Lorien Dream Wherry

[Niennildi Oarnen]

Navigator Ellenar challenged me to come up with crafts that suit our seasonal and lunar observances and this is my idea for this Isil.

Lorien Dream Wherry

[...] high summer waned to autumn and the western gales
the leaves loosened from the labouring boughs;
the feet of the forest in fading gold
and burnished brown were buried deeply;
a restless rustle down the roofless aisles
sighed and whispered. Lo! the Silver Wherry,
the sailing Moon with slender mast,
was filled with fires as of furnace golden
whose hold had hoarded the heats of summer,
whose shrouds were shaped of shining flame
uprising ruddy o'er the rim of Evening
by the misty wharves on the margin of the world.

^{--- From "THE LAY OF THE CHILDREN OF HURIN"}

This moon is Isilcermie, the Moon of First Harvest, which we have aligned with Irmo, Lord Lorien. Irmo is Lord of Dreams and during this time of beginning the harvest, I thought it suitable to create a basket to harvest our dreams, but as I worked the project evolved into a boat. As the Lore has references to the Wherry of the Moon, the boat, dreams, moon and Irmo just seemed to come together for the name and purpose of the project. As you read, you will probably realize that this draws heavily on the dreamcatcher tradition of the Ojibwa (Chippewa) Native Americans. I suggest changes to the craft to align it more with Lorien, removing materials that make references to other Valar.

Things you'll need:

Bendable twig, basket reed or grapevine (length will determine size of your wherry)
String of some sort to create the net (natural yarn, cotton, raffia)
Things to decorate that you associate with Irmo and dreams
Small needle and thread to stitch decorations on


Decoration suggestions-- pearls, moonstones, silk or paper poppies, moonflowers, pearl buttons, flower trinkets or charms depicting moon or these flowers, flowers can be cut from greeting cards or wrapping paper. There's a thread called Flowers of Lorien that may give you more ideas.

Other thoughts on materials-- That Flowers of Lorien thread has information on trees associated with Irmo that may influence your choice of wood for your boat frame. Calantirniel has an article about the magical properties of hemp and it's "stickiness" and you may like that aspect to have it help you catch the wisdom from your dreams. I had some of my own homespun wool handy that was very fuzzy and it created a very 'cloudy' soft net that seemed somehow very right for what I was after. I avoided suggesting artificial sinew as in the Native American craft because it seemed to have too many hunting connotations that I would associate with Orome rather than Irmo. I also leave out feathers to avoid references to Manwe.


Instructions

Begin by bending your chosen stick into an oval or tear-drop shaped "boat" and tying the ends securely together. Now tie your chosen string to one end or the other and begin forming the net inside the frame you've just created.

This is the best depiction of the netting stitch around the frame:
http://www.nativetech.org/dreamcat/dreminst.html

The instructions at that site describe adding a bead to your netting, but most pearl beads have very small openings, so this is probably not the best time to add your beads. Buttons would fit now and if they "hang" right you may like to incorporate them into your netting at this time rather than adding them later.

Once you have gone around a few times-- allow your sense of intuition and beauty dictate just how filled in you make your frame -- secure the end of the string with a knot.

Now is the time to decorate. Stitch your chosen beads, buttons, and or charms on. Stitch a flower to a length of string and tie to dangle. Perhaps string some beads and dangle your flower from that... The possibilities are endless.

When you have your Lorien Dream Wherry crafted, it's time to fill it with dreams and have it set sail. You may decide to make a small one to use as a bookmark for a dream journal. You may write your aspirations and dreams that you wish to bring into manifestation on small strips of paper and weave them into the net, hang it somewhere to help them come into fruition. Or you may use it as a talisman near your bed to allow it to capture the wisdom of your dreams in its net.

[modbreak=Note]Pictures to come soon[/modbreak]

[Eruannlass]

If anyone out there is really stumped by any of the details of the method of making their dream wherry, I was taught how to make dreamcatchers when I spent a week on a Lakota reservation in 1995.  From time to time I work on one I began a couple of years ago that's got a 3 foot diameter ring.  I can over guidelines, if needed.

About adding beads, if the holes are big enough, the beads can be added whenever you feel like it, and then you just work them into the weaving where they lie.  I've also done a more deliberate stringing so that the objects/colors line up with the 4 directions, when North is the top where you make your hanging loop, and E, S, W, goes clockwise around the circle/oval.  When you point the top to the north while holding it flat, the directions will correspond to compass points.

                                                                              Eruannlass