Foxy Fox Rattle

It didn't require much convincing when retired artist Glenn Lewis was presented with the opportunity to paint a limited number of sacred gourd rattles. "I thought I had painted on about every possible medium available to me during the past 65 years," he said, "from countless canvases to huge murals, and on glass, brick, stucco, metal, wood, drywall, hundreds of Bob's special drums and more, but never on a sacred gourd rattle. I was honored and especially excited for an opportunity to interpret and express my deep appreciation of Spirit animals and the deeply moving language, sometimes encoded, that is transmitted by spiritual symbols."

 

Each of the rattles in this Collection is unique, a one-of-a-kind, impossible to duplicate. Each is beautifully shaped as it was when picked from the garden. Each is beautifully hand-painted by artist Glenn Lewis, and I decorate each too. This goes deeper than shape, paint or decoration however. These rattles have their very own voices that result from the separation of the original seedpods within their very shells. Thus, the more one shakes a gourd like this, the more seeds separate and the more varied becomes the rattle's voice. Now that's one-of-a-kind for certain!

 

Something else however joins these rattles spiritually. A Lightning Bead (coming from a lightning-struck tree) in union with one or more copper beads becomes a welcomed energy source for a shaman familiar with their use in ceremony. You can read more about this here, an article I wrote, "The Hidden Majesty of Lightning Wood."

 

 

Bob's Thoughts About The Foxy Fox Rattle:

Every shaman knows why foxes are so clever. In proportion to their size, they have big ears! Fox knows stuff because it's quiet, nearly transparent when it wants to be and, most importantly, it knows how to listen. Good healers are the same way. Speak little, listen a lot.

 

Artist Glenn Lewis has perfectly interpreted Fox in three poses to capture the movement and mindset of The Foxy Clever Master, each revealing insights into the freedom given to such an intrepid hunter, a playful partner and a thoughful listener.

 

I spotted many foxes while living in the hills of rural West Virginia and, indeed, came to appreciate how elusive and mysterious these teachers are. And clever! Most times I would see a fox at some distance because they did not appreciate close approaches. They would most often suddenly appear, motionless, having moved out of a treeline or from behind bushes. Always I could see their ears peak in my direction. I believe they intended to be seen and to demonstrate their magic just to gauge my reaction. Then, in a blink, they would disappear.

 

Once, after having figured me to be harmless I suppose, a mother led her two kits on an outing to my house one snowy night. I had two big ol' happy thick-coated dogs that preferred sleeping in a pen across the driveway, but this night they sounded quite perturbed at something! I rushed out of the house and witnessed a truly funny scene as I stopped at the edge of the porch.  The mother fox twice playfully marched her kits back and forth along the outside of the fence while the dogs worked themselves into a frenzy. She seemed to be taunting the barking beasts!

 

In truth, I believe she was teaching the young kits about dog behavior. She wanted the young ones to listen to dog voices and to see how dogs reacted when foxes were around. Then the trio stepped silently into the woodsline a few yards away and disappeared.

 

I believe you will learn much about Fox when you own and use this wonderful rattle in ceremony or during times when its voice will pleasantly speak while you guide your own spiritual ritual.

 

Aho & Namaste,

Bob

This rattle can only be sold in America. A special $20 shipping charge has already been added to the price shown. This allows for the expense of wrapping, double boxing, packing and thus protecting this sacred rattle while in transit to U.S. customers.

We do not have special boxes for shipping this rattle, so it will be secured in suitable boxes that may show one or another company logo or other identifying information on it. This does not mean that the company whose logo or other identifying information appearing on a box is an endorsement of or otherwise an acknowledgement of the box's contents. The Thunder Valley Drums name will appear on the shipping label however.