I’ve been wondering how to protect my garden – and in particular my dahlias – from slugs, and though I have (organic) slug pellets and am not afraid to use them, it does seem I will need something more powerful.
A few years ago while I was in Greenland on summer holiday I bought a tupilaq. Or rather, a modern replica of one, since mine was carved for sale, rather than as a spirit avenger.
“The tupilaq was manifested in real, human-made object. It was made by people to the detriment of their enemies. It was a puppet-like thing, but was thought of have magical power onto the victim.” (Wikipedia)
Now, in the garden my main enemy is the Killer slugs (Spanish slugs), so I figure I might as well try to get my tupilaq to target those.
For some strange reason the Flâneur Husband doesn’t find her attractive and seems keen on getting rid of her, so perhaps he’d also prefer if she took up residence in the summer house, rather than in the apartment. I love her, though; she’s made of reindeer antlers, and while some parts of her have the porous texture of the inside of the bone, her animal companions and her breasts have a glorious ivory-like glow to them that begs to be touched. She might not be the conventional “looker”, but she has a certain voluptuous fertility to her that makes me think she’ll enjoy protecting a garden.
She has a friend:
His shape is simpler – more monolithic – than hers, but he has another thing going for him; he was made from reindeer antlers that have been buried in the boggy soil outside Nuuk for a year or two so the antler would start to rot and as a result begin to take colour. The pale pink of his head and the greenish tint of his diamond-patterned body are the results of this. Mind you, the best thing about this tupilaq is the contrast between his smooth head and tail and the sharp feel of the diamond pattern on his body; this is one item that seems designed to be touched!
He will remain in the apartment, simply because I love holding him and feeling the different textures, but she will need to find a place in the summer house. After all, all’s fair in love and war, right? And I love my garden and have now declared war on the slugs, by means natural (i.e. organic) and supernatural!
These are great…I love the color and the carving…fertility creatures…and slug killers…the best!
I think she certainly can’t do any harm, so it’s worth throwing in every weapon I’ve got against the slugs.
And the craftsmanship is very good, and it’s the sort of cottage industry that some people still use to supplement their income in Nuuk, now that tupilaqs are only really made to be sold to tourists.
Fascinating post. She is pretty scary, if you still have slugs this summer I don’t think there’s much else you can do. If it works you could maybe go into distribution of them!! Greenland sounds like an amazing place for a holiday.
I grew up in a home with a fair bit of Inuit art (though mainly stone carvings) because both my parents had brief placements in Greenland before they met each other, so to me she doesn’t seem that scary. I guess she’s an acquired taste…
And Greenland is amazing; I spent two weeks staying with friends in Nuuk and going out walking on the fells for 9 hours almost every day. One of the best holidays I’ve ever been on, and I’d love to go back and see more of the country. (I’m not sure it’s high on the Flâneur Husband’s list, though…)
Tulipaq too pretty for slugs but she might make a great feature for an alpine garden.
She won’t actually go out into the garden; she’ll just reside in the house and hopefully that will be enough to ward off those little bastards…