Spirit Animal 1.25-inch Hummingbird Dolomite

A hummingbird carved in dolomite. Gram for gram the bird burns more fuel than any other warm-blooded animal, and on a cold night or a thin day it drops into torpor and slows its heart right down until morning. Full brightness and full stop, without much in between.

People keep one for joy, which sounds slight until you have had a stretch where joy took actual effort. It suits a kitchen windowsill, a desk that has gone gray, or a pocket on a day you need reminding that delight counts as a practice.

How to Use It

Small carvings work best when they are somewhere you actually pass. On a desk, in a coat pocket, on the windowsill above the sink. Pick it up when you want the reminder and put it down when you do not. If you keep an altar, it can hold the animal's corner of it, and it travels well in a pouch if you are working away from home.

Good to Know

Carved by hand from dolomite, roughly 1.25 inches. Every piece is worked from natural stone, so color, veining and the exact set of the features shift from one to the next and yours will not be identical to the photo. Dolomite is a soft stone. Keep it off the edge of a hard surface and wipe it with a dry cloth rather than washing it.

Pair It With

The rest of the shelf is carved from the same stone, so they sit together without anything clashing: Dragonfly Spirit Animal and Lucky Pig Spirit Animal. Give it a proper seat with the Goddess Sphere Stand or set it beside a lit chime candle in the white ceramic holder. More carved pieces in crystal carvings.