Wooden Smudge Bowl - Hamsa - Large

A large mango wood bowl carved with the Hamsa, the open hand of protection, 14cm across and 7cm tall, made for the altar: a smudge stick rests in it while it smoulders, the ash falls into it, and between smudgings it holds salt, herbs, tumble stones or an offering. The Hamsa has guarded homes and been worn at the throat across the Mediterranean and the Middle East for centuries, and on a smudge bowl it makes the clearing ritual a protective one, so this is the bowl for a front hall, a new home or a room that needs guarding as well as clearing. The organic look of the wood gives an altar a grounded, serene feel. Mango wood is dense and warm, cut sustainably from orchard trees past fruiting, and the carving is done by hand in India, so each bowl has its own grain and the cuts vary. This is the large size; the small Hamsa bowl on the same shelf is 12cm. At 180g it sits steadily.

Mango wood, carved Hamsa. 14 x 7cm. Weighs 180g. From India.