Mystical Sun Catcher, Set of 5

Set of five. Enough to work more than one window, or to layer in a single one at different heights.

Faceted beads on silver-tone frames. The facets are what do the work. A flat bead throws no rainbows; a cut one splits the light.

Made to hang. Window-ready as they come.

• Contents: 5 suncatchers
• Finish: Silver tone
• Beads: Faceted, for light refraction
• For hanging in a window
• SKU: FSCWH13

The physics is worth knowing because it makes the object better rather than worse. White light is every colour travelling together. Different wavelengths bend by different amounts when they pass through a transparent medium at an angle, so a faceted bead pulls them apart and lays them out separately on the wall. That is a rainbow: not a symbol of one, an actual one, made by the same process that makes the sky's.

Windows have their own folklore. They are the second boundary of a house after the door, and they got the same protective attention: marks scratched in the frame, salt at the sill, objects hung to catch what came through. A thing hanging in a window is doing something people have done for a very long time, and it is doing it at the place where light enters.

What a suncatcher gives you is a moving, changing patch of colour that arrives at a different hour and a different wall as the year turns. It is a clock and a calendar as much as an ornament, and if you pay attention to it you will notice the seasons in your own room. That is not a small thing.

1. Hang them where the sun actually reaches. East for the morning, west for the evening, south for the middle of the day in the northern hemisphere. A north window will give you nothing and it is not the suncatcher's fault.
2. Cluster or spread. Five in one window makes a serious amount of scattered light. Five across the house means catching the sun at different hours.
3. Watch where the light lands. It will move through the day and through the year. Some practitioners mark it, which turns a window into a rough calendar.
4. Hang them where they can turn. Movement is half the effect. A suncatcher pinned flat throws a static patch; one that rotates throws a moving one.
5. Clean the beads occasionally. Dust on a facet kills the refraction. A dry cloth is enough.

• 7 Chakra Tree of Life Suncatcher, 15". A larger single piece for the main window, with these five distributed around it.
• Amethyst Tumbled Stones, 1 lb. For the sill beneath, where the light lands.
• Moonstone Tumbled Stones, 1 lb. The stone for the window at night, when the suncatchers have nothing to do.
• Moon and Broom Wall Hanging. For the wall the refracted light falls on.
• Mushroom Doormat. The other boundary of the house, if you are working thresholds.

Will they actually make rainbows? Yes, when direct sun hits the facets at a workable angle. In indirect light they will glitter but not refract. Physics is not optional.

Which window is best? One the sun actually enters. East catches the morning, west the evening. A north-facing window in the northern hemisphere will disappoint you.

Do they do anything spiritually? They put moving coloured light into a room, at the boundary where light enters a house, which is a place folk practice has always paid attention to. Whether you want to call that a working is up to you. We are not going to claim they shield anything.

Are all five the same? They are a set of five in the same silver-toned style. Hang them together or apart.

How do I keep them working? Dust the beads. A dirty facet does not refract, and that is the whole job.