Here at The Wicked Griffin, we are inspired by many different things...

That ultimately take shape and form in our jewelry. Our inspiration is in nature itself. Nature, the seasons and all the elements. We gain inspiration from foggy woodlands, deep forests and frozen landscapes, and high alpine mountains. Aside from nature, it is most important to us to research and find out how tribes and cultures all around the world have lived with nature and its powers.

We are just as interested in the tales of the Inuit, the Siberian Evenki, the African Massai as in local Folklore of where I have grown up and lived most of my life – in Bavarian-Swabia, Germany. Our visions are expressed in our art that is our jewelry, of ancient cave paintings, totem pillars and Stones with Runic Inscriptions. Our work is like a misty veil from cultures and a time long before nations and western civilization even existed. Can you hear the shamanic chanting, the drumming and Mother Earth’s pulse? Let’s find out about Paganism…

When we speak of Paganism today, we essentially mean all cultures before the arrival of Christianity in Europe, as Christianity came from the Middle East and spread further into western and northern Europe. The very term “Pagan” stems from latin “Paganus”, and means as much as “village dweller”, meaning someone living outside of the Roman civilization which adopted Christianity as a state religion in 380 AD under Emperor Theodosius I. So, everyone living outside of the Roman Empire and outside of Christianity, was “Paganus”.

But Europe is an ancient Continent… and to truly understand, we need to open ourselves for the mysterious cultures of western hunter-gatherers, of steppe pastoralists and neolithic early farmers… Today, the definition is somewhat distorted, meaning that it is very simplified and often overlooks very important information in order to grasp such a concept as pre-christian Spirituality. But here at The Wicked Griffin, I’d like to invite you to feel the magic, but at the same time get inspired to research and study this field as well.