Woolly Mammoth Tribal Necklace @ Giant Steps Gallery Philly

Justin Burok is our go-to guy at Giant Steps Gallery in Philadlephia. He sent me this photo yesterday, noting that it wasn’t Valentine’s Day red, but he so loves the Themis Woolly Mammoth Tektite Tribal Necklace.

So do we, Justin. 

A Special Necklace for a Special Woman

I’m thinking of our pop-up shop last September 2012 in Mt. Airy. A very athletic, attractive, grey-haired woman came through the door ready to buy. She tried on many necklaces — several more conservative — but she kept returning to this Themis necklace ($160).

“This is the story,” she said, looking at herself in the mirror. ” I want a necklace that will leave my daughter speechless, with her saying ‘Mom, where did you get that necklace!’ I’m tired of being predictable, so I want a necklace that will have people noticing me but also one that doesn’t push me out the window, because it’s just too adventurous. As for my daughter, she will be begging me to borrow the necklace, and I will say ‘no’. She will say where did you get it, and I will say ‘it’s rare, unique and only a very few will be made’.”

With that our new friend bought her Themis necklace truly fit for a queen, while her husband returned later to scoop up several other pieces as presents. 

New Limited Edition GlamTribale Designs

Hers wasn’t numbered and neither is Justin’s Themis necklace at Giant Steps Gallery. Initially I thought that using woolly mammoth beads, made from bones a minimum of 10,000-100,000 years old, from an animal now extinct, was enough distinction for one woman. 

I was wrong.

Understanding today how special GlamTribale Jewelry is to the women who wear it, I’m committing to make no more than five Themis necklaces of this design. To do one — which must then amortize all my design time into a single necklace — seems unreasonable. But I understand clearly that our ladies don’t want to see themselves coming and going, and I think five is a good compromise. 

New Hours at Giant Steps Gallery Philadelphia

You can try on the Themis necklace at Giant Steps, 229 S 20th St in Philadelphia, one block off Rittenhouse Square Park. Good news!!! Giant Steps is now staying open until 6:30 pm to reach retail clients coming home from work. Visit the Giant Steps framing and art gallery’s new website. 

For more information about the Themis necklace, visit our description page at GlamTribale. 

Shop other items from our Themis collection at Giant Steps or online at GlamTribale. 

Truth Serum on Goddesses, Religion & Women's History Leaves Me Nowhere To Hide

‘Lipstick Junkie’ by artist Lisa LittleToday is one of those “I’m dancing as fast as I can mornings”, when a strong cup of French Roast has me plunging into the essence of Anne of Carversville and the voyage we’re on in my little digital boat.Note also that I haven’t had a drink since Tuesday. The following constellation of events actually happened today.

Into the Subterranean Depths of Women’s History

This latest adventure was triggered by my earlier-in-the-week reference to the African goddess Mami Wata in the Lais Ribeiro editorial that follows.

Moving over to my Sensual Rebel column where I write frankly about female sexuality and its intersection with popular culture but also religion, I felt compelled to republish and update what was the founding 2010 meditation for GlamTribale: Aphrodite Joins Yemaya & Mami Wata for a Swim in Human Consciousness.

The rest of the week has been unstoppable with obligations and a workload that prevented me from returning to Sensual Rebel until the middle of the night, when all the goddesses began calling in at the same time.

Perhaps the string of incredible coincidences came because I finally finished individual banners for all the goddess collections and categories on the GlamTribale website yesterday. I don’t know the answer, but when I awoke at 1:30 am and lay in bed for an hour, I decided to open my laptop and start writing.

More questions are asked than answered in Did Goddess Dione Precede Hera As Lilith Preceded Eve As Adam’s First Wife?

To be honest, a goddess named Dione — aka Gaia — was news to me. Gaia is not news. She is one of our GlamTribale goddesses. Reading about Dione — with many more references in my new out-of-print books, I’m sure — I was a bit speechless to find her roots in the region of Greece away from Athens and near the Ionian Sea. My own night rocking in a small sailboat in Ionian Sea is one of the most important nights of my life as detailed in Sailing to Ithaca.

To assert the provocative punch line, this momentary shipwreck came as I was writing about Venus fly traps.

The original essay that launched GlamTribale Aphrodite Joins Yemaya & Mami Wata for a Swim in Human Consciousness dealt with mermaids and sirens — those eternal bad girls responsible for a seductive swindle of men’s best efforts.

Unable to sleep with a cacophony of goddesses tapping on my brain, I reread the 2010 essay and responded to a reader who was getting mermaids and sirens off track, as they impact the birth of Aphrodite, in a sea foam of castration complexes.

Artistic Archetypes of Women’s History by Ronit Baranga

My night journey could have ended in this moment, but I plunged deeper into a short meditation on the ceramic art of Israeli artist Ronit Baranga. I felt a soul sister on my radar, an artist telling women’s history from the epicenter of the struggle for women’s bodies, which is a major theme of AOC. Read Tears in Our Teacups: The Devouring Women of Ronit Baranga.

GlamTribale is at Hidden Treasurers market in Lancaster, where I’ve been asked if I’m a missionary. Lancaster is a gorgeous place in America, one that represents a place where extreme social conservatives and creative progressives coexist in relative harmony. (Note: As of March 1, 2013 GlamTribale will be located at Building Character, 342 N. Queen St. Read all the details.)

What binds the people of Lancaster seems to be a love of nature and appreciation of the land.

I Can Run, But I Can’t Hide

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Lais Ribeiro Is a Bahia Beauty By Michael Roberts for L'Officiel NL February 2013 As 'Toda Menina Baiana'

Model Lais Ribeiro is a great looking birdie in this Michael Roberts editorial for L’Officiel Netherlands February issue. Monica Pillosio styles Lais in ‘Toda Menina Baiana” (strut your stuff), a celebration of the upcoming Bahia carnival.

I can’t look at these wonderful images of Lais celebrating Carnival and not think of our GlamTribale goddess Mami Wata. One of the most kick-butt goddesses I’ve come across, she is the patroness of GlamTribale and my forever connection to Africa and the disapora of Africans on the slave ships.

(Read: Aphrodite Joins Yemaya and Mami Wata for a Swim in Human Consciousness and also Heading to Washington DC for a Meet & Greet with Mami Wata )

Working on my first photo shoot for GlamTribale last night, I explained that Mami Wata traveled the high seas as a defiant but spiritual force on the slave ships. She made her way through Haiti and on to Brazil, where Mami W is deeply revered.

Let’s look closely. She may be behind the scenes in this editorial. ~ Anne

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