Vintage Tribal Afghani Gypsy Rings!
Following the arrival of a fantastic new shipment of these vintage costume rings, we now offer them on our website in assortments of 10 or 100 piece mixes.
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Ganesh
Ganesh, the elephant-headed god of wisdom and success, is known as the defender and Remover of Obstacles, and more generally as Lord of Beginnings. Though he is popularly worshiped as a remover of obstacles, he also places obstacles in the path of those who need to be checked, or to overcome a hardship in order to learn a lesson. He is one of the sons of Shiva and known as Sidhi Data, or bestower of success in the workplace. He is one of the best-known deities and most widely worshiped in the Hindu pantheon, and is a popular figure in Indian art. Representations of Ganesha show wide variations and distinct patterns changing over time. He is portrayed standing, dancing, heroically taking action against demons, playing with his family as a child, sitting down or on an elevated seat, or engaging in a range of contemporary situations. The most reoccurring story on how he came have the head of an elephant is that Shiva, his father, beheaded him when he came between Shiva and Parvati, and then replaced the original head with that of an elephant. In another story, when Ganesha was born, his mother Parvati showed off her new baby to the other gods. Unfortunately, the god Shani (Saturn), who is said to have the evil eye, looked at him, causing the baby's head to be burned to ashes. The God Vishnu came to the rescue and replaced the missing head with that of an elephant. Another story claims that Ganesha was created directly by Shiva's laughter, and because Shiva considered Ganesh too alluring, he gave him the head of an elephant and a protruding belly. His elephant head has only one full tusk, while the other is broken, which he commonly holds in his lower right hand. He is said to have lost it in a fight with Parasuram (the 6th avatar of Vishnu.) It is also said that he broke it to write the Mahabharata to the dictation of sage Vyasa. His elephant head is believed to be an emblem of wisdom and his mount an emblem of sagacity (defined as the acuteness of mental discernment and soundness of judgment.) In his lower left hand, he holds a delicacy, which he samples with trunk. The motif of Ganesha turnign his trunk sharply to his left to taste a sweet is a particularly archaic feature. He typically also holds an axe is one upper arm and a noose in the other. Ganesh is identified with the Hindu mantra Aum', also called 'Om.' The term, when identified with Ganesh, refers to the notion that he personifies the primal sound. Some devotees see similarities between the shape of Ganesha's body in iconography and the shape of the Om symbol. According to Kundalini yoga, Ganesha resides in the first chakra, called Muladhara, the root chakra located at the base of the spine.
All ready for Bead and Button! After spending a week packing our precious Tika items with care, we shipped a whopping 35 boxes to Milwaukee, Wisconsin for the upcoming Bead and Button show! And our UPS driver, Mike, was gracious enough to humor us with a pose next to Britta and the mound of goodies. We hope to see some of our customers there!
NOW AVAILABLE! New Copper Mirage Bead Pendants! Tika's original polymer Mirage beads transform once again, this time into beautiful copper-set pendants.
For 2012, Chinese Year of the Water Dragon, we have a lovely new Brass Dragon Statuette. In China, Dragons traditionally represent potent and auspicious powers, especially influencing water, rainfall and floods. They are also considered symbols of power, strength and good luck.
Dress Flowers!
Traditional beaded amulets, designed to be stitched to clothing as emblems of good fortune and beauty. As far back as 400 BC, the Pashtun people of Afghanistan used these sweet beaded medallions to symbolize the sun's life-giving protection.
These beaded discs of Phul (flowers of the Sun) have become our way at Tika to offer a token of protection to Afghani children, so hurt by the ongoing wars in their country.
In the past five years, Tika donated over $13,000 of Dress Flower donations to the following non-profit organizations:
Afghan Women's Mission (supporting health, educational, and other programs for Afghan women) www.afghanwomensmission.org
IKAT (the Central Asia Institute empowers communities through literacy and education, especially for girls, promotes peace through education, and conveys the importance of these activities globally) www.ikat.org
National Geographic Society, Afghan Children's Fund www.nationalgeographic.com
RAWA (the oldest anti-fundamentalist feminist organization of Afghanistan fighting for women's rights, democracy, freedom and social justice since 1977) www.rawa.org
UNICEF Pakistan (providing earthquake relief, education, clean drinking water and promoting health throughout Pakistan areas in need) www.unicef.org/pakistan
UN Refugee Agency (United Nations Refugee Agency who's primary purpose is to safeguard the rights and well-being of refugees) UNrefugees.org
V-Day (a global movement to end violence against women and girls) ~ www.vday.org
We donate 100% of all proceeds from the sale of our Dress Flowers to these organizations, so we THANK YOU kindly for all your support!
~ Beautiful NEW Odyssia Brass Earrings ~
After previewing our new Odyssia Brass Earring line at recent CA Gift and Tuscon Gem Shows, we have decided to make them available online!! Inspired and influenced by traditional tribal motifs and jewelry designs, these earrings are hand-crafted by Balinese artisans in pure brass, incorporating a sterling silver ear-wire for comfort and style.
