That is a really nice pendant you have - my student told me two weeks ago when I entered his home. It was a white pendant I had that day, made from a polished shell cut into a rhomboid shape. The white and pink colours shine through, and they break up the monotony of black clothes perfectly, which is why I like it.
As my student's hobby (one of the hobbies apart from learning the piano) is making jewellery, he would start talking about it with great joy every time we have the opportunity. When he saw the white seashell pendant around my neck, he brought out a box full of greenish and bluish pieces of shells. Like broken pieces of a bigger "something". At first, I had no idea what these unusual fragments were. How did you get them? I asked with a smile. You didn't go diving to get these shells, did you?
Oh no, of course I didn't. I would have to go diving to the other side of the world to get them. I heard his answer. These are pieces of Abalone shells, specifically Pāua shells from New Zealand. I bought them as material for my jewellery.
How exotic. Hey, this fragment looks like a foot. This is the heel, and here are the toes, I explained and showed what I saw. That morning, during my Sunday morning gig in the hotel, someone told me that I was gently walking my fingers over the keys of the piano, and I guess that is why that broken piece of shell caught my eye and reminded me of a foot.
There was no negotiation; my student immediately said that it would be a gift for me, that he would polish the edges and drill a hole to make it into a pendant. I can't argue with him because when it comes to giving me something, he is stubborn and you can't convince him otherwise. And I really liked the shape and the colours that can't be described with words, so actually I was waiting for the pendant to be finished with great excitement. He attached it to a fine gold necklace (also as a part of the gift) so here it is, finished, and for the very first time it was in my hand today:
The photos don't really do it justice. 😔 I can't take pictures that truly capture the colours and how they change depending on the angle. Well, you will just have to believe me (or not) how its rainbow-like iridescence is pretty, but I hope you can appreciate a bit the blue, green, silver, turquoise, and purple colours from the pictures. I was moving it just a bit so you can see the different hues of these colours:
There is also a bit of red or orange colours, depending on the light and background colours that are reflected a bit like in a mirror. It is like having a piece of living matter in your hands that is constantly changing.
The more I observe this fragment of the Pāua shell, the more shapes and meanings I see in it. I also see a head and a body covered with a veil or other rough material. Maybe a person praying or holding something or someone. Maybe it carries some sadness, or is full of gratitude; it depends on how you see it in a certain moment. In any case, I see it as a beautiful piece of a shell, so fragile but resilient at the same time. This also reminds me of a poem we heard yesterday in a movie, recited by Morgan Freeman in his role of Nelson Mandela. It was William Ernest Henley's poem Invictus that, according to the movie, helped the imprisoned Nelson get up day by day and carry on.
From the other side, it was easier to take a photo of the shell pendant as it is not so shiny. From this perspective, it looks like a spread wing or just a piece of a rock or maybe even a piece of cork. Here we can also see the mixture of warm and cold colours, but in a completely different relief.
Still, I am referring to it as a foot again, that little part of us that helps us walk through this life in the way we should. Through this unique pendant, I can keep and carry that precious reminder close to my chest. And I think it will fit with the majority of the clothes I wear, at least with the things I tried on today with the pendant.
