Towards a Philosophy of Weaving

The quiet, meditative actions of handweaving often allow room for thought and reflection. While weaving the other day, I was reminded of a passage of ancient Hindu scripture, where the brilliant female philosopher Gargi questions the great sage Yajnyavalkya about the nature of the universe and existence, and uses weaving as a metaphor to explain the interconnectedness of all things.

Starting with water, Gargi asks a series of questions about what the various parts of the universe are woven upon, and as Yajnyavalkya offers an answer each time, she asks what that was woven upon, and so on.

“That, O Yajnyavalkya, which is above the sky, that which is beneath the earth, that which is between these two, sky and earth, that which people call the past and the present and the future - across what is woven, warp and weft?”

Yajnyavalkya answered: “Space.”

“Across what then pray is space woven, warp and weft?

And so it goes on… eventually, she asks upon what the Ultimate Reality, Brahman, is woven - Yajnyavalkya tells her to stop questioning at this point!

It got me thinking about the use of weaving as analogy in understanding the nature of things.

The warp threads are those that run from top to bottom of a fabric. Warp threads need to be strong enough to endure considerable tension on the loom. The warp is always made first, and once set in place is fixed and not easy to change. If a warp thread breaks, it can be repaired, but the mend will always be visible under close inspection.

For me, maybe the warp threads represent our foundations, those guiding principles and characteristics that change very little, regardless of the situation we find ourselves in. The warp is formed and planned early in the weaving process, just as many of our morals and underlying character traits are formed in our youth and change little as we age. Our warp thread principles are strong under tension - and on the rare occasion that they might break, the repair is sometimes difficult and always leaves a mark.

The weft (usually referred to with the older English translation ‘woof’ in Gargi’s dialogue) are the threads that run from side to side, and are much more variable. Many types of fibre can be used in a weft - different thicknesses, strengths, colours, patterns and textures. All sorts of different effects can be achieved, and the weaver can change their mind about a weft at any point in the weave.

Maybe the weft represents the passing of each moment in our lives - every pass of the shuttle that holds the weft fibre is guided directly by the weaver, with each thread carefully beaten into place before the next pass of the shuttle that confines that thread to the past, and the next becomes the present. The future warp lies in place, waiting and ready to accept whatever is to be woven upon it, all dependent on the choice of the weaver. The weft is no indulgent frippery - without it there would be no fabric, just a loose collection of threads.

A handwoven item is always unique, characterful, sometimes imperfect, and created with thought and care. The weft gives shape and expression to our warp and creates the fabric of a life well lived. Gargi was definitely onto something.