Hmmph. And personal talismans

[cupcake_goth]

I am having something of a low day. Which, upon reflection, isn't terribly surprising, because even tho' I had a good phone call about something the other day and some fantastic socializing, those aren't enough to offset how this year has been so far.

Anyway, it's the sort of day where I feel the need to drape myself with talismans. In addition to the Necklace That Only Comes Off For Baths (silver ankh, flanked by silver skeleton keys from Rocklove^*), when I go run errands today I am going to be wearing my usual giant rings (I feel naked if I leave the house without them), the Big Jingly Key Necklace, and probably the mourning brooch that my beloved pix_kristin gave me. One of these is for fidgeting with when I feel agitated, one is for reminding me of my safety net of loved ones.

What sort of jewelry talismans do you wear, if any? I love hearing about other people's amulets or iconic jewelry.




^*Hello, I am a gothy girl of A Certain Age. I collect ankhs and skeleton keys, and have done for YEARS (even before I ever read The Sandman). I gleefully embrace my clichés, thankyouverymuch.

Comments

[darkavalon1970.livejournal.com]

I have a ring that I always wear. It is a sterling band with puppy paws stamped in brass all the way around. On the inside is engraved "Unconditional Love". I wear this on my left ring finger every time I leave the house. It is a reminder that my beautiful furry baby is waiting at home for me.

[acinom19.livejournal.com]

I always wear my silver cartouche with my name in hieroglyphs that my Mom got me when I got one with her name (that she always wears) I also have a little silver bat charm (my favorite animal and one I'm very connected to) and a crystal heart (that my Dad gave me before he died) on the same chain. It only comes off for baths too and I just can't stand not wearing it.

[acinom19.livejournal.com]

*I got one for her with her name

Not sure if that made sense the way I first had it.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_good_kitty/]

I have the key to the back door of my grandmother's kitchen ---it's an iron key with most of the brass worn off, and it's looped through a 24-inch necklace of North Carolina garnets. The kitchen was a later addition to the house ---the house having been hand-built back when kitchens were in the back yard so as not to set the rest of the house on fire. Neither the house nor the grandmother are still standing, but I spent many a summer down that long dirt road in the middle of nowhere and now I can return whenever I like.

[windbourne.livejournal.com]

I've been wearing the same small silver ankh earrings since I was 15. I feel a little weird if I don't have either ankh or key jewelry on in one way or another.

I used to wear hearts, too, but then I put them on my body permanently.

[megumi-selwyn.livejournal.com]

I'm the sort of person who definitely needs personal talismans, but has a hard time finding pieces that really grab me in that way.

I think I finally found the pendant that never comes off though, I bought a Voltaire skeleton key necklace and have not removed it since. Lets me bring my little piece of gothy-dom with me, when I'm places where I can't dress up (like work).

[smu.livejournal.com]

I have a lotus ankh I wear every single day that only comes off for showers. I've had it on for going on six years now. My friend gave it to me, as a nice little surprise trinket. It means the world to me.

[marc17.livejournal.com]

At various times through my life I have gone from a Psychic TV cross made by a friend of mine in the 80's, to a unicursal hexigram, to a Kali figurine all as necklaces. Currently I wear no jewelry regularly (but do miss it from time to time).

My other item I've had since 1990 is a skull ring. When I drove to Dallas for the first time, my goal was a silver skull ring without a mandible for my thumb. I found one at Moda in Deep Ellum. The clerk mentioned something about "special made from a mold made for Keith Richards". I really didn't care because it was exactly what I wanted and pure silver. I was also proud that they never got in another one. The price on the jewelry case in the store had the silver skull ring marked out and then dropped the next time the rewrote it. I didn't pay much attention to it until I saw a picture of Keith Richards, and what was he wearing? My ring. If I wear jewelry these days it will always include that ring. For a while I was collecting silver skull rings and have a hand full of them, but that one is the special one.

