Recycled silver coins

This recycled silver coin hares, oak leaves and acorn necklace is part of the collection which was inspired when I licking honey off my thumb the other day whilst stirring some porridge (breakfast of champions). Gazing out of the window, licking my finger, got me thinking about the legendary Welsh enchantress Ceridwen and her ‘sous-chef’ young master Gwion Bach cauldron stirrer. (Please forgive this overview of the event if you are familiar with the powerful lady and this particular day because I express myself in recycled shiny things not language! feel free to chime in and help out.)

It is told that the very impressive enchantress Ceridwen was living a pretty wild life up in North Wales. Trouble was her son was a mess, and she definitely did not find him aesthetically pleasing. So rather than trying to work through his personal hideousness or just ‘putting up’ and living with this beast; she put her particular set of skills to work. Got the old cauldron heated up to 220°c and cunningly devised a sweet little potion to grant the gift of wisdom and artistic inspiration (which i guess is to make him beautiful and thus inspire art and poetry?).

This is where young master Gwion Bach joins the scene, he’s the ‘little stirrer’ making sure all of Ceridwens potions are smooth. Thinking about it that would be a great name for an organic smoothy company Ceridwens, probably already is. Problem is this potion was quite a special one developed for the main problem in Ceridwens life, her son and little Gwion spills a bit over the side (which is a big no-no) and then (which is a HUGE no-no) wipes it up with his thumb and licks it. nnnnnnooooOOOO! Yes. BOOM. Young Gwion immediately has the power, fabulous bone structure, and ancient secret knowledge. Ceridwen is well annoyed.

She was super furious so Gwion switched it up and transformed into a hare and leaped off. Phew! So there was me licking my honey thumb thinking about this and imagining Gwion Bach as the hare leaping off through the Welsh hills and valleys and arriving at a full moon party in Salisbury. Some would infer that he is the infamous, legendary Salisbury Hare who was seen dancing at full moons by locals, who knows. Anyway, I just like to think about that sometimes. The legend has it that Ceridwen transformed into a greyhound and took off after him (any excuse to get away from her son). Then they reckon that in an effort to swerve her he turned into a fish a swam off down the river! but there is no way i believe that.

The Hare is subject to a wide variety of legend and lore from all over the world. Timid, frail and nervous; forever hunted and preyed upon by beasts of both land and air.

The hare has no sharp fangs or ferocious roar, and yet he survives, endures, and prospers; by virtue of his swiftness and alertness, adaptability and resourcefulness. Perhaps it is this, our human tendency to root for the underdog, which has given rise to so many stories, beliefs, and legends about this otherwise rather unassuming and ubiquitous animal.

This necklace celebrates the qualities of the hare and the Oak tree. It has been adapted from recycled silver coins circa 1880’s.

Handcrafted & Recycled in Cambridge, UK.

Size : Each sweet little hare approx 20 mm * 10 mm (and has approx 650 individually carved hair lines! yes I counted)