Repost from 2013:
"Take a deep breath of all the stories that live here. A re-ligious act, to be true to the origin of the word “re-ligios”- to re-tie, re-link - is to find ways to re-connect, re-turn, re-imagine.”
In the winter season, we are allowed to say,
“Ts' its' tsi' nako,
Thought-Woman, the Spider
named things and as she named them they appeared.
She is sitting in her room thinking of a story now
I'm telling you the story she is thinking.”
- Keresan Pueblo introduction
Thought-Woman, the Spider
named things and as she named them they appeared.
She is sitting in her room thinking of a story now
I'm telling you the story she is thinking.”
- Keresan Pueblo introduction
The Hands of the Spider Woman by Lauren Rain
Spider Grandmother weaves the Grand Cosmic Web and then spins off the planets and stars in the Navaho myths. Zuni myths say the Spider Grandmother gave the art of string figures into the hands of the children. Spider Grandmother is a powerful earth spirit being, the primary Creatrix of the cosmos and mind, a source of boundless imagination and the creation of the new. An archaic Goddess of Weaving is essential to a pleasant life for all our people.
Many Stars, Son-thlani, or Spider Grandmother’s Web is one of my favorite Navaho string figures to make. I usually do the Spider Web (Jayne SF51) string figure first, for ritual purposes, to remind myself of my debt to all the people who have helped me learn to make string figures, everyone past and present are here symbolized as the Cosmic Web of Spider Grandmother.
The image above is of the string figure called The Apache Door (Jayne SF12) known to many string players. A different Navaho string figure, with a criss-crossing web pattern, is called Many Stars (Jayne SF51).
The image above is of the string figure called The Apache Door (Jayne SF12) known to many string players. A different Navaho string figure, with a criss-crossing web pattern, is called Many Stars (Jayne SF51).
Hands, Fingers, Feeling, Touching by Mike Garofalo
Strings on Your Fingers by Mike Garofalo
2024 Update
I recently found a brand of string that works fairly well when making string figures. It is called Cora's Cotton Craft Cord Dyeable Fiber 2 mm/.08 in in diameter.
The best string I've used for make string figures with my hands was a string used by carpenters or masons or gardeners to mark out a straight line during construction. I'm still looking for the correct brand of string, softness, strength, thickness, flexibility, etc.
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