Signature Jewelry Grown in the Land of Crosses

But… about everything in order.

One evening, while aimlessly wandering around one of the shopping malls, my eyes fell on a magazine titled "Unforgotten History. News that Inspires.".
I don't know why, maybe because the cover of the magazine was decorated with a jug decorated with Baltic patterns, which are so many preserved in childhood memories in portraits. Maybe because of the title itself, I just picked it up.

As I started flipping through this magazine, I found an interview with the director of the national MK Čiurlionis Museum, in which she shared stories about a truly unique phenomenon – Lithuanian crosses. And about the fact that Lithuanian cross-making was recognized in 2001 UNESCO a masterpiece of world intangible heritage.

Author's jewelry: the expression of the cross symbol

And here I found confirmation for myself that the idea that had been swirling in my head for some time was indeed worth implementing. And at that moment it became clear to me why my eyes had fallen on that publication among the abundance of magazines. Why, without consciously realizing it, I had started leafing through it, as if searching for something important.
 
There are really not many coincidences in a person's life. Therefore, I am sure that the visual of the "RAMUNĖS nameilė" jewelry, which has been spinning in my mind for some time, brought me here to confirm its meaning and significance for me.
 
And, of course, also because this symbol is not only a unique phenomenon for me as a Lithuanian, but also a historical memory that is like a key to the world of our ancestors or a guide to the past. Without which we would hardly be able to clearly define our identity and consciously understand who we really are today.

A little history about crosses

According to the museum's director, Diana Kamarauskienė, it is believed that cross-making flourished in Lithuania at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. This is likely because crosses began to be recorded at that time.
This date was chosen not only for this reason. It is believed that the erection of crosses was a kind of silent struggle against the occupiers. They became an expression of not only religious, but also a symbol of national identity and unity.

The cross is a synthesis of the nation's deep traditions, various customs, arts and crafts, in which elements of sculpture, blacksmithing, painting and even architecture intertwine.
Symbols of this shape are also found in many other cultures. This is evidenced by religious, cultural and other iconography. The protective powers of the cross have been believed in since ancient times, as this symbol existed even before Christianity.

Therefore, there are quite a few different interpretations of the meanings of images and visual symbolism, in one place the meaning attributed to the symbol of the cross is a synthesis of four elements – fire, water, earth and air. In other art history sources, the meaning found refers to the directions of north, south, east and west.
  
The predecessors of crosses are considered to be wooden poles, which were used to mark important places on homesteads during pagan times.
And when I think back to my childhood, a significant part of which was spent in the village, I'm probably like many people who lived and grew up in that era.
What, unfortunately, can't be said about today's children, images of gray, no longer chapel poles, but electricity poles come to mind. They stood, leaning on each other, lined up in the fields of cultivated land as far as the eye could see.

I loved drawing them.

For me, they were associated with the pillars of the sky, which confidently held the leaden rain clouds that threatened to fall on the huts. Just as gray as they were.
 
The belief that a cross placed near a homestead protects its residents dates back to before the introduction of Christianity and has not lost its significance to this day.

Portraits of childhood memories

When you dig into the vaults of childhood memories, images of crosses and chapels emerge, around which a sacred space was cultivated, enclosed by a low fence, decorated with flowers and seasonal plants.
I never saw anyone taking care of those spaces, and perhaps that's why they seemed even more special to me, where my great-grandfather's sister Stefanija would take me, maybe five years old, to read potters on Sundays.
They would tell all sorts of stories, steeped in myths, magic, and superstitions. About the benefits of ayers for virgins' tresses, about devils lurking in the bushes under the bench, waiting for a child to climb into a bed made with white sheets without washing their feet... It was disgusting, I remember, not washing your feet after a day...

Let's return from a short journey through childhood memories to the topic at hand.

Just as crosses once protected against all kinds of misfortunes, destructive storms, and the wrath of thunder, comforted and strengthened the strength of various vows and commitments, so too today they are not only helpers for man, but a symbol reflecting the struggle between good and evil.
The vertical line of the cross shows the direction of growth of all living things from the bottom up. The transverse line is a force that hinders, creates destruction, sows distrust in one's own strength, and distracts from making the right decisions.
However, the line symbolizing growth and goodness is half as long, which gives hope that a person is capable of resisting the forces of evil and finding the right path. 

Designer jewelry – to create a mood of gratitude

Prayer to the cross was and is treated as a sign of request, gratitude, and respect. It is with gratitude for the experiences given, for the achievements, and for the lessons learned that each of us should end the day.
And this has nothing to do with religion or faith, it is rather an opportunity and time for each of us to meet ourselves, analyze our thoughts, and realize where they are leading us.
It's no secret that thoughts have power, and we can and must learn to control them.

These memories, which have been lurking in my subconscious for over three decades, have come to life anew today, bringing a realization of what it all means to me.

And, of course, without them, I probably wouldn't have stopped by that magazine stand, without them the visual of the ornament wouldn't have been born in my mind, forcing me to give the mass of black porcelain the shape of a cross that fits in the palm of my hand. Of course, this is far from being a cross-craft (I even think it would be blasphemous to say so!).
I also realized that now I can confidently answer the question that a client often asks - where do I get my inspiration from - and from that child who grew up in the Land of Crosses, without making much of it at all.

I also answered for myself why, when my mind is silent and my hands are allowed to immerse themselves in the search for forms that represent my world, they create shapes reminiscent of pillars and threads.

On the perception of symbols

This is another important symbol in my life and creative path. Who, at the right moment, began and established a dialogue with me on a topic that opens my heart and mind, in which there is still a lot to be done.

Author's jewelry is not just hand-carved and thoughtfully polished pieces
 
In conclusion, I want to say that all of us today are free to travel wherever our hearts desire. And to explore a world that is truly diverse in its tastes, rituals, beliefs, and the symbols that give them meaning. Elsewhere, it often seems as if something is better…
 
But when we stand on the edge of the world and look at Lithuania, we are surprised (this has happened to me personally more than once) at how unique it is, a country of old souls who still wander Hill of Crosses at the foot of the...

With inspiration, Ramunė