I live in a remarkable place that is not only filled with beauty but also with magic. I live where the ancients used to live, among their ancestors, the Indians. And the Spanish, the Mexicans, the Aztecs, the Penitentes…

Their mark is all around me, in the air I breathe, the mountain I see, the land I walk upon, the mud villages. Kim found an arrowhead in the yard last year. My place is infused with history, art, culture.

And I believe I am coming back under the sway of old hopes and ideas. Because magical things are beginning to happen again. And I don’t believe that’s possible unless we are open to it.

I want to tell you a sweet story about meeting Tilly and Art who own Chimayo Rocks in Espanola. They are so kind and generous with their knowledge of stone and jewelry making. They’re teachers I feel the Universe has dropped onto my path (sorry, no photos of them for this post).

You know how I told you I’d never use glass in my necklaces that they were all about the stone? Well, Tilly has a special, remarkable stash of antique glass beads. And she’s letting me choose from them for my work.

These beads came to her from Arlene, a Toas Pueblo beader who had collected them over her lifetime. Through the years Tilly came to call Arlene her “bead fairy.” I love that because Tilly has now become mine.

But the beads aren’t just Arlene’s lifelong collection. Many were handed down to her through several generations of beaders in her family. Some of these beads are ancient. There is one particular gem that Tilly says is an early trade bead—very old.

These are treasures. Tilly said she’d decided they had another story to tell with me so she offered them. And I can’t tell you, to touch them, to be with them, inspires.

Every time I use them in a necklace I do it with reverence and joy. Because they sparkle with such a history, such an old knowing. Magic.

Tilly and her beads are so much more though. They represent the start of a deep healing in me I suspect. Because I am starting to believe again. I am opening to the goodness in the world. Is it possible that I am beginning to trust? Beginning to learn how to receive?

May it be that I remember to dream, that I recognize the primordial.

Oh, and here’s another lovely bit of magic that’s occurring. Aniyah, my little 7 year old rock hounding friend is doing some beading too.

Love to you all,

Jeane