Durga - Orissa, India
Laura Amazzone
NAMASTE~
Beading is meditative for me. I see the thread upon which I string the beads for Amazzone Jewelry as a grounding anchor that connects us to the Divine Mother. Each individual bead symbolizes aspects of Goddess that are inherent in all of us. The divine intention underlying Amazzone Jewelry is to educate and remind others of the rich legacy of female and non-patriarchal male deities around the globe. These spiritually charged, unique, one-of-a-kind pieces promote healing, transformation and self-empowerment not only to the wearer, but to all who come in contact with them.
In the spirit of artists in the ancient and indigenous worlds, Amazzone Jewelry is created in a meditative and ritual space to invoke and celebrate the sacred flow of creativity and the deities that guide and inspire. Before I begin each piece I meditate and invoke the Divine. Each necklace is named after a Goddess or God from various cultures around the world, who comes to me, and informs the work. As I bead, I channel their attributes into the piece. In this divinely inspired creative state, I charge each piece with protective, loving and healing energies for the wearer. Each necklace comes with a card describing the Goddess or God as well as the spiritual properties of the stones and energies in the piece.
I use beads that I have collected during my travels in Europe, Asia, and the South Pacific. My necklaces are made of treasures from Mother Earth: semi-precious stones, Lithuanian amber, shells, bone, wood, glass, silver and other silver metals.
Jai Ma,
Laura Amazzone
~ Ambika
Biography:
Laura Amazzone is an author, jewelry artist, teacher, prietess and yogini. Over the past ten years she has studied the myths and rituals of the female-centered Kaula and Shakta Tantra tradition and goddesses in India, Nepal and Southeast Asia with teachers both in Asia and the US. Laura has received initiation into the Shakta Tantra, Sri Vidya, and Kashmiri Shaivite lineages. She completed her Master’s degree in Philosophy and Religion, emphasis in Women’s Spirituality at the California Institute of Integral Studies in 2001.
Laura has published articles on jewelry and adornment, the Goddess Durga and other South Asian Goddesses. Her book, GODDESS DURGA: SACRED FEMALE POWER will be published by Hamilton Books, an imprint of University Press of America in Fall 2010. It is available for pre-order at laura@amazzonejewelry.com
Laura teaches as adjunct faculty in the Yoga Philosophy Program at Loyola Marymount University.
Check the events page for other upcoming workshops, classes, jewelry trunk shows, and writings.