My Joe and I got married last year. He got me a beautiful engagement ring, which I promptly slammed in a door. Stone fell out. Second ring? Stone fell out. Third ring? Stone fell out. Fourth ring? Smashed against the wall, stone fell out. I was then grounded from engagement rings. We were looking at rings that represented who we were individually and as a couple. We’d both gotten necklaces from Aidan (pentacle and crossroads sigil, respectively) and asked if he’d design our wedding bands for us. NO STONES. 

The result is pictured above- a Fox paw nestled safely in a Bear paw. Me and Him. The scrollwork that was added on the side coincidentally matches a tattoo on my arm perfectly. Magical.

Magical creation is what Aidan does. He’s a talismanic jeweler and works in what our friend Bri Saussy calls “The Sacred Arts”. I see his work as holding space to create magical and holy artifacts for his clients. I know that my pentacle necklace called to me. That my ring keeps me grounded. This is more than just beauty living in these pieces.

He is also a really, really nice guy with a great sense of humor and some epic musical tastes. 

LFT Questionnaire

 1.     What you appreciate the most in your friends.

Their continued love & support through the years. I don’t have a lot of close friends, so the ones I do have mean the world to me. That they put up with me is highly appreciated!
 
2.     Your idea of happiness.

Good weather, my wife, and all of the critters on our land. Making dreams in metal. Making music. I love the simplicity of our life & my work.
 
3.     Your idea of misery.

The inability to communicate when I really, really want to! 
 
4.     Your favorite colors and flowers.

I love silver! I love it best a bit abused & tarnished & all satin-matted out and distressed. It’s pretty when it’s all shiny like a mirror, but it shows it’s true self in a well worn state! As for flowers, I’m a datura freak, and not picky about variety. The smell, the flowers, the spiky seed pods, all of it. I had a datura hell week when I was 15, and after it decided not to kill me, we have been good friends. 
 
5.     Your favorite poets. 

Patti Smith, Jim Carroll, and Chris Whitley. All are musician-poets, which are the kind that suit me best. I prefer my poetry with guitars attached!
 
6.     Your heroes/heroines in fiction.

Jilly Coppercorn from Charles DeLint’s books. (me, too!! -LFT) Gulliver Foyle from Albert Bester’s The Stars My Destination. Burke from Andrew Vachss’ works. Random from the Amber books. I like my heroes a bit roughed up but willing to go for it, whatever their personal ‘it’ is! 
 
7.     What role does divination play in your life?

A lot, but not so much in a mechanical sense. In other words, my work (both magical and in metal and the two combined) requires that I read signs and trust my intuition to a huge degree. I’m often asked to find a magical/visual ‘answer’ to what is often an un-framed question. That process is very much one of pure divination. And frequently I don’t actually understand the answer, I just know when I have found it!
 
8.     Your heroes/heroines in real life.

Today I will pick Damien Echols & Lana Wachowski. And a few of my friends who I will be kind to and leave unnamed!
 
9.     What is your present state of mind?

It’s good at the moment! A touch of jeweler’s stress, as I am working though a difficult procedural problem, but other than that, things are good in there! 
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10.  What is your favorite tarot deck or divination tool?

My favorite deck is the Noblet Marseille as re-built by Jean-Claude Flornoy. It’s really the only one I’ve ever been to consistently read with (using my interpretation of what I have learned from Camelia Elias approach). My favorite tool, however, is my hand turned brass plumb bob from Richard Kell in England. I have been a pendulum guy for 30 years, and this has been my tool for nearly all of it. It’s fantastic, and lights up for me now with a perfectly beautiful halo when I use it.
 
11.  Your favorite songs?

This one stumped me, so I am using the Fabeku method! These are the songs that have stayed in heavy rotation for a good long while:
 
Hotel Vast Horizon by Chris Whitley
Theurgist by True Widow
Lucretia My Reflection by The Sisters of Mercy
Stay Clean by Motorhead
Johnny the Fox meets Jimmy the Weed by Thin Lizzy
Holy Mountain by Sleep
Red Temple Prayer (Two Headed Dog) by Roky Erickson
Marked for Death by Emma Ruth Rundle
Father Lucifer by Tori Amos
No Bells on Sunday by The Mark Lanegan Band
Crowned by These Immortal Souls
 
12.  What is your favorite word?

Ectoplasmic. I have always loved Rowland S. Howard, but never as much as when he actually used ectoplasmic in a song. Sigh.
 
13.  What is your least favorite word?

Meh.
 
14.  What sound or noise do you love?

Thunder! Massive, house shaking, booming echoing thunder! My animals do not agree with me on this, not at all.
 
15.  What sound or noise do you hate?

I do not like the vacuum cleaner. On this me & the animals agree. It is the sound of a bad, demonic force.
 
16.  What turns you on?

People on (metaphorical!) fire. People making beauty. Raging guitars. Rock and roll.
 
17.  What turns you off?

People fucking over other people/things.
 
18.  What is your favorite curse word?

Motherfucker! As in ‘Don’t say motherfucker, motherfucker!’ (which is also a fine song!).
 
 19.  If heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?

“You were mostly not an ass”.  🙂 Seriously, I can’t begin to grok the concept of this, so I have nothing serious to say. 

You can find Aidan here:             

FB: https://www.facebook.com/tveirhrafnar/
Site: http://www.aidanwachter.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/silfrsmith
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aidan.wachter/
 

xoxoxoxo LIS