a young adult living in the Black Hills of South Dakota I remember feeling like I was living in an enchanted land where everything was in harmony with the ancient beings (Tunkasilas). I felt mystery, power and an overwhelming sense of the sacred during most of my days. Even though this was a magical and sacred time, it was also a time of growth and change, which brought about some difficult experiences and profound dreams and visions that would shape the rest of my life.

In retrospect, I believe the most important change occurred regarding the way I viewed the world. From early childhood, I seemed always to be in a position of the adversary. Pitting “us” against “them”. Culture against culture, race against race, poverty against wealth, etc, etc. This was an adversarial way of living that had to stop, because I was also learning traditional healing methods and ceremonies and there is no room for oppositional or separatist thoughts when living the true life of a human being or walking the “red road”(Canku Luta).

One of the first things that helped me overcome such feelings was the fact that my elder uncle began to open his Sweat Lodge (Inipi) ceremonies to all races and cultures. At the time, the early 1980’s, this concept was almost unthinkable and often severely criticized. I had been given the rights to conduct women’s Inipi (Sweat) ceremonies; and this uncle would ask me to conduct them for the women who regularly attending his ceremonies. Because a lot of the attendees were from different cultures and races, I was very uncomfortable. But because of the deep respect I held for my uncle I conducted the ceremonies without question or complaint.

After almost a year, I became so uncomfortable I had to ask him why he was doing this. He told me he had a vision during Sun Dance. He said the Tunkasilas (ancient beings) told him to help all people regardless of race or culture. They told him this was his contribution to mending the “Sacred Hoop”.

The mending of the sacred hoop is a very lengthy discussion. But, in general, it means bringing the people back together as one circle of humanity. It was Arvol Looking Horse, the Keeper of the Sacred Buffalo Calf Pipe (Canunpa) who told me the Sacred Hoop was made up of all races and that we had to bring the people back together or humanity as we know it would not survive.

So, here were two very influential people in my life saying the same thing. I knew somehow I had to begin to heal my world view. It took years to even get close to a feeling of peace. I prayed and fasted and prayed and fasted. Over and over I tried and tried, slowly making small successful steps.

During this time of change, I made my living as an artist. When I had important dreams and visions, I usually illustrated them. Many of these visions were the ancient beings and holy ones telling me of methods for healing or explaining how these methods worked. But, several were directly related to my process of healing an “Us and Them” world.

When I had these dreams, I usually would wake up around 3:00 o’clock in the morning. It would still be dark, so rather than fumble around searching for pen and paper, I began to leave these things out on a table ready for use.

Each time this happened, I found myself using a technique called pointillism. Pointillism takes a long and focused amount of time to execute. The technique involves making thousands of tiny dots that connect to each other to make a detailed image.

As I used this technique, I would become so immersed in the memory of the vision that I often lost track of time. But one thing I never did was loose track of my perspective. I knew if I remained looking only at the tiny dots, I would loose the image as a whole. Keeping your perspective takes repeated movements of holding the drawing at a distance, or keeping it close and squinting your eyes so you can view the image as a whole.

The following is the story of one of those dreams, the dream of Thunder Woman.

Thunder Woman came to me in the beginnings of a terrific thunderstorm. I awoke to the sound of thunder and the distinct smell of ozone in the air. I got up to look out the window. As I was gazing out the window I began to see a figure in the distance. As I focused on the figure, the figure came closer and closer. Soon I could see every detail.

I must have been in some sort of dream state, because none of this seemed odd or unusual. I was standing beneath a small hill looking up at the most powerful female being I had ever encountered. She stood on top of the hill, with her skirts flowing into the earth. As she gazed out over the land, she spread her arms, and a fabulous array of lightning emanated from them. Then she brought her hands together in a clap and the thunder boomed across the land. A voice boomed from the figure saying, “Understand this power. Use it in honor of all races of women who face upward without fear.” As soon as she said this, she disappeared.

I felt a little confused and wondered exactly what did she mean? I didn’t know what else to do other than go to my studio and draw her image. As I was making all those tiny little dots, I began to think of the connection I felt with women, how similar we were even with different cultures and especially how us mothers could understand each other even with different languages. This was a very important step in my struggle to experience the connectedness of all people and to participate in the healing of the Sacred Hoop. For me, it had to begin with a female connection and Thunder Woman gave me that.

While drawing her image, I remembered some of the stories my elders had told me. I was taught that the ancient beings often referred to as “Thunder Birds”, are more than birds. The bird actually represents the male “Thunders”. My elders told me Thunder Beings are both male and female. The male lives in the sky and the female in the earth. When they meet they create lightening and the sound of thunder. They are called Wakinyan in the Lakota language.

As a note of interest, just after I had this vision I mysteriously received a complimentary copy of Time magazine in my mailbox. The magazine featured an article on Lightning. The article said that lightning, and the ensuing sound of thunder, were caused by two forces. One emitted from the earth that rises to meet a second force coming down from the sky. Which in turn creates the lightning bolt and the sound of thunder.

Whenever confirmations of visions and dreams happen like this, I am always amazed at the knowledge my ancestors carried. I have learned to love science because it so often proves beliefs that were previously considered superstitious.

Mitakuye Oysin (We are all related)

Native American Art Prints and ACEO's