[alice-ash.livejournal.com]

i have a pewter-bat-on-a-cord that i seem to feel safer when wearing. actually, any time i have a bat necklace on, i feel pretty safe, but this one is the one that Only Really Comes Off For Special Occasions, Usually For Which I Wear A Nicer Bat Necklace.

i wear my wedding ring, and also my paternal grandmother's wedding ring from 1930. she died before i was born, and relatives have told me she's watching over me. wearing her ring makes me feel that much closer to her.

on my right hand, i have two rings that have kind of a wavy design and nest together. they're a set. one says "dream" and one says "imagine". it used to be that i wore the "dream" one and my mom wore the "imagine" one (dream has always been "my word" and imagine has always been my mom's), so it was kind of like mom/daughter friendship rings, but she gave me hers back because she got another ring and she's one of those only-wears-rings-on-ringfingers sort. so i wear both of them. i still see it like a friendship ring even though i've got both of them.

i think there's something special about wearing someone else's jewelry, especially that of someone you are greatly for.

[caleidescopeyes.livejournal.com]

Garnets are my birth stone, so I have a few pieces with garnets that I wear when I need to remember to feel confident in who I am.

My mother bought me a big oxblood-red Murano glass heart during her last trip to Italy. I wear it on a long silver rope chain for comfort. The heart is heavy and so smooth, and has a chip. I was upset at first when it got chipped, but now it reminds me that we all wear our scars.

[blackrosemortal.livejournal.com]

I have a thing for celtic themed jewelry. I actually got the celtic cross my mother got me on my 16th birthday tattooed on my back. Im not religious but that is my inner strength and such.

Recently my giant rings must be on. Current one is from Alchemy gothic.

I do hope tomorrow isnt as gloomy. Youve had wretched things happen way to frequently

[blutsauger.livejournal.com]

I'be been wearing my gingko leaf pendant and my cowry shell necklace for about two eyars without ever putting them off. I wouldn't consider them talismans, though their symbolic meanings somewhat played into my decision to buy them.
Gingko leaves are supposed to bring luck, though I rather thought of the imperessive ability of gingkos to survive. After the A-bombing in Japan, the local gingkos that still stood were said to hibernate for a year and went into full foliation the next year.

[fufaraw]

I have a collection of tree pendants, from Yggdrasil in shiny pewter to a silver Tree of Life with roots in celtic knotwork and fruit and symbols in her branches, including a tiny man and woman, to a blue-enameled silver oval engraved with the White Tree of Gondor.

I have four fringed bags made of seed beads, in Guatemala, each in a different color combination and pattern. In one is a shell I found wading, in another a carved jade loon that was a gift, another holds a pewter heart. I have two hand-dyed silk drawstring bags on silk cord, and each holds a small stone, a feather, a bit of petrified wood, or a gemstone of meaning.

Other than the necklaces, I wear a bracelet of wooden beads: small black and medium brown ones of sandalwood interspersed with small brown skulls. Another of labradorite beads, and two silver bangles, one twined with vines and leaves in heavy relief, the other a vintage piece engraved with fernlike curves. On the right wrist, a cuff bracelet engraved with PNW totem animals.

Earrings vary. My wedding ring is hallmarked by an Irish silversmith. It has a cabochon moonstone in a yellow gold bezel, flanked by applied wirework that coils in a spiral, then wraps the diameter of the ring to spiral bracketing the moonstone. My fingers swell occasionally, and when the band is too tight, I wear a stack of mismatched silver rings on my wedding finger. There are black onyx and hematite, cabochon carnelian and labradorite stones set in silver rings that migrate from finger to finger.

What I'm wearing and not taking off right now are a pair of silver keys: one is a miniature replica of a key from the NC house. And my Adagio medallion with the snail. What I wore before the snail was a square silver crow medallion, and a silver owl and crescent moon.

I rarely wear anything purely for decoration--it's all talismanic, to one degree or another.

