The beauty of alternative jewellery is that it is an expression of life lived amidst a stream of contrasts.
Most of the time, this includes stainless steel rings showcasing symbols of death, darkness and chaos such as skulls, coffins, dark deities and other particularly heavy metal motifs.
However, whilst a lot of metal is about the beauty of chaos and the darker aspects of existence, it also showcases the beauty of life. Black Sabbath’s album Paranoid not only features War Pigs but also the ethereal celebratory Planet Caravan, a song about connection, life, love and drifting through the cosmos.
On that subject, one of the most popular motifs found on jewellery is the tree of life, typically taking the form of the world tree Yggdrasil but seen in many other faiths, cultures and belief systems dating as far back as ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt.
The tree of life archetype is the idea that all life on earth is interconnected, linked to a common source of life, consciousness or cycle of existence between life, death and a great beyond.
Often these trees connect different worlds, such as the world of the living to a purported afterlife.
One of the most popular visual motifs for a tree of life, the Celtic Crann Bethadh, reflects a distinctive connection between the heavens, the earth and the underworld as reflected in the oak tree.
In that respect, it is perhaps not surprising that such a meaningful symbol of life is often a popular symbol within metal and alternative subcultures; it is a reflection that life is part of a much larger cycle and of something greater that does not necessarily have to be religious.
It also highlights the sense of togetherness often found within alternative subcultures that allows people to be their complete, authentic selves.
