WE ARE THE WEAVERS OF OUR DESTINY.

As weavers of our own lives, we see objects
of the ordinary world, external or internal, beings, events, feelings,
and actions as multicolored threads giving meaning and linking us to
life. While observed from the outside world, these disparate and
unrelated objects and beings take on for us their "usual"
appearance and separateness for us. However, seen from the level of
our awakened awareness, they jointly develop a wonderful and
harmonious relationship analogous to the threads in a tapestry.
Worldly facts, events, memories, feelings and
beings—or rather the ideas and symbols that we give to them—somehow
change in value when seen from the perspective of a weaver. We
are the weavers of our own lives, in which each experience can
become an important thread used by our consciousness to connect
with one another. Hence, when at a certain point in our lives, we
decide to become the weaver, these entangled threads of our
experiences and knowledge blend into a beautiful and useful tapestry.
Cloth, thread, loom, spindle, and whatever
else is used in spinning and weaving, all represent symbols of our
future and destiny. They are used to denote all that rules
predetermine and join together our different and ever-changing
realities, consciously harmonizing them in ourselves. They are also
used to create and make something of our own substance and essence, as
the spider does in spinning a web.
Many fairy tales feature goddesses holding
spindles or weaving instrument whilst presiding over the birth of a
prince or princess. In other instances, they represent time and
the chain of cause and effect, or karmic laws. However, when
man becomes the weaver of his own destiny, he naturally unfolds the
qualities of the creative artist, and becomes the sacred fool whose
intuition is guided by the thread of his soul.
On the Symbolism of the Thread
Turning to the archetypal meaning of the thread,
it symbolizes the agent that links all states of being to one
another and to the First Cause. This symbolism finds its best
expression in the Upanishads, where the thread (sutra) "links
this world to the other world and to all beings." The thread is
both the soul (atman) and the breath (prana). The thread must in all
things be followed back to its source because it is linked to a main
central point, often depicted as the Sun. This is reminiscent of thread, the active ingredients of Theseus’ return to the
light of day.

ARIADNE'S BALL OF TWINE.
Ariadne’s ball of twine or rope stands for the spiritual assistance
needed to overcome the minotaur. The minotaur is the creature with a man’s
body and a bull’s head, which king Minos imprisoned in the Labyrinth,
built as tribute by Athens to Crete. The minotaur was regularly fed with
seven youths and seven maidens, and the king’s son, Theseus, offered
himself as one of them. Thanks to a ball of twine that Ariadne gave him
to escape from the Labyrinth, Theseus was able to kill the beast.
The minotaur symbolizes the labyrinth of our
unconscious, ignorant, perverted human nature, an ugly and soiled
embroidery that is dominated by our ego, symbolized by king Minos.
Hence, Ariadne’s ball of twine, like the thread, stands for the
guidance coming from our soul and our higher intuition to overcome the
beast of ignorance and selfishness. This myth symbolizes the spiritual
struggle against repression. However, this struggle cannot be won
without the weapons of light and the presence of our soul, symbolized
by Ariadne herself.

In a spiritual context, the thread also
represents the energies and magnetic stimulation and intuition coming
from the soul. Therefore, we become the channels for the expression of
our soul, and the threads linking us to it are a combination of our
own thoughts and emotions blending with those of the soul. Together
they form the tapestry of our life.
We have already seen that the thread is one
of the meanings of the word sutra of the Buddhist scriptures.
It should be added that the word "tantra" is also derived
from the notion of thread or weaving.
Threading a needle is the symbol of passing
through the gateway of the Sun and escaping from the cosmos. It also
has the same meaning as the arrow piercing the center of the target.
In this context, the thread may be regarded as the link between the
different cosmic levels (infernal, terrestrial and celestial) or those
of spiritual psychology, (subconscious, conscious, superconscious, or
pure Being or Soul awareness).
All around the Mediterranean Basin, weaving
is to woman what ploughing is to man—participating in the work of
creation. Through myths and tradition, weaving has an equal archetypal
importance as ploughing, although the way they operate remains
different. Both, however, are conscious acts involving all the
qualities necessary for creating and producing. Hence the thread of
the soul links the weaver’s full awareness and qualities on his/her
work, which becomes beautiful. Similarly, the farmer ploughs his field
with the same attention and devotion, also linking his consciousness
to the thread of his soul.

"As
the spider weaves its thread out of its own mouth, plays with it and
then withdraws it again into itself, so the external unchangeable
Lord, who is without form, without attributes, who is absolute
knowledge and absolute bliss, evolves the whole universe out of
Himself, plays with it for a while, and again withdraws it into
Himself." (by Bhagavatam)
The one who really sees this Truth, realizes his own nature as the
Soul or pure Being.
To print : WE ARE THE
WEAVERS OF DESTINY
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