Thoth – Astrolabe Arts

I’ve been wanting to try to make this one for a while now and it came out pretty good. There’s a few processes and tecniques I might do different next time, but overall I’m very happy with the result. It’s fairly tall for a staff standing at 67″. The staff itself is made of semi-rough oak and the pyrography depicts images of 5 Ancient Egyptian deities along with various hieroglyphic motifs. The gods from top to bottom are Ra, Thoth, Anubis, Sobek, and Hathor. On the top of the staff is a band of Djed pillars aside star glyphs, the bottom banding depicts the Ankh, Wejda, Seneb (an Egyptian blessing meaning Life, Prosperity and Health) above the Djed, Nefer, and the Feather of Ma’at, with the connotations of Strength, Beauty, and Divine Justice. Below those six hieroglyphics is a field of stars – a sacred realm of the gods. The wood is also coated with boiled linseed oil for protection from the elements. Perfect for ceremonial purposes or just hiking through the forest!

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September 29, 2023 by jrgoslant Categories: Staffs and Hiking SticksTags: ancient Egyptian, ankh, Anubis, Artwork, Egyptian gods, handmade, Hathor, hieroglyphics, hieroglyphs, hiking staff, hiking stick, pyrography, Ra, Sobek, staff, Thoth, walking staff, walking stick, wood burning Leave a comment

During the summer, I went hiking with a few friends and realized that despite crafting and selling all sorts of staffs and hiking sticks, I had failed to make myself one. That’s when a long, thin, dry piece of pine caught my eye on the side of the trail. I broke it down to size and part of a twisted root at what would now be the top.

After I got it home, I debarked most it, shaped the root a little, and gave it a good sanding. I opted for keeping some of the bark in places because I ended up really liking the texture; I had never worked with pine before, but found it very enjoyable. The bark nearest the top wrapped with a simple pattern of black rawhide lace serves as the hand grip.

The twisted root now holds a “stone” of green glass and several marbles I f(strangely) found while hiking, or on the way to go hiking. It’s also wrapped with waxed hemp and a small amount of copper wire, both for their aesthetics – it really pulls the ornaments together as single section- and for keeping said ornaments securely fastened to the staff. The bottom of this section is boarded by tan rawhide lace which also serves to attach a number of small charms and beads: an Egyptian scarab; a red bead depicting the ancient Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamen, a double sided charm depicting Quetzalcoatl on one and the Pyramid of the Sun at Teotihuacan on the other, a ring that accompanied it, and a stragate pendant.

The pyrography displays the ancient Egyptian god of wisdom, Thoth; my name in a cartouche and hieroglyphics; and my name in cuneiform-like symbols. It stands at 65.5” tall and is coated with several layers of polyurethane.

Artist: J.R. Goslant

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