Think back to your childhood. I bet most of you, especially those of you who were in scouts, can remember making a God's Eye. Did you know that God's Eyes or Ojo de Dios are believed to have originated from the Huichol Indians of Mexico but they are also found in Africa and the East? No, these aren't just a craft created by a scout leader or a desperate teacher who needed to keep you occupied for an hour or so.
*"The Huichol call their God's Eyes Sikuli, which means 'the power to see and understand things unknown.' When a child is born, the central eye is woven by the father. Then one eye is added for every year of the child's life until the child reaches the age of five." The God's Eye is also thought to represent the eye of God looking after you.
The God's Eye can be a simple craft created by a young child or a highly intricate work of art (go take a look, you won't regret it). All you need to create a God's Eye are two sticks and some sort of yarn or fiber. You could make one small enough to grace a Christmas tree (or a Hanukkah Bush) with toothpicks and embroidery floss or one big enough to decorate a wall with real sticks and bulky colored yarn. You can add beads, tassels, or additional eyes on the arms of the primary one. Basically, you can make a God's Eye a true representation of you.
Today, I made two very different God's Eyes. The first one was made with wooden chopsticks and yarn in Christmas colors. Each color of yarn was a different weight and texture which added beauty and interest to the project.
The second God's Eye is going to be a Christmas gift for Joey's teacher. I used two pencils and crochet thread for this one.
*This quote was taken from The Crystal Buffalo website - a site that sells Native American crafts ad jewelry.
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To see what everyone else in class is bringing to SHOW AND TELL, take a trip to visit the Miss Mel, Goddess of the Infertility Blogosphere.
8 comments:
I learn something new all the time from visiting your blog. In my area we had the Iroquois Indians. Such interesting history.
You are multi-talented! First that Thanksgiving feast, now this....awesome!
I didn't know all that background about God's Eyes. What a set of memories these bring back. Time to pass them on to my kids, I think.
So neat that you made some for teachers out of pencils. Cool!
I love it! I will definitely be visiting your instructional article to make my own! Thanks once again, my friend, for being an inspiration!
You always create such beautiful things.
very cool, Jack made one in cub scouts years ago, it's around her somewhere
this brought me back, i remember my aunt teaching us these. i love the idea of the pencils for the teacher's gift. very cute
I remember doing those
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