It's rare for me to get criticism on Facebook and Instagram, but I did in a comment under some new angel wings I recently shared. I had filmed the angel wings in front of a small poster hanging in the workshop, one that describes the chakra colors. A woman reacted sharply to this.
At first, I was sad, but now I just feel more like writing and sharing.
She wrote:
"Oh, it's a shame that you've started selling according to chakras.
It's a scam and deceives people into believing that something will change if they buy the right color or crystal. I thought you were smarter.
Oh, what a shame. I've stopped being a customer because I won't support that kind of deception, nor that shop."
Hmmm….
….. I don't think the women who visit Milas allow themselves to be fooled and misled.
Do I believe in angels and chakras?
I believe in all sorts of things, including science and evidence.
What I experience regarding, for example, angel wings, is that it's a gesture. When a mother chooses an angel wing for her daughter, it's a loving way to show her, "I'm here for you, I'll take care of you, whenever you want."
That's essentially what jewelry often is: comfort, support, care, love.
And that's how I like to work with jewelry.
I think that feels much more meaningful than when it's "just decoration."
I never tell anyone that they will have a different and better life when they buy a chakra ring, but I often find that jewelry brings joy in more ways than one.
For me, chakra is also a tribute to the richness of colors in the world. I simply love colors.
I once researched the teachings of chakra because I wasn't feeling well and was struggling with many imbalances. And I found it both inspiring and educational.
Life is a buffet.
Therefore, if you ask me, you should pick a little from all shelves.
Be inspired, celebrate with colors, use a gold ring for comfort and support, seek help wherever you find it best, as long as you don't harm others.
My jewelry is meant to comfort, move, support, bring love.
By the way, we've been making angel wings and chakra rings for many, many years now; it's nothing new. This wing is just a new and more sculptural model.
Am I a spiritual person?
"Are you one of those spiritual people who burn incense and are very alternative, Minna?"
No... I'm all sorts of things. businesswoman, gold lady, gold psychologist, goldsmith, subject enthusiast, cyclist, friend, and more.
I'm not afraid to say that I have the Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu's book on joy on my bedside table. I also pray to God. And I pull angel cards, just to name a few things.
When I pull angel cards, for me, it's not a prophecy or hocus pocus, but a play with words and concepts.
I reflect on the word I draw, letting it evoke whatever it wants. It's a kind of soul gymnastics for me.
It's never been something I've wanted to impose on others, and in my book, you can use such things however you want.
I have also endured a long and arduous journey in the name of science. For an entire year, evidence was my comforting word, evidence that the treatment I was undergoing for breast cancer was effective.
So I went to chemo full of trust and hope, and with me I had three angel cards, a small blue glass cross, a handful of stones in chakra colors, my husband, and an organic apple.
Several of these things were gifts from people who mean a lot in my life, people who care about me, people who worried about me and wanted to comfort me.
Do I believe that such things help?
Yes, I actually think they do, because when I sat there with the small blue cross in my hand, I felt less alone; I could very clearly feel the care, comfort, and support of others.
And yes, it makes a difference, at least for me.
Never have I been more afraid of being alone, and that summer I saw very clearly what we as humans can do for each other, what strength there is in presence, in care, in an outstretched hand.
I will never forget that.
We are not all the same, I know that, and I have full respect for it.
Some want to be spared hearts and angel wings and Christmas cards and all sorts of "symbolic nonsense," and that's perfectly fine.
As the gold lady, I see it all, many types, and it's nice, diversity is good. And I would love to talk to you about gold and diamonds, and which ring suits you, purely professionally and straightforwardly, but if you come to talk to me about what could be the perfect symbol for your daughter who is having a hard time, or a piece of jewelry to manifest your freedom or a welcome-to-life gift for your grandchild, then I would also love to talk to you about that.
Because that's what jewelry can also do. Finding the precise expression for what you want to say with a piece of jewelry is one of the most wonderful things I know, because I see what it does. Jewelry is also joy, love between people; that means something to me.
That's what I mean when I write that jewelry is more than gold.
Now I feel like writing Namaste!
Because I think it's a beautiful greeting.
It means "I bow to you" or "the divine in me honors the divine in you," and I think that's a lovely greeting both to receive and to give!
So!
Namaste!
Hope to see you in the gold shop.
Sincerely, Minna Lund
...The Gold Lady.