DEMETER

Ever since humans began clearing forests and tilling the earth to harvest its fecund gifts have we talked about the Mother who gives and takes life. Demeter is her name in the ancient Greek mythology, where she was goddess of agriculture and the bearer of the unwritten law of divine order. When Demeter learned that her daughter Persephone had been abducted her sorrow and wrath left the earth barren and dry with all of humanity facing extinction from starvation.

Last year´s decaying plants nourishing the seeds that will grow next spring is the coming and going of generations through the centuries. “You reap what you sow” is a dire reminder that the immutable rhythm of this sacred law of cyclic transformation is disrupted at our own peril. The sword and the plow blade are two sides of the same reality. Both demand awareness and responsibility of their wielders.

Created: 2018

Total length: 656 mm

Blade length: 525 mm

Blade width: 82 mm

Weight: 834 g

Point of balance: 44 mm from guard

Materials &Techniques: The blade is forged in 700 layers of 1070 & 15N20 steel hammered and etched for strong chatoyance effects. The hilt is sculpted and cast in bronze, one side showing growing vegetation-like forms while the other shows bone- or skull-like forms. The felt lined scabbard is covered in leather with leaf gold decorations on the front in the form of planted seeds or fertility cup marks. The bronze mounts of the scabbard reflect the same duality as the hilt components.