Spell No. 1: The Hourglass & Eternal Love

And introducing 'Peasant Cam.'

I am about to assemble this Romanian cupboard (if you’ve ever wanted to see what 1.2 shit-tons of joints look like, I’ve got them right here). But before I can assemble the front frame of the piece, I want to carve the spells or prayers into its front posts, rails and doors.

So I have been practicing the spells on offcuts. (I must say our shop’s burn pile is starting to look pretty interesting.) This week I’ve also been editing the English translation of Jögge Sundqvist’s new book, “Karvsnitt,” which is a delight. At the back of the book, Jögge discusses a fair number of the symbols carved into the furniture and wooden objects in Scandinavia. And darn it if some of them aren’t the same as the Eastern European ones I’ve been practicing.

This first spell (or prayer) is one that is found on a lot of pieces. To our eyes it looks like the letter X. But it goes by many names: saltire, St. Andrew’s Cross, the slanted cross, the flag of Scotland and “the X that appears on your TV screen during …