Morningstar Medicine Wheel Pendant
Morningstar Medicine Wheel Pendant
by Mitchell Zephier (Lakota)
Handcrafted with German silver with alabaster, sandstone, azurite, malachite, black and red pipestone inlay.
Dimension: 1-5/8” in diameter
Comes with a 1mm sterling silver snake chain 20” long.
What is a medicine wheel? There are many layers of meaning involved with this simple yet powerful design. It is a sacred symbol. Depending on the tribe, you will receive a different interpretation or different combination of colors. For the Lakota, each color is associated with a cardinal direction, the four seasons, and the four stages of life. The circle symbolizes the cyclical patterns found in nature, of birth and death, or the path of the sun and moon across the sky.
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Mitchell Zephier, an enrolled member of the Lower Brule Lakota tribe, began creating jewelry in the early 1970s. His first teacher, Frank Standing High, taught him the basics of cutting and shaping metal at a summer program at Dartmouth College, and later he apprenticed with his aunt, a Zuni jeweler who taught him inlay techniques.
Mitchell's vision has been to develop his own style based on Lakota history, culture, and spirituality. He designs jewelry in German silver, brass, and copper often inlaid with crushed materials such as pipestone, alabaster, lapis, or malachite mixed with epoxy as a holding agent. Mitchell collaborates with family who help with inlay work or other detail-oriented aspects of the process.