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A hsun ok is a spiritual vessel used in Theravada Buddhism by families to carry food and other offerings to monks in monasteries or temples and, in the past, to members of the royal family. These spiritual acts are to gain merit: good deeds that improve one’s life and inner self and attract other positive…
This exceptional polychrome mask (topeng in Java, tapel in Bali) of Jatayu blends Balinese ethnic and folk-art with Hindu cultural traditions. Indonesia was part of the larger Hindu Majapahit Empire (1293-1527), is now a Muslim majority but Bali remains mostly Hindu. Balinese masks are often made from a single piece of local pulai wood whose…
While most families have had prints or paper-cuts of the Kitchen-God with or without his wife above their stove, carved wood images with a lacquer coating tended to be owned by wealthier families. The Kitchen God is syncretic as a Taoist, Popular Religion and Buddhist tutelary deity who protects the home and its inhabitants, observes…
Balinese masks (tapel in Balinese, topeng in Java), are said to have existed since the 10th century and often are danced in sacred Hindu stories with important moral, ethical, historical and philosophical ideas, This is especially true as many come from ancient Hindu texts like ancient epics the Ramayana, the Mahabharata and the Babad Dalem, the…
The Eight Immortals were Taoist Deities who achieved immortality using different paths, usually dwell in mountains and hills, are portrayed singly, in pairs or as a group and are common deities seen in Taoist temples. They are folk heroes and most were actual people to whom extraordinary powers were attributed. Both Buddhist bodhisattvas and Taoist sages…
This Chinese-Republic porcelain is the Taoist Deity Lu Dongbin, one of the Eight Immortals, holding his identifying symbol, a fly whisk. Fly whisks were used by Buddhists and Taoists to deflect insects without hurting them which was viewed as a way to allay ones problems and difficulties. Fly whisk (yun chou) means cloud sweeper, which…
In Bali, Indonesia, Hindu villages have a sacred collection of woodcarvings in the form of Balinese masks (topeng) danced as offerings to the gods with a gamelan percussion orchestra. Balinese dance masks are endowed with magic (tenget) ), especially. the 2 central to Balinese mythology, culture and their past of animism: Rangda and Barong. Barong…
No other region has produced the quantity, quality, and diversity as the crosses from the Africa Ethiopian-Highlands, the second nation to adopt Christianity as its official religion. The uniqueness of the Ethiopian Cross stems from influences of many ancient civilizations: Coptic, Celtic, Egyptian, Byzantine and Greek. Ethiopian pendant crosses were made in a variety of…
The rare antique tribal silver amulet depicts the Hindu Gods Ganesh and his consort Parvati. Ganesh removes obstacles, brings fortune, wears a crown and joyfully holds up his trunk. His large elephant head and ears symbolize knowledge through listening and reflection and his four arms symbolize the four aspects of Hinduism, the four Vedas (ancient…
Images of Taoist priests were often placed on a home altar along with other spiritual images, ancestral tablets and ancestor figures to honor the departed family members, practice familial piety and ancestor-worship, and request good fortune to the family dwelling and its household. Priests were called daoshi (道士 “master of the Tao”) identified by his…
This image from Guandong wears typical Taoist priest or shaman attire – an undergarment crossed at the neck, an overcoat clasped at the waist and a double-winged high hat centered with an image of a taotie. The taotie is a mystical animal sometimes on the hat of Taoist priests or shamans as a guardian or…
No region has produced the quantity, quality and diversity as the crosses coming from the Ethiopian-highlands in Africa. The uniqueness of the Ethiopian-Cross stems from influences of many ancient civilizations: Coptic, Celtic, Egyptian, Byzantine and Greek. Ethiopia was the second country after Armenia to adopt Christianity as its official religion, but it remained isolated and…
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