Thokcha (sky-iron)
Meaning
Thokcha ('sky iron') are small bronze or iron objects (buckles, mirrors, vajras, animals, arrowheads) believed to have fallen from the sky as thunderbolts, and carrying their power.
Intent
They were worn for protection against illness, evil spirits and bad luck, and were not made to order but found or inherited, which is part of their power. Some were ground for medicine.
Significance
Many thokcha are in fact ancient artefacts of the Iron Age steppe and Bön periods (1st millennium BCE to 1st millennium CE), so the tradition preserved archaeological objects long before archaeology.
History
Most thokcha date from roughly the 1st millennium BCE to the 11th century CE, and were gathered and worn by Tibetans and Mongols over centuries.
Making yours
Cast high-tin bronze pieces, 2–8 cm, heavily worn and patinated.Tibet & the Himalaya: the tradition
Tibetan protection is inseparable from Vajrayana Buddhism: blessed images, printed mantras, pills made from relics and consecrated substances, and the ga'u box to carry them. Pre-Buddhist Bön beliefs survive in dzi beads and thokcha 'sky iron'. Protective printed charts (srung-'khor) and phurba daggers repel obstacles. Many amulets were made or blessed by famous lamas, and their value depends on the lineage of the blessing as much as the material.
Togchas, Tibet, various dates, bronze or other copper alloy, Asian Art Museum SF
Tibetan thoglcags no. 2
Tibetanthoglcags
Tibetan thoglcags no.1More from Tibet & the Himalaya: Dzi beads · Phurba & protective ritual objects
Every type in the gallery
Anything in the gallery can be made, by hand, in the prescribed metal or yours and, where the tradition names an hour, at that hour or with a plain note that it was not. Numbered. Price on commission, quoted first. I reply within one business day.