Knots show up in symbolism much more often than you might think such a simple image would. They even show up in our turns of speech, phrases, like I have a knot in my stomach, or this problem is all snarled up, or traffic is. Knots occur in the world around us and we observe these things rather commonly and easily. Strange hiccups in the weather seem to be like the turn of a knot in on itself, from winter to spring, back to bitter winter again.
The symbolism of a cord has been linked to rivers, the metaphorical heart, as well as ones life span and path of fate. If you subscribe to the latter, we speak of offering someone something with no strings attached. How common would you say such imagery is even in our day to day “non-magickal” life? The imagery and shape are so vital they seem to show up even in our biology, the helix pattern of our DNA, strands looping back and forth and around each other. The materials and tools used in magick are often deliberately symbolic of fundamental observations such as this one.
I didn’t notice the theme before but now that you mention it, a fair amount. Clover leaf traffic patterns resemble knots. Indeed, they do, and they are created to preserve both flow and order, ultimately this is why knotted charms and amulets are used as well, even things like brocade at one time included patterns that were of a symbolic and auspicious or lucky nature. Braids are just elongated knot work, and were worn at one time by both men and women. To braid your hair was to add spiritual strength, harmony and order to your personal being. The imagery behind the story of Sampson would be related to this. His hair was not likely worn wild.
You think that hair braids first started this way? As a form of symbolism instead of practicality? I think that we cannot help but produce symbols, even if we aren’t consciously seeking to do so. As we look at anything and attempt to put an order to it, we create something that reflects more our own manner of thinking than anything concrete in nature.
You are right. It’s based on perception. We see and create through our perception filters. But ritual hair braiding did indeed occur. This is also why braids of hair were given as protective tokens, amulets for good luck as well as to symbolize ones tie to a partner. Braided cords are often used in wedding ceremonies as well. Wiccan hand fastenings as well as some Chinese ceremonies. They were used in the Norse culture as well.
We call it ‘tying the knot.’ It is indeed why we call it tying the knot. At one time many, if not all, of those sayings made more literal sense. They weren’t as wildly poetic as they seem now. Everyone would have witnessed their communal ceremonies so the visual imagery would need no explanation.
We are not the only creatures that knot or entwine things. Birds do, and well, snakes entwine themselves. It’s in every situation a creative act, or procreative. It can be seen in Hindu religious inconology. Their dance postures and arm positions move in a twining pattern, Even the ritual dance of the middle eastern dervishes follows an intertwining pattern as they spin. Every find yourself twining a string or a straw wrapper without even consciously thinking about it?
Often. Why do we do that? Patterns in nature reproduce themselves in our consciousness, especially at the subconscious level. Even scientists are discovering what they consider a strange amount of common behaviour and content in human consciousness.
Like the Fibonacci sequence? Indeed, it shows up in any form of symmetry which everything we create has as a necessary element of its having come into being. Isn’t that strange to think of? We literally cannot make something possessed of no symmetry, to the degree that many older thinkers in mathematics saw non-euclidean geometry as being almost unnatural. Nature itself can produce it freely, but we have a very hard time doing so, but this non-euclidean geometry is the rule more than the exception.
And we see beauty as the degree of symmetry. Even in organic human features, which seems again strange considering, but yes, time isn’t actually linear, and space isn’t flat, even our planet isn’t flat. It has more in common with a ball of yarn in its structure than it does with a dinner plate. Minerals run through our earth in threads called veins, so does water follow a thread like path, even our atmosphere organizes itself into discernible “rivers.” Isn’t that sort of amazing? The reason, we are having the weather problems we are, is those threads are getting snarled.
Your thoughts are welcome. Be well friends.
Travis Saunders
Dragon Intuitive
~science,mysticism,spirituality~