Four of our favorite ancient symbols are here to help get us all through the rest of this crazy year. (2020 is definitely one for the history books!) 

First, get your calm on with the easy-breezy Patience Please Black Feather Adjustable Chain Bracelet. Next, take a few deep breaths and plow through the sh*tty moments with your Always Journeying Purple Scarab Pendant. If you fall into a slump, slip on your Strong As F*ck Black Lion Pendant Charm to empower yourself with courage. Finally, be inspired by your Rising Up Red Phoenix Adjustable Chain Bracelet and remember that no matter how tough things may seem, you will rise again. 

“PATIENCE PLEASE” BLACK FEATHER

The first of our ancient symbols is the feather.

Light as air, floating wherever the wind takes it. With the feather, there is no rush. It’s light. It’s flexible. It goes with the flow.

Be like the feather: Patient and able to go where the day might take you.

When the checkout line at the grocery store is down the aisle, Starbucks is sold out of your favorite coffee flavor, and trying to figure out your kid’s math homework is making you mental, it’s time for some feather action. Take a few deep breaths, wrap your hand around the Black Feather Pendant Necklace Charm, and find your peaceful inner math teacher.

When you're feeling overwhelmed, overworked, and overstressed, pause and know that you’ve got this. You don’t have to worry, babe! Float above it all like this powerful ancient symbol. Tap into the inspiration of this element for yourself and for your loved ones.

The feather’s got you covered with honor, strength, truth, and wisdom. Did you know that indigenous warriors received a feather whenever they won a battle or demonstrated extreme bravery in battle? (source) 

Getting through all that 2020 has thrown at you has been a different kind of battle than what they faced, but you’ve gotten through it. Why not reward yourself with a feather of your own to wear as a reminder of conquering all the challenges this year has thrown your way? 

Wear your Patience Please Black Feather Pendant with pride, and remember that you’re your own kind of warrior. Then wave it over your partner, wave it over your kids, wave it over your social feed. Ignore the haters and wish everyone peace, prosperity, and happiness. Know that we’ll all get through this in our own way, and it’s okay if someone’s way looks different than yours. 

This is the key to living the life in between - personal happiness and peace. Let the feather guide you to who you are. The truth is, you know what really matters. You already know what you need to focus on to get through your day.

So do it. Let everything else go, and surrender to the one thing you can do today that gives you joy. That gives you peace. That lightens your load and the load of those around you.

Push the heavy weight of uncertainty and fear off your chest. Take flight, soar with the eagles, and look at it all from high above. What do you see? What really matters today? Choose it.

The feather holds the key to transcending the crazy dung pile of 2020 so you can enjoy things in a more authentic way.

“ALWAYS JOURNEYING” PURPLE SCARAB

Speaking of dung piles, our next ancient symbol is the scarab. A lot of ancient Egyptians used to wear the scarab on their jewelry and have it on their tombs. With its wings folded, this powerful ancient symbol represented the beginning of our life’s journey. (source)

In the beginning of our journey, life can knock us down, keep us trapped on the poop pile of circumstance. Then, slowly but surely, just like the scarab, we spread our wings. Our beautiful, shimmering wings of hope and possibility fly us up and into the air towards the sun, the Egyptian symbol of renewal and rebirth.

It’s hard to believe that a beetle that ate sh*t all day every day was so important to the Egyptians. How did that happen? It probably helps that these beetles are gorgeous.

Their wings and plump bodies shimmer with nearly every color of the rainbow. They’re like living, walking jewels!

But, come on. They spend their entire existence in a dung pile. In fact, they start out as an egg, being rolled around in a ball of poop. For hours, their moms and dads push them around the dung pile until the time comes for them to be buried. 

Once they hatch, the baby beetles eat their way to the top. Yep, they eat all the poo to find themselves right on top of it all, beautiful and ready to take on life.

The ancients in Egypt watched this process and saw something miraculous. An old and infirm beetle pushes a ball of poop around all day long. Then he digs down until he and the disc of poop disappear from sight. Next thing the Egyptian knows, a youthful beetle emerges from the spot. Ta-da! Rebirth and immortality. That’s mythology in action for ya! 

From that point on, scarabs were connected with the sun god Khepri who they depicted as having the body of a man and the head of a beetle. 

Why Khepri, you ask? Because, the Egyptians thought that Khepri spent his whole day pushing the sun from one side of the earth to the other. Given that the sun literally ruled their entire existence, it made sense to connect Khepri to the scarab. After that, the Egyptians started using scarabs on everything!

They carved them into protective amulets. They used them to make seals to guard and protect documents. And they buried their dead with all manner of scarab-inscribed relics.

There’s many things in life that change your circumstances. Although those moments might rock your world, when you wear the Always Journeying Purple Scarab Pendant you will be gently reminded that every journey looks different.

