In my first and second posts in this triad, I discussed the mechanics of how to spin yarn with intention. I even gave a few examples of how I use the yarn that I have spun with intention. This post, I'm going to talk a little bit about the historical aspects of spinning magic in world folklore and mythology. Pretty much every ancient culture of the world has deities who are spinners. Many of them are associated with fate and wisdom.
The spinners of antiquity are as diverse as their descendants. The magical folklore surrounding spinning is equally diverse. The Norns of Norse and Germanic mythology are the beings who spin out, measure, and cut our life thread. Frigga is the goddess who spins with the clouds in high Asgard. Freyja, goddess of love and war, holds out her spindle and thread over the married couple to bind them together in matrimony. The Valkyries weave war upon their mighty loom with the sinew and innards of humanity as their warp and woof. Hulda is a goddess of spinning who is also a matron of childbirth and who receives the souls of deceased infants and children, also a mistress of the Wild Hunt. All of this comes from but one cultural region. There is yet more that has been lost to antiquity.
When spinning, one may bind their intentions, dreams, and essence into the thread they are working. When creating with said thread, one may work weal or woe against others. A weaver may influence battles, it is said, by the tying of knots and the loosening of them. Same could be said for other handcrafts using yarn, thread, and string. It is all a matter of focused intention directed by will upon a target. This is the root of all magic. The action taken to provide that focus varies. Spinning is but one of many actions that can be the focal point of magical work. It happens to be one of the most ancient ones in the world.
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