RATTLE, Hand Painted Ceramic Earthenware Bead Meditation Rattle with Found buy Virginia Creeper Handle Accented with Horn, Clay and Seed Beads

This 2" wide rattle bead is hand painted with terra sigillata patterns before firing. Irish waxed linen cords covered with black Toho glass seed beads fasten the body to a Florida sun-dried Virginia Creeper root branch handle. These linen cords are also enhanced with elliptical flat horn beads, carved bone beads, birch bark beads by Mary Ewell right here on Etsy and some of my own hand made stoneware clay tassel beads. The total rattle is about 3 1/4" x 9" long including the Toho seed bead and clay bead hangies.

BH 712 Bead Rattle

Ceremonial RATTLES have been used for centuries to celebrate beginnings. They were the gift of choice among Victorians wishing to commemorate the birth of a child but as far back as the humble Egyptians, rattles were utilized to memorialize each new chapter in the life of the individual.
My fired clay Rattles are filled with dried bits of clay which I revere as the complete gestalt of life. These fired bits provide the sound of the earth as my Rattles are shaken or handled. RATTLES do help us to ground; their sound is powerful & magical, producing an incomparable energy all their own.
All of my Rattles are “birthed” in the same way. Once the basic shape is formed, I tenderly blow my own CHI (breath of life) inside, sealing the opening quickly closed with pursed lips. These Rattles are then finished with terra sigillata or glaze & fired then further adorned with handles, semi-precious stones, clay, bone, copper, found objects or shell beads - details which complement the importance of the Rattle.

To see more of Mary Ewell's beads -
https://www.etsy.com/listing/161681372/four-rustic-white-and-black-wood-beads?ref=listing-shop-header-3 buy