Apparition

[One]

I was cutting up some pieces of wood from creosote/chaparral bushes which is so heavy it sinks in water (ironwood). I've been trying to find a piece large enough for a full sized knife handle for years, but it is almost impossible, because it's small and full of cracks. I found a solid branch about 1-3/4 inches in diameter, with a straight piece about a foot long. It needs to air dry for about a year and as long as it doesn't crack, I think I'll have it. This is a little scrap piece I sanded off to take a look at the grain and saw Jesus's face with eye's closed, right in the center of it! The fork in the grain suggests arms raised in an upward position.

I see it as the crucifixion.

... It reminds me of the face on the shroud of Turin.

I'd been praying for a "sign" and feel very humbled and blessed right now,... just wanted to share it with my fellow Christian knife dogs.

 

[Calvin Robinson]

Wow! Very moving!
Thanks for sharing.

 

[millejn3]

That's way cool!! I would keep that piece and it would be on my wall!

 

[Wayne Bensinger]

Dude. You just gave me and my wife chills, that is amazing!

Wayne

 

[rhinoknives]

I was cutting up some pieces of wood from creosote/chaparral bushes which is so heavy it sinks in water (ironwood). I've been trying to find a piece large enough for a full sized knife handle for years, but it is almost impossible, because it's small and full of cracks. I found a solid branch about 1-3/4 inches in diameter, with a straight piece about a foot long. It needs to air dry for about a year and as long as it doesn't crack, I think I'll have it. This is a little scrap piece I sanded off to take a look at the grain and saw Jesus's face with eye's closed, right in the center of it! The fork in the grain suggests arms raised in an upward position.

I see it as the crucifixion.

... It reminds me of the face on the shroud of Turin.

I'd been praying for a "sign" and feel very humbled and blessed right now,... just wanted to share it with my fellow Christian knife dogs.

Tai,
That's better than the Christ in toast that sold for $$$$$$$ about 10 years back. Just a suggestion for you.

Put that on Ebay as the "Shroud of Turin" with a several thousand dollar starting price. If it catches on and goes viral which I think that striking figure will, you can get a small fortune and donate the proceeds to some good work you have in mind? Favorite charity? If it doesn't sell, well you get to keep it and enjoy it. If it does, you can turn the money to help kids, or vets etc…

Let me know if you do decide to auction it and I will posts pictures everywhere to drive folks to the auction.

 

[One]

Thanks for the suggestion and offer Laurence. The piece of wood hasn't had a chance to dry yet. It was cut "green" just a few days ago. This type of ironwood often cracks as it air dries. The apparition could fade or change with time. These types of things are often transitory. I feel it's a very personal thing,... but I was lucky enough to be able to get some good pictures of it to share. I'll probably take more today. Anyway, I have it in safe keeping for now... and will be keeping an eye on it. If it seasons for a year or so and the apparition is still visible, I might sell it, or donate it to a church or Christian organization. Not sure what the Lord wants me to do right now, but wait...

I was looking and praying for a sign and believe Christ spoke to me "personally", in a special way, through this piece of wood. No amount of money could ever compare to such a blessing and I believe it's a sign of good things to come, anyway...

 

[arock]

Make that into a knife handle then hang it on your wall That would be pretty neat because God obviously knew you were using it for knife scales it would be cool to get best of both worlds. Thanks for sharing thats cool with whatever you decide to do.

 

[BonhamBlades]

That should inspire you to make one amazing piece.

 

[One]

I've been dreaming of making a knife handle from the creosote bush ironwood for a long time. I've never seen a knife handle or even heard of one made from this wood. For the longest time I was looking for a dark piece of the heartwood core. You can see it in the picture. There's also a piece of it that sticks up just behind the face on the left side. I see it as the vertical beam of the cross. I had never really thought about using the yellow wood until now. It seems more solid than the dark inner core wood. The darker core splits apart along the growth rings and has worm holes in it. Apparently, the largest/oldest branches die from the center and form a "crown" that spreads out. It's all ironwood and a dry piece will sink in water, bark and all. I have these bushes growing on my land, which is where the piece came from. I cut some more branches yesterday and am confident I'll get a handle or two out of it.

These bushes are some of the oldest living organisms on the planet. The King Clone ring is estimated to be, 11,700 years old and I have a similar large ring on my land. It isn't hard to imagine that the large bush I got the sample from was around during the time of Christ's life.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Clone

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larrea_tridentata

I was looking at the sample with the face yesterday and the surface that the face is on is already starting to warp. It's giving the image some relief that follows the grain and makes the apparition more three dimensional. I hope it doesn't crack.

This shot shows both the dark and light colored grain. The top piece is the one with the apparition.

 

[One]

Here's a few more shots from slightly different angles.

 

[Jeremiah Rostig]

very nice information and story!.....Hang on Tai, You will find that handle!...Thanks for sharing!

 

[One]

Thanks Jeremiah. I'm going to give it my best shot. I think the piece that the apparition was cut off of will work, as long as it doesn't crack too much. I did cut some more pieces too and have them air drying naturally.

I'm still trying to wrap my brain around it? Drifting a little but, this is interesting knife stuff as well. Here's some pix of live creosote bushes on my land. The idea of a "crown" does fit though and the "ring" is a symbol for eternity.

This one is solid at the bottom, which is how they all start out.

The center dies as it gets older and it starts to form a "crown".

This is looking into a very large ring. The empty space in the middle is about 8 feet across. It seems that after the original center dies the top outcroppings start to migrate away from each other and then start to form crowns and rings of their own. Apparently, there is a chemical in the root system which prevents anything much else from growing inside the ring or very close to any of the top outcroppings. Maybe this chemical is also what makes them migrate away from each other. They consider them clones,... or in fact, the same organism. I don't know for sure if the root system is connected or not, but if the rings are considered a single organism, I figure they must be connected. Very mysterious bush?... and one of the oldest living things on the planet.

Here’s a shot of the backside of my creosote “ring”. I’m thinking I should make a special spot in the center there for meditation and prayer.

,,, maybe a bit of a parable in it, (the creosote bush), too.

 

[One]

Here's a couple shots I took this morning to try and show how the relief is developing.... This surface was perfectly flat a few days ago and the apparition still looks the same in "flat" light.

It is also interesting in this sample of creosote ironwood, that the darker core starts in the center, then migrates to the outside of the branch. This is what happens with this wood as it grows. The core breaks through to the outside. It cracks and rots and then the branch dies. The whole bush seems to follow this pattern....