BA1 CLASS READING - INTRODUCTION TO TEXTILES AND CULTURE  - TEXTILES AND THE SPIRIT (SACRED, SPIRITUAL AND HEALING SIGNIFICANCE) GROUP SEMINAR PRESENTATION - this reading is extracts (...) from the set text.

THE SACRED, SPIRITUAL, AND HEALING SIGNIFICANCE OF CLOTH

Bringing calm

Textile-making has a magical quality - it is a creative or generative process, associated with the life force - and the process can be comforting. It is an almost hypnotic, healing activity; engaging with the repetitive, rhythmic steps of sewing, knitting, weaving, and similar techniques create a sense of peace or calm The action itself engenders this quality, but it is strengthened by the sensual pleasure of handling the thread or yarn, and watching a new form grow beneath one's hands. Cloth-making can create what Herbert Benson of Harvard Medical School calls the 'relaxation response', a measurable state in which brain waves change and heart rate, muscle tension, and blood pressure decrease, and a feeling of serenity ensues. In her 2003 book, 'Made From Scratch: Reclaiming the Pleasures of the American Hearth'. Jean Zimmerman claims that about one in three of the 38 million women who currently knit or crochet say they do it because it helps relieve stress, and Deborah Bergman, author of 'The Knitting Goddess', cites research that helps explain the phenomenon. Knitting is simultaneously stimulating and meditative, she explains. Working with knitting patterns is a left-brained activity, but producing the stitches is more right-handed. The process harmonises the two sides of the brain. Reinforcement for this theory comes from meditative practice, which involves a combination of repetitive behaviour and single-focused concentration. Hindus maintain that, used together, these activities function as a path to free the mind and invite inner tranquility ... 

The soothing quality of rhythmic textile activities can be almost 'catching' - those who sit close by, watching, may also experience a reduction in their heart rate and blood pressure. This is captured in 'When Mother's Sewing Buttons On,' one of the poems in Edgar Guest's 1921 sentimental collection, 'When Day is Done':

When Mother's sewing buttons on
Their little garments one by one,
I settle down contented there
And watch her in her rocking-chair.

There's something in her patient eyes,
As in and out her needle flies,
Which seems to tell the joy she takes
In every little stitch she makes,
An hour of peace has settled down;
Hushed is the clamour of the town.

I chuckle as I watch her sew,
For joy has set the room aglow, 
And in the picture I can see
The strength which means so much to me.
The scene is good to look upon 
When Mother's sewing buttons on. (Gordon, 2013, pp.248-50).

Spiritual power

Probably the central tenet of the Buddhist tradition is the idea that the human state is one of suffering. The Buddha brought a message of compassion and the idea that compassionate beings should work to help relieve the sufferings of others. Buddhist practitioners build 'merit' through compassionate action; the belief is that their accumulated good deeds will carry over into their next life, and ultimately help themselves and others achieve liberation. Many Asian women build merit by making textiles for Buddhist temples. When they have sons ordained as monks (this situation is not unusual: in Thailand, every male is expected to become a monk for at least part of his life), they are especially likely to do this. They weave cushions for them to sit or lean on, cloth to cover their begging bowls, and even the wrappings used to bind sacred scriptures. In Burma, the wrapping tapes typically have a prayer - itself a plea for mercy and compassion - woven into the cloth. The women also make clothing for the monks ...

In other cultures, certain individuals were allowed or expected to make textiles as a way of keeping spiritual energies in order. In Ladakh, women's weaving was believed to assure continuity in the world and keep negative forces at bay. Among the Osage people of North America, women who had been initiated into the clan priesthood were the only ones entitled to weave the cloth feast bags that held the ritual 'fees' (e.g., knives, kettles, bison fat for anointing sacred objects, ceremonial foods) paid by advancing initiates. The bags helped build power through their imagery (zigzags represented lightning and the regenerative powers of the metaphoric bison) and their form (their wide rectangular shape alluded to a pregnant bison). The weavers sang ceremonial chants as they made these containers, further infusing them with sacred presence. (Gordon, 2013, p.252).

Sacred spaces

The sacrialization of temple or church space is sometimes intensified by the presence of priestly robes. The vestments worn by Catholic priests during Mass ... are intended to increase the efficacy of the ceremony ... The robes that high officials of Buddhist monasteries wear on ceremonial occasions function similarly ...

Textiles also temporarily transform more personal environments into holy spaces ... the weekly Sabbath is welcomed in many Jewish households with a special tablecloth. The fabric symbolically sacralizes the time (the twenty-four-hour Sabbath day) as well as the family home, which during that period becomes a house of prayer, rest, and spiritual renewal. Muslims may unroll a personal prayer mat five times a day, orientating themselves to Mecca, and using the cloth to cushion their bodies and keep them clean as they bend in supplication ...

Prayer shawls define personal space by effectively surrounding the body in a tent of holiness. Jews often draw their tall it up over their heads and faces when they are deep in prayer, shutting out the mundane world ...

As shawls contain people, other textiles contain sacred objects. Holy manuscripts such as Buddhist sutras are wrapped in cloth. The Torah scrolls that contain Jewish scriptures are also 'dressed' in fabric, and housed in a cabinet (ark) behind a curtain ...

In some parts of the Middle East, individuals kept their copies of the household Koran in lovingly decorated cloth bags. These gave honour to the scripture and, when put on display, proclaimed the piety of the family ...

The 'holy of holies' in the Muslim religion is also covered with cloth. The Kaa'ba is a cubical building in the centre of the al-Haram Mosque in Mecca. It is believed to have been built by Abrahm and Ishmael on the spot where Adam uttered his first prayers to God. Inside is a black stone, probably a meteorite, said to have been given to Adam on his expulsion from paradise. The Kaa'ba is protected by a huge black cloth (7,083 square feet or 658 square metres), which cascades down over the sides of the structure. It features an encircling band woven with silver and gold threads ... This holy and costly fabric, known as the 'kiswah', is replaced every year. (Gordon, 2013, pp.261-5).

REFERENCE

Gordon, B. (2013 [2011] ) Textiles. The whole story - uses, meaning, significance. London: Thames and Hudson.