[calligrafiti.livejournal.com]

When my dad was very young--2nd grade or thereabouts--he went to school in a one-room school house and the teacher was his mom. At the end of the school year he and his 7 or so fellow students had their names engraved on small silver rectangles that were strung on a black velvet ribbon to make a bracelet. Whenever I have a job interview or other situation where I want to feel family love and professional competence, I'll wear it.

I also have a ring of mystery. After Mom died my sister and I divided her jewelry box. One of the things we found in it was a gold ring with a blue-green cabochon stone. The ring has some small jeweler marks on the inside. None of us remember Mom wearing it, ever. I wear it on days when I hope a stranger will pull me aside and whisper, "The Guild of the Tattered Wren meets by the river at twilight," or something like that.

[jjbrozenske.livejournal.com]

Alas, I'm not as fancy. While I used to wear certain rings ALL THE TIME, there is only one piece I wear 24/7. It's a simple silver linked bracelet that my brother gave me on my 16th birthday. While it wouldn't normally be anything special, my brother is 15 years my senior, and it was the only time he ever showed any real effort for a meaningful gift. So I never take it off. I'm just about 34 now.

[mumminator2008.livejournal.com]

my mothers garnet earrings
(We thought they were lost forever then my husband found them on the last day before we left the house for the last time - tangled in the weave of the bedroom rug)
my celtic knot/amethyst earrings
my wedding band (was my grandmothers)
my mother in laws "promise ring" from the early early 1900's
my raw amethyst (on chain)
my quartz rod (on chain)
my snowflake obsidian (on chain)
my hematite elephant (trunk up!)
lapis, sodalite & pyrite (loose)

my pockets wear out REALLY fast because I carry alot of rocks.

[alumiere.livejournal.com]

My jewelry and the brightly colored mohawk are definitely talismans. I'm particularly attached to the locket of a steampunk style book and the jade that a long-gone friend gave me for Christmas one year - it was given to him by his martial arts master and meant a lot; I don't take that off ever - if I can't have it at my neckline, I move it to a strap or something that's hidden in my clothes. Christoper told me to keep it against my skin always.

Unfortunately, my hands/fingers have gotten so skinny none of my rings fit, and even new ones slide off when I move; I miss them.

A picture that shows off some of it is here - there's a lot; naked isn't naked, clothed without them is naked. http://pics.livejournal.com/alumiere/pic/0000qte6/g1

[webcowgirl.livejournal.com]

I have an "avert evil eye" bracelet I got from a Bedouin woman in Egypt this past January. Shortly after I came back, I was accused of bullying someone who works for me (and had been frustrated in her career goals) and I began to wear it near constantly for extra "oomph" in the face of unwarranted asshattery. It all went well with my boss saying I came out of the hearings etc looking like a real professional and the bracelet continues to get regular wear.

[bork.livejournal.com]

I forgot to answer this yesterday.

I just have a necklace. On it is a medallion of the Virgin Mary that I got in Chicago last year, a plain silver and copper cross I got from St. Mark's bookstore a while back, and a tiny little reindeer charm.

[pix-kristin.livejournal.com]

It makes me so happy that the brooch I found for you has become one of your talismans. How did you end up fixing it, or did you attach it to something else?

[rikibeth.livejournal.com]

I very rarely wear much jewelry any more, a hangover from working in kitchens.

For at least a year, I've essentially worn one of two necklaces when I DO wear one: either the dog-tag style Cirque du Soleil German Wheel pendant inscribed with "When I grow up, I will run away and join the circus," which has meaning for me beyond its souvenir value; or the garnet-glass-and-pewter-roses necklet, which belonged to talandra, and which her widow gave to me when we were going through her things getting ready for a post-funeral move.

As I am also a gothy girl of a certain age, I can match your collection of ankhs with the one I keep: one I commissioned from a jeweler friend, where the foot pulls off to reveal a tiny blade, meant to look as much like the one from The Hunger as possible.

[xochitl-luna.livejournal.com]

I have a silver cross made of small skulls I got in Patzcuaro, Michoacan (a city that largely celebrates the Day of the Dead). It's my favorite necklace.

A silver ankh ring.