Somewhere deep in an old forest, a tree stands that feels different from the others. You cannot explain it exactly. Maybe the light falls through its branches in a way that seems intentional. Maybe you find yourself slowing down when you walk past it, reaching out to touch the bark without quite knowing why. In Japanese folklore they would tell you that you already know the answer. There is a kodama living there. You can feel it.
The Kodama
Kodama are tiny spirits from Japanese folklore that inhabit trees and sometimes special stones, giving them personality and presence and life. They are protectors of the forest, keeping it healthy and nurtured from within. When a tree was known to be home to a kodama, a shimenawa rope was tied around its trunk as both a remembrance and a warning to others. These handwoven ropes, traditionally made from hemp or rice straw, are used in Shinto ritual for purification and as markers of the sacred. To cut down a tree inhabited by a kodama was to invite a curse upon yourself. The forest protected its own.
Kodama have been a part of Japanese culture for a very long time. Their name appears in writing as far back as 931 CE, recorded in a dictionary from the Heian period, which tells you something about how deeply and how long human beings have understood that forests are alive in ways that go beyond what we can measure.
The Piece
This pendant is a tiny working vase, wide and gently hexagonal in shape, polished bright sterling silver with a deep oxidized base where a kodama peeks out from between two large hand carved ferns. He is small and round-faced and unmistakably pleased about something, which seems right for a forest spirit living his best life among the ferns. At the top of the vase a grass green tsavorite garnet sits in a simple bezel setting, its color a little richer and deeper in person than photographs tend to capture.
The vase is not meant to hold water, because water and silver are not friends and also you would get wet, neither of which is ideal. What it is meant to hold is whatever tiny beautiful thing you find on a walk. A sprig of dried lavender. A fern frond. A winter twig of red twig dogwood. A few dried flower heads. The opening is small and the possibilities are surprisingly endless, even in the middle of a New England winter when you might think there is nothing to find. There is always something to find.
The pendant hangs on a 20.5 inch sterling silver loop chain with a lobster claw clasp that can be moved to different links to shorten the length if you prefer.
The Craftsmanship
- Pendant: approximately 1.5 inches tall by 1.5 inches wide
- Stone: tsavorite garnet, grass green
- Sterling silver throughout, oxidized base
- 20.5 inch sterling silver loop chain
- Lobster claw clasp, adjustable
- One of a kind
One of a Kind
This particular kodama, peeking out from between these particular ferns with that particular expression on his tiny face, exists once. When he finds his person he will not be made again exactly like this. The ferns will grow differently. The face will be a little different. This one is this one and only ever will be.
A Note from Tamara
I have always loved the idea that the feeling you get in certain old forests, that specific sense that you are somewhere that matters and that something is paying attention, is not just your imagination. Kodama feel like the right explanation for that feeling. I made this vase because I wanted the person who wears it to have a reason to keep their eyes open on walks. A tiny vase to fill means a reason to look for tiny beautiful things. And that feels like exactly the kind of errand a forest spirit would approve of.
Shipping
Your kodama is finished, packaged safely, and will be on his way to you within 3 to 5 business days.