Cloth Rituals

For both Amazigh and Navajo people weaving represents a spiritual path and many rituals are attended to around the preparation of yarn and the loom itself. Secrets and observances around both are passed down through the generations and are held close.

In Kabylia the most solemn oaths of honour are taken by swearing
- 'by the weaving warp'
- 'by this warp that the Angels weave' or
- 'by this enclosure of the Angels where there are a hundred threads'

The loom itself is considered to have a personality, it is the enclosure of beneficial forces (spirits).

Before the loom is taken into the home a head scarf is tied to the top before it crosses the threshold of the house like a bride. The loom has a specific place in the home and there are many rituals both for the construction of the loom and for the many steps in the preparation of the threads that create the cloth. Each step in the weaving process is important and it could be dangerous for the living not to follow all these rituals .

Weaving fixes in the wool two acts of creation - the symbol of fertility and the representation of cultivated fields. Weaving is part of the same seasonal cycle as ploughing, it starts in Autumn and all work on the loom must be finished by the beginning of January when the fields begin to green. 

There are several rituals associated with the preparation of the warp. The weaver boils a pot with water, broad beans and wheat or barley on which she places a carob tree lattice (a tree which relates to the ancestors), the warp thread is laid on the lattice in order to receive the steam of what is boiled. Cereals and beans are then served to the family for the evening meal and a plate of food is offered to neighbours (this is also done on the evening of the first ploughing)

Warping takes place on the first day of the waxing moon - on Mondays or Thursdays, known as the days of the Angels - never on Friday because it is believed that ‘Friday eats the wool’. 

After the preparation of the heddle** there is a ritual offering - the weaver places a few pieces of semolina wafer at either end of the lower beam. She also gives some to the women who helped prepare the loom - they will bring home to eat later but she, the weaver, cannot eat it because she must abstain from any dry food otherwise the warp threads would break easily. This is why all meal is composed of boiled or steamed ie. moist food.

Before she starts weaving the weaver says an incantation ‘by this seven-soul loom’ (The points of intersection of the two layers of the warp where the reeds are placed are called ‘souls’)

The following are forbidden during both warping and ploughing.

It is forbidden to bring fire or embers out of the house 

A wife must not tie her hair in front of the loom or when she accompanies her husband to the field on the day of the inauguration of the ploughing - her hair should be loose.

It is considered that the interlacing of warp and weft creates life.  

Several Superstitions are connected with twos - there must not be

two looms under the same roof, 

two ploughs in the same field, 

two weddings in the same village  and similarly, women are fearful that 

two births might occur at the same time.

It is a dreaded moment when the weaving is complete and the weaver chants 

“I have given you water in this life, give me water in the next world. The life of the weaver has come to an end, not that of the family members. May the fabric be blessed and happy.”

Ref: Jean Servier Ethnologist and Historian 

It is the same for the Navajo where weaving is a sacred art, embodying creation stories, prayers and ceremonial practices, the ancient and historical past. The weaver works to maintain order, beauty, balance and harmony. Weaving tools are held with respect, respect too is given to the spirit of the cloth and the each of the weaving processes. There is often a spirit line to enable the design to escape the weaving and so be available for a subsequent cloth.

A Navajo meditation before weaving -

With beauty before me, it is woven. With beauty behind me, it is woven

With beauty above me, it is woven. With beauty below me, it is woven

And in beauty, it is finished

Ref. Halo of the sun: stories told and re-told. Noel Bennett Northland Press Flagstaff, Arizona

** Heddles are devices that control the warp threads during the weaving process.