Amulets

Every place has its own spiritual habits and symbols. And it’s not always clear whether they are about superstition or traditional healing methods, still in use, handed down the generations. I’ve chosen some of these local phenomena and interpreted them in my own way.

Meaning of the amulets

1.
Small jar with black seeds: connection with nature’s healing power. Like places on Curaçao with a very positive and relaxing vibe. It also stands for earth’s capacity to absorb one’s physical and emotional pain.

2.
This small jar with holes contains three kinds of incense: for health, for happiness and for wealth. On New Year’s Eve sprinkle each of the three on burning charcoal in a pot. Use it in any of a variety of ways. One is to walk with the pot through the house to chase away old bad spirits and to attract new positive energy. Another one is to place the pot on the floor and jump over it thrice – to start the new year with a clean self.

3.
This jar is to purify water.

4.
Golden jar that stands for the promises made by so many healers… from the truly spiritually gifted to those who do black magic ( ‘brua’ on Curaçao). You never know whether the treatment really helped, or not.

5.
A hollow sphere with gold inside: the healing power of light, of the sun.

6.
Small white jar with sides in relief: connection with comforting spirits.

7.
Special jar to brew healing herb tea.

8.
Terracotta jar decoated with red ormosia coccinea (huayruro) seeds.
As bracelet or necklace this may protect young children against the ‘bad eye’. Beware: the seeds are poisonous when swallowed!
I put them around the jar, like the rhythm instruments (shakers)… also, dance has healing properties.  

9.
This jar contains healthy food straight from nature. For example, moringa and aloe vera are abundant on Curaçao. The wooden sticks represent the ‘palu di lele’, a kind of wooden whisk made from the tree with the same name. It is used to make ‘funchi’, a local dish similar to polenta.

This piece is all about the mondi (the bush bush).
It offers you special herbs and good food, as well as poisonous plants and thorns.
It shows you that the easy paths are also those where you may lose your way, unable to return.
It shows you beautiful trails to walk but also the uncomfortable vibes some locations impose.