symbiosis.

Symbiosis gestated over a period of seven months in a sustainable hut in the wild heart of Karekare, New Zealand.

This necklace is offered in a spirit of gratitude—to give back to nature.

We forget how precious everything is. Life, time, nature. And although we all know that the over-consumption of natural resources is slowly but surely laying waste to this Earth, there is no equilibrium; no giving back. We consistently neglect our responsibility to participate lovingly in the living cycles of nature.

Crafted from the seed-pods of mānuka and from harakeke flax, Symbiosis is a talisman to honour not only the mānuka tree, but the very Earth itself. It is a talisman to awaken us to the mortality of everything that lives and grows; everything that is borne, sustained, and reclaimed by the Earth.

In fashioning this talisman, my body and its movements became ritual conduits for spreading the seeds of new life across the land. Its purpose is not only to honour nature through an act of giving, but ultimately to inspire people to live more symbiotically with our precious planet. For just as we must return our bodies to the Earth upon death, in life our primary lesson is to dance in her sacred embrace.

Silently a flowers blooms,

In silence it falls away;

Yet here now, at this moment, at this place,

                The whole of the flower, the whole of

                the world is blooming.

This is the talk of the flower, the truth

                Of the blossom;

The glory of eternal life is fully shining here.

      -Zenkei Shibayama