[Jewelry making - Article 00937] - [Orchid] [Tidbits] Makara

[Benjamin Mark]

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    Crocodile oh Crocodile
    Do sit with me and talk awhile...
                  Author Unknown

    The fourth tooth of the lower jaw protrudes on each side to show it
    is indeed a true crocodile. A beast... a God... a trinket of gems and
    gold. Makara... a Sanskrit word which refers to our amphibian friend. 


    Ancient India. Birth of a meticulous devotion to bejeweled
    craftsmanship. Nothing for the hoi-polloi here folks. The wrists of
    the aristocratic ladies of the day were heavily laden with adornments
    to make the most Fifth Avenue-ish amongst us writhe in jealous agony. 


    Unique jewelry was the cornerstone of Indian culture. Nothing mundane
    here. The top of the top... the best of the best... and the rest for
    the rest. The ladies wore jewels that covered the parting of their
    hair and hung down over their foreheads. Her tresses were engulfed in
    sheets of gold. Her ears were never bare. Necklaces hung in cascading
    clusters from her neck. Dancing swans hugged her waist. Golden Makara
    clasped her wrists. She was bejeweled down to her toes. Nary an inch
    of flesh lay uncovered. Ye gads folks... for all intents and purposes
    she could have been naked under all that finery. 

    In Hindi... the crocodile is called Magar. This word has evolved to
    be written as Mugger... and it is from this word that we got the
    English word for a street thug. He hit me over the head and stole my
    pocket book. He's a Crocodile. No no ma'am. He's a Mugger. Or maybe
    he is a crocodile. 

    So how dangerous is a crocodile? Let me tell you this small
    mythological tale. Horus--an Egyptian god--was an adversary to Set.
    And so he fought an eighty year war with Set in which he took on the
    form of a crocodile and while Set tore out his left eye... he tore
    out Set's testicles. The moral of this tale... you don't pick fights
    with crocodiles if you value your family jewels. As an aside... to be
    swallowed by a crocodile is tantamount to beginning your descent into
    hell. 

    There are those who believe that crocodiles make noises like humans
    in pain in order to attract their prey. Then... after having eaten
    the poor lad or lass... they are said to shed tears over the head of
    their victim. Whether or not this is because they feel deep regret
    over their foul deed or whether or not they have gas and can not
    stand the accompanying pain is something I leave for you all to
    ponder. 

    For those of you who are new to this thing called Tidbits...may I
    direct you to my home page at www.tyler-adam.com where you will
    scroll down the left side menu till you get to the area that says
    Current Tidbits... and then click on it in order to view a pair of
    magnificent Makara bracelets. 

And there ya have it.
That's it for this week folks.
Catch you all next week.
Benjamin Mark
http://www.tyler-adam.com
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