Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Cedar Berries

I got this really cool cedar berry necklace from Etsy.com. Cedar berries actually come from the Juniper tree and I have a big one in my front yard! It's loaded with berries. In the fall the berries will fall to the ground and the squirrels eat the outside leaving the seed. Those seeds can be pierced with a needle or small drill and made into beads. They're lovely. The Navajo used them to ward off evil, nightmares and all sorts of bad things. They call them Ghost Beads. They would make them and give to the children to wear to keep them safe. How cool is that?
We know what my fall project is going to be.

3 comments:

Heidi Snavley said...

I love etsy.com, although I haven't been able to buy anything yet. Very cool necklace!

Ren Allen said...

VERY cool. I'm intrigued. Isn't ETSY the greatest place to find interesting and artful items?

EcoRover said...

I've been wearing a cedar berry necklace that an Indian friend made for me on a canoe trip in the Temagami Wilderness 30 years ago. So far, it's worked!