This amulet is made of forged brass. Brass is a metal that possesses a high degree of resonance and has been primarily considered a voice, such as the voice of a canon or a bell, both of which are powerful. Brass was a sacred metal that was used to make instruments of worship from antiquity to Buddhism and Christianity. This strong metal was the symbol of incorruptibility and immortality as well as unswerving justice.

The sphere is composed of one 18cm single strand of brass representing the year 2018. In numerology the number 18 represents humanitarianism, independence, self-determination, philanthropy and the building of things, acts or deeds of lasting benefit. The essence of the number 18 includes generosity, information and sophistication. 18 also denotes tolerance, compassion and efficiency. With the wellbeing of humanity as its priority, 18 holds a nonjudgmental energy.            

The interior of the sphere is stuffed with cotton and its seeds picked from the cotton tree found in the Chavón Archeological Museum’s garden. In ancient traditions cotton has been a symbol of abundance and prosperity. It has also represented promise, wellbeing and plentitude to fulfill the work one desires to do in this world. The seed represents potential and possibilities. The plant that grows from the seed represents the connection between the earth and sky and the constant cycles of life.

The original amulet design was inspired by the powerful hurricanes Irma and Maria, both of which initiated the academic year in September 2017. During the construction process the pieces began to look like nests, cocoons as well as an orbit trajectory. In ancient cultures, the hurricane was venerated as a deity and its strength represents the power of transformation and evolution. Because of its spiral shape and rotary movement it can be associated with forms that are found throughout nature, from the weaving of bird nests and cocoons to a planet’s orbit around a star or an electron’s movement around a nucleus and the movement of an entire galaxy around a center core. Nests and cocoons carry the energy of protection, restoration and rebirth, as well as the transformative energy associated with the hurricane. The orbital and spiral movements represent the connection between external consciousness and the inner soul, in addition to the natural progression, growth and expansion of the elements of the universe. 

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