 The symbolism of thread is essentially that of the
relation existing between all states of being and between the latter
and their First Cause. This symbolism is clearly expressed in the
Upanishads where thread links this world to the other world and to all
beings. This thread is both Âtma and Prâna. Because it is linked to the
main centre, thread must, in all things, be followed back to its
source. This reminds us of Ariadne’s thread that not only was the link
between the outside world and the centre of the labyrinth but also the
link allowing to go from the realm of darkness to the realm of light.
On the cosmic plane, a distinction should be
made between the threads of the warp and the threads of the woof: the
warp connects worlds and states of being; the woof represents the
prescribed and temporal development of each state and of each world.
The unwinding of the single woof thread symbolizes the fatal Sisters
weaving time or fate.
Taoists often associate thread with the backward and forward motion of
the shuttle across the loom: life and death, evolution and involution
of manifestation. The Rig-Veda sees weaving as the symbol of the rhythm
of life and its endless alternation.
Thread is one of the meanings of the word sûtra denoting the Buddhist
scriptures. The word tantra is also derived from the notions of thread
and weaving that is to say the interdependence of things, of cause and
effect and of traditional continuity.
Throughout the Mediterranean Basin, spinning and weaving are associated
with the participation of the woman in the work of creation.
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