Vintage bone carved phurba pendant #2

This Nepalese phurba pendant is a very special one. It is handcarved from yak bone by an artisan craftsman in Kathmandu and has quite some years of age to it already. Therefore it might have some little damages and imperfections that come with age and previous usage, but overall it is in good condition.

This phurba pendant can be worn as a personal protective amulet or for that reason be attached to your ritual attributes or clothing, but can also be used as a fully-functional ritual weapon in handy travel size.

Design characteristics:

Handle: a dorje (vajra) symbol.
Blade: a very abstract representation of the mythical watermonster Makara.
Pommel: the pommel shows a human skull, a symbol very prominent in Himalayan regions influenced by Tibetan buddhism. 

On the one hand it can be said that the symbol of the skull (of course) refers to death; it is a powerful reminder of the fact that all our lives will simply end one day. The symbol of the skull is thus used in all kinds of meditative practices to contemplate on this inevitabilty and also on the other side of this medal; how important it is to live your life in the best possible and most compassionate of ways.

On a more metaphorical level, contemplating on the image of the skull also is a powerful practice in cutting through the bonds with one's own ego and the identification with the physical body. It takes us to the limits of human knowledge and helps to gain insight in the buddhist concept of 'Emptiness', which doesn't mean 'nothing-ness', but actually quite on the contrary refers to the true nature of the universe and reality; the endless, ultimate emptiness in which all possibilities exist.

Human skulls are also very prominent in the iconography around a lot of the 'wrathful' deities in Tibetan Buddhism and Hinduism. Wrathful deities are the fierce, forceful aspects or manifestations of Buddhas, Bodhisattvas or Devas. They are often portrait as terrifying, demonic looking beings adorned with human skulls or bone ornaments and ritual weapons. In this setting, the human skulls symbolize all the poisonous delusions and limiting mental beliefs that need to be overcome on the path to enlightenment.

Size; approximately 9,5 centimeters long, measured including the eyelet. Weight approximately 9 grams.

Read more about the general and specific design and symbolism of the phurba in the general description of the webshop-collection "Ritual Attributes; Phurba's".