Waiting to be Healed

I love the silver and gold votives known in Greek as tamata. These little metal cards that the devoted affix to the iconostasis - the screen separating the altar from the congregation -  represent the hopes, wishes, prayers and dreams of the faithful. On the hammered surface you will find images of a leg that needs healing, a house one is in debt over, a car needing repairs, a heart about to undergo an operation - or that has just been broken- and a ship representing the wish for a safe journey. 

We all wish and pray for things in life. The Greeks just lay theirs down in metal. 

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