A heart of flint.. Ancient Italian folklaw and an amulet..

I'm working on,  an heirloom project, nine women artists, nine months.... You get the idea...

 

This is where I found the flint heart or where the flint heart found me.

On a post Christmas walk I found this heart, a perfect find. I'm using the flint as a starting point for an amulet, which is one of the items I need to make for the heirloom project.

The tiny flint heart will be tucked inside a small cotton bag, onto which I have stitched an image of a real heart, it is my interpretation of a 'brevi bag' - A prayer amulet.

 

The history of 'brevi' is woven within ancient Italian folk-law and as I understand it they were tucked into a baby's cot.  They contained herbs and prayers and sometimes tokens to protect the child from evil.

 

(I've popped a thimble in the pocket to give you an idea of the size.)

This one has a tiny hand stitched pocket in which I will put a little prayer.

 

Almost done....Going to give my eyes a rest.