Childhood
'Jinx! You’re jinxed!’
We'd shout it out in the playground, our voices high and wobbly with delight. Or when playing the card game Snap!
If your friend spoke the same words as you, at the same time, you could shut her up by jinxing her. That meant she couldn't speak again until you released her from the curse - by saying her name 3 times.
We must have been about seven or eight when there was a jinxing craze in the UK. Or at least in my school.
Decades later, when I stumbled across the story of Iynx, its childhood motifs struck me.
The iynx charm itself is like a button spinner. I never had one as a child, but Geoff had the equivalent. In Malaysia he and his friends used to make their spinners using Coke bottle caps. They'd sharpen the edges of the caps so that when they spun, they could slice through the strings of other spinners.
I asked him to make me a iynx as I was writing the episode. He eschewed the bottle tops and used the lid of an ice-cream pot instead. Here it is in action:
Eros and Iynx Wheels
This is a detail from an absolutely stunning ritual vase that's in the Getty Museum.
That's Aphrodite holding the strings of a iynx wheel in her right hand. To her left, Zeus is seated and gazing at the goddess in a surprisingly meek way. It's likely that he's asking for her help in seducing Leda, as another part of the vase depicts some of Leda's story. Meanwhile a tiny Eros is holding his mother's chin imploringly. Perhaps he also wants her to help the king of the gods.
The iynx wheel was often visually connected to Eros. There are over 25 vases that show him holding one. Most of the time it's not set it in motion, it just dangles from one of his hands *
Whereas on jewellery, the wheel is usually shown spinning. Look at these incredible earrings from the British Museum with 4 little Erotes (Eroses) putting their iynxes into action.
And likewise, on this beautiful ear ornament, Eros seems to be nonchalantly playing with a Iynx.
*https://reainfo.hypotheses.org/31729
The Wryneck bird
When Iynx is transformed into the wryneck bird, I describe her as small and brown and prim. Wrynecks are definitely small - around the size of a sparrow. They belong to the woodpecker family and their feathers look quite scaley. But according to the RSPB, the wryneck, 'Appears greyish overall, with brown and buff mottling.' The perfectionist in me wants to get the mic out and re-record this passage. I have to reassure that part of me that it will be ok - listeners you'll surely forgive me, right?!
Take a look at a wryneck here and see what you think! All the while enjoying Chloe Dunn’s gorgeous music.
Assets used in the video montage:
Wryneck clip ML201576921 by Josep del Hoyo - Macaulay Library
Gold ear ornament - The Trustees of the British Museum