Bones- welcoming their spirits

[Wren]

So, I found this beauty at the flea market a few days ago:



I was drawn, and could not say no.  A few nights from now I plan to clean the beauty up do a small welcoming.

This got me thinking-- for those of you that collect and/or work with bones, how do you like to welcome them into your home?  Do you at all?  Why or why not?  What about other animal parts, such as a wing or a feather?

[Scales]

So, I found this beauty at the flea market a few days ago:



I was drawn, and could not say no.  A few nights from now I plan to clean the beauty up do a small welcoming.

This got me thinking-- for those of you that collect and/or work with bones, how do you like to welcome them into your home?  Do you at all?  Why or why not?  What about other animal parts, such as a wing or a feather?

 
The short answer is it depends?

For feather or hair I don't, although it's hard to distinguish why. I know the difference I'm drawing is live animal vs dead animal, or at least parts acquired before death (who knows what happened to that bird after molting), but I don't know exactly why that makes a difference. Is it because it's just a part, and the bird itself (keeping with feather here) is still going on? That doesn't really make sense, since with bones often enough it's only one bone coming in.

That doesn't help you at all, I was just being introspective and it seemed topical enough to type out what I was thinking.

Anyway, physically, I wash any animal parts I bring in, unless they were already processed by someone else (then I wash them based on circumstance- flea market I would, bone jewelry I wouldn't). For feathers or whatnot, that's usually where I leave it, unless it has some specific meaning.

After that, I do what I'm going to call a cleansing, but it's not exactly the right word. It's more 'you're here now, so you're just you and don't need other energy attached,' rather than 'let's remove/replace the energy of this,' which is sometimes what cleansing is (especially with tools). Since an animal is a being, I feel like it should keep being that, or there's no (metaphysical) point in using the remains.

Then I basically say 'you can live here' and give it somewhere to go- a box/pot, a clean spot of it's own on the shelf, that sort of thing, and try to make it feel welcome by placing near it things it would like? There's not really a science to it and I don't really have any ceremony, so I can't specify much further.

I do like to meditate on whatever I've brought in, to give myself more context for everything above.

Sometimes I do less than others, but it's really dependent on the situation. For example, some things just feel like they've long stopped vibrating* with anything. In that case, I'll probably just wash it and then go from there (add energy? don't? make something from it? etc).

*Magic and stuff being because everything has energy that vibrates isn't actually what I believe, although I know some people do and phrase it way better than I did in this sentence. I'm only using the term 'vibrate' because I'm not sure what else would convey the point. Just pointing this out so that it's more obvious that my comment is general, not just about that belief set, although it sort of fits it.

[Wren]

For feather or hair I don't, although it's hard to distinguish why. I know the difference I'm drawing is live animal vs dead animal, or at least parts acquired before death (who knows what happened to that bird after molting), but I don't know exactly why that makes a difference. Is it because it's just a part, and the bird itself (keeping with feather here) is still going on? That doesn't really make sense, since with bones often enough it's only one bone coming in.

I stopped collecting feathers, but when I did, I was in the same boat as you.  I am not sure about the why either, and whether or not this why is relevant, I cannot say.  Perhaps it is because I don't know the exact circumstances (animal being dead or alive, etc), but that, for me, has been part of the allure of collecting feathers.  

Anyway, physically, I wash any animal parts I bring in, unless they were already processed by someone else (then I wash them based on circumstance- flea market I would, bone jewelry I wouldn't). For feathers or whatnot, that's usually where I leave it, unless it has some specific meaning.

After that, I do what I'm going to call a cleansing, but it's not exactly the right word. It's more 'you're here now, so you're just you and don't need other energy attached,' rather than 'let's remove/replace the energy of this,' which is sometimes what cleansing is (especially with tools). Since an animal is a being, I feel like it should keep being that, or there's no (metaphysical) point in using the remains.

Agreed.  My idea of cleaning a part really is more about hygiene than manipulating its energy or spirit.  I don't use bones as vessels, but I know that many do.  In their case, I am actually curious to how they will cleanse and prepare their bones for such a purpose.  

As for myself, my welcoming is more of a glorified "Hello there-- it's nice to meet you!"