Your past can only make your future better, giving you a renewed sense of life by really taking those moments, good or bad, under your wing. Don’t allow them to define you. Instead, use them to help you grow and change into the person that you were meant to be.

LION

As ancient symbols go, the lion is just badass. No one messes with the lion. It’s strong, courageous, and empowered. It guards its pride and protects them. The lion is a warrior. It symbolizes courage, strength, pride, and majesty. (source)

The lion takes on every challenge with fierce resolve and epic strength. Wearing ancient symbols like the lion helps you draw upon the strengths of those symbols. Are you facing down some extreme challenges right now?

Put your Strong as F*ck Black Lion Adjustable Bracelet on and feel it empower you to tackle that problem like the fierce and noble creature you are. Take some cues from the Egyptians. They saw the lion as equal to the scorching rays of the sun. Lions protect all that is good and destroy all that is bad. (source)

And they do it with such elegance, such dignity. There is nothing more noble than a prowling lion protecting its pride. It doesn’t have anything to prove. It is beautiful and powerful and just Bad.Ass.

The lion reminds us of our own internal power. It calls out to us to step into our authority, to hold our heads high during times of trouble, and to meet challenges with strength and dignity.

No hanging out in the background, hoping to go unnoticed. Get in there and get sh*t done. And get it done with pride and courage and faith. You’ve got what it takes to take care of business.

Of course, just like everything, the lion symbol has a shadow side. On the flipside, the lion represents everything wild within you. Creativity unleashed, unbridled passion, difficult emotions.

The lion asks you to embrace every part of yourself. Maybe today is your day to walk on the wild side. The lion isn’t afraid of anything, not even itself. Just like the Egyptian goddess Sekhmet.

She was the cat goddess, the first ever Catwoman. She had the face of a lion and the body of a human. She wore a sun disc on her head, and her name means “Powerful One.” (source)

As both villain and heroine, Sekhmet destroyed with plagues and disease. Yet, when her followers turned to her, she spared them. She could be cruel and fickle, striking one down while leaving another unharmed. 

As a result, she became known as the “lady of terror.” However, she also held the power to heal. Healers called upon her as their patron, calling her “lady of life.” (source)

So if you need to unleash your wild side and go all Catwoman on someone’s ass, lion has your back. Hold your head high and unleash your inner beast.

But, if you need to play it cool, the lion’s got you covered there too. The king of beasts will lend you his magnificent strength, his zen-like calm, and his cat-like reflexes.

“RISING UP” RED PHOENIX

Of all the ancient symbols, this one holds a special place on our Cuff Keeper. We all know the phoenix rises from the ashes. And that we rise with it, if we let ourselves. But what else do mythical firebirds do?

First of all, they live forever. Yeah, they burst into flames every thousand years or so, but then they just come back, fully formed, ready to live another thousand years.

The phoenix carries on with its mission, even more determined and beautiful than before. 

You know what else? This beautiful bird decides when to light the fire under its own ass. Yep, it builds itself a nest of dried herbs, then claps its wings to create a spark. As its body burns, its soul travels to Heliopolis, the City of the Sun.

There it receives its new orders and returns to the burnt ashes of its nest and resurrects into new life. Time after time, this same soul returns, never taken out completely. This endless cycle of death and rebirth reminds us that we also come back stronger and stronger after every setback.

“To me, the phoenix is one of my favorite symbols to wear,” says Rachel, co-founder of Air & Anchor®. “To be reminded that life goes on and that throughout it you will always transform and change. And as you grow up you learn and become a stronger self.”

We’ve talked a lot about Egyptian mythology with these ancient symbols. But did you know this inspiring symbol shows up in other cultures across the world too? In Slavic folklore, the phoenix serves as the initiator of a hero’s quest.

With the phoenix, you get to be the hero of your story. While it can sometimes feel like the hero is going to lose to the villain, eventually, every hero wins the battle, conquers the quest, and comes out on top. The villain doesn’t win! And sometimes, the hero even wins a prize of some kind. 

What prize are you hoping for at the end of your journey? Rest assured, with the phoenix on your side, anything is possible with hard work and grit. Wearing the Rising Up Red Phoenix Pendant means you accept the challenges coming your way and you’re ready to conquer each one of them with your arms spread wide and your head held high. 

IT’S YOUR CHOICE NOW

So, here we are at the end of this exploration of these four amazing ancient symbols. Which one do you resonate most with?

Is it the lightness of the feather, or the persistence of the scarab? Maybe it’s the strength of the lion, or the magical resilience of the phoenix? Maybe it’s a personalized combo of a few together? Whichever you choose, let us know by commenting below or tagging @airandanchor in your photos on social media. We want to cheer you on as you find your own personal power, strength, and balance through these ancient symbols!