Silver Sun Moon Seed Mantra Earrings

A seed syllable is a tantric idea: one sound stands for one buddha or bodhisattva, written in Sanskrit as a single character and regarded as that figure's heart. In the Tibetan transmission a seed syllable usually carries a crescent moon and a dot above it, the crescent called the upward moon and the dot the bindu, together the sun-and-moon bindu, set over the letter rather than in the line of text. The convention came to Tibet from India by way of Nepal, and although the scripts changed several times, that crowning structure stayed.

One common reading of the symbol is that the sun disc stands for method and the moon disc for wisdom, with the bindu for the non-duality of the two. There is also an explanation from the Kalachakra side that runs into calendars and subtle channels and takes a long way round. For the wearer it is enough to know that it is a fixed piece of writing convention; there is no need to dig deeper at once. Mantras are used constantly in Tibetan daily life: grandparents recite them, children copy along, and a slightly wrong sound does not matter as long as the mind stays steady.

Studs are harder to make than drops. The area is small and nothing can swing, so every detail has to be stated on one plane: the letter stands up, the sun and moon are pressed down, and the two levels only separate when light comes in at an angle. The post is soldered to the centre of the back, so the weight sits in the middle of the lobe and the earring does not pitch forward. The face is only so big, and leaving space works better than filling it; the empty passages are where the eye can rest.

A silver post is softer than steel: bend it and you can ease it straight with your fingers, but work the same spot repeatedly and it will break, which is the nature of the metal. Do not push it through; line it up with the piercing and turn it in, and if you meet resistance, back out and check the angle. Do not squeeze the butterfly too tight, or a night's pressure will leave the lobe swollen by morning. For the first six months after a piercing, keep the weight down: the post is light, but a long steady pull lengthens the hole.

The pair is small, so give them a fixed slot in the box; losing one in a heap of jewellery happens all the time. Silver yellows on contact with sulphur, so finish your toner and perfume before you put them on, and the colour will hold longer. Wash your hands after using a silver cloth, and do not leave the polishing powder on your fingers.