Further Reading

Friday, 27 June 2014

Weavers of destiny

As weavers of our own lives, we see objects of the ordinary world, external or internal, beings, events, feelings, and actions as multicolored threads giving meaning and linking us to life. While observed from the outside world, these disparate and unrelated objects and beings take on for us their "usual" appearance and separateness for us. However, seen from the level of our awakened awareness, they jointly develop a wonderful and harmonious relationship analogous to the threads in a tapestry.

Worldly facts, events, memories, feelings and beings—or rather the ideas and symbols that we give to them—somehow change in value when seen from the perspective of a weaver. We are the weavers of our own lives, in which each experience can become an important thread used by our consciousness to connect with one another. Hence, when at a certain point in our lives, we decide to become the weaver, these entangled threads of our experiences and knowledge blend into a beautiful and useful tapestry.

Cloth, thread, loom, spindle, and whatever else is used in spinning and weaving, all represent symbols of our future and destiny. They are used to denote all that rules predetermine and join together our different and ever-changing realities, consciously harmonizing them in ourselves. They are also used to create and make something of our own substance and essence, as the spider does in spinning a web.

Many fairy tales feature goddesses holding spindles or weaving instrument whilst presiding over the birth of a prince or princess. In other instances, they represent time and the chain of cause and effect, or karmic laws. However, when man becomes the weaver of his own destiny, he naturally unfolds the qualities of the creative artist, and becomes the sacred fool whose intuition is guided by the thread of his soul.

Turning to the archetypal meaning of the thread, it symbolizes the agent that links all states of being to one another and to the First Cause. This symbolism finds its best expression in the Upanishads, where the thread (sutra) "links this world to the other world and to all beings." The thread is both the soul (atman) and the breath (prana). The thread must in all things be followed back to its source because it is linked to a main central point, often depicted as the Sun. This is reminiscent of thread, the active ingredients of Theseus’ return to the light of day.

In a spiritual context, the thread also represents the energies and magnetic stimulation and intuition coming from the soul. Therefore, we become the channels for the expression of our soul, and the threads linking us to it are a combination of our own thoughts and emotions blending with those of the soul. Together they form the tapestry of our life. (Plotinus.com)