I love vultures and years ago began featuring them on the bags that I tapestry crocheted for myself. I realized that most editors would not be amused by my choice, so I stuck to cats and horses, for the most part, for pieces that I designed for the public – until I heard about the AntiCraft book. I suspected that Renee and Zabet would probably share my enthusiasm for vultures – and they did!
This is how the AntiCraft bag looked before it was felted.
After felting it is fuzzy like a young vulture chick.
Vultures don’t usually kill, but eat carrion. They congregated at the dump at the edge of town where I lived in Guatemala in the 1970’s, picking up the mess we made every day. I see them cleaning up our local highways now.
Contemporary Western Society is repulsed by vultures, but they are highly esteemed by many ancient and non-Western cultures. For the Dynastic Egyptians, the Vulture Goddess, Nekhebet, protected Upper Egypt, mothers, and children, and was usually represented in Egyptian art as a vulture or a woman with the head or wings of a vulture.
The vulture on King Tut’s headdress represents Nekhebet.
This pectoral of Nekhebet holding the symbols of infinity was found in King Tut’s tomb.
Traditional Native Americans have tremendous respect for vultures. Many stories tell how condors and vultures helped form the world and as they consume the flesh of the deceased, these incredible birds transport the dead to the spirit world.
This Aztec ceramic vessel from the Metropolitan Museum of Art features – yes – a vulture!
Yes, I follow the beat of a different drummer. Now that you know a little more about them, though, I hope you will embrace rather than shun these special creatures. Better yet, why not tapestry crochet the AntiCraft Carrion (now available on Ravelry)?
Wow, that’s awesome! Love the play on words, too.
I can’t take credit for the title – that was the editor’s doing. I think it’s clever, too!
Not only did we love the vultures, we loved the clever way in which the bag was designed to keep itself closed!
This pattern is now available on Ravelry at https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/carrion-bag
[…] sent the pictures because of my old blog post about the Carrion […]