Weaving Magic

My mother was a crocheting wizard.  She would make everything with some threads and a needle.  We use to tease that she would crochet underwear if we let her; she never did, thank goodness.  But she made towels, blankets, shawls, baby booties, scarves, hats and even rugs.  She was a master and she did most of it intuitively.  She couldn’t read patterns and instead taught herself through practice, vision and skill.

After my mother passed I started to teach myself several of the things she use to do, in an effort to connect with her spiritually and also to keep the traditions going within my home.  Traditions are very important to me spiritually and they continue a sense of lineage that can be magical in and of itself.  So several years ago I taught myself to sew simple stuff, but still in yet… I can sew.  And this year I taught myself to use the looms that my mom used make hats on.  I have spent about three weeks learning and teaching myself how to make hats and scarves in order to honor my mother and to gift to my loved ones for the holidays.  I still have her set of looms and even thought I bought a new set for myself, hers have the scratches and dents on it from her own creations.  Her love is etched in the colored plastic pegs and so I have decided to use her worn looms to infuse my presents with my mother’s magic.

People have asked about having more magical and practice incorporated into this blog and I have thought, “that is a good idea”.  I haven’t been writing rituals for this blog because I figure that standard rituals can be found in a ton of places and there is no need for that per se.  But when I was thinking about magic I thought of how magical our everyday lives are and how we don’t usually identify it as such.

I am making magic for the holidays with a loom and yarn, weaved with my hands, crafted by time, prayed over with heart and envisioned with soul.  This type of magic is epic.  It is not a ritual with candles and incense but a ritual that takes me hours to produce results, and it is connected to the historical magic of my family.

I have heard references to magic in correlation with that of baking a cake; you put in the ingredients and then you bake it for a final outcome.  I think the same thing about the creative process of crocheting these items for others.  I intuitively pick out colors and yarns that I think flow together visually and also energetically.  I envision the person I am making it for and think about who this person is, who this person is to me and what I want for this person.  I think about them wearing it and being filled with the hard work of love and support.  I then hold that energy while I weave magic into a product that can be worn beautifully.  It has been a rewarding project for me personally and spiritually. 

I know understand why my mother’s hats and blankets were so comforting, warm and cuddly.  It is because that was the magic she weaved into each piece that she made.  It wasn’t the quality of the yarn or the color combination that made the garment or blanket more useful, it was her magic that made it feel like being embraced by warmth and love. 

I hope that the intentions of love I am weaving into each piece reach the person I am making it for with acceptance.  I hope that I can one day provide the same type of magic that my mother did with the simple thread creations she manifested.

Waving magic, creations done

Blessing, wishes and intention spun

Hands at work, mind in dreams

Visions of peacefulness in full light beams

Up and down, in and out

Needle and thread is looped about

Spirit of magic, soul divine

Gifted with love to your heart from mine.