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Argh! Again?

All right, folks. This shouldn't need to be said, but apparently it does. Think of it as a friendly reminder.

Remember, this is a Maypole we're dancing here. It's something that people do together. It's its own kind of magic, a powerful magic that you do with other people. You can't dance a Maypole by yourself.

What we are not doing is some all-by-your-lonesome-in-the-back-bedroom Silver Ravenwolf-y cord magic shite, OK? This is way bigger than that. You do not stop the dance to [voice goes all sing-songy] “tie off your spell with a magic knot” when you get to the end of your ribbon. You do not. When you get to the end of your ribbon, you let go and you get out of the effing way, OK?

Beltane, folks. This is sex, not a wank. Sex. We do it together. Remember?

[Aside, mutters under breath.]

Stopping the dance. Ye gawds. What do they teach them in witch school these days?

OK folks, let's take it from the top.  I've written us a new verse for Hal an Tow, just to help us remember.

One-two-three, and...

A while back, I shared some information about some snake-like sacred knots in Minoan art that may or may not have anything to do with the tet knot associated with Isis in Egyptian symbology.

There's another "sacred knot" found in Minoan art that's very different from the knotted-cord sacred knots. This other one is made from a length of fabric that's fringed on the ends and loosely looped and knotted. Scholars often lump it in with the other sacred knots, but it's not the same.

Knot Magic

Long stems of grass really lend themselves to knot magic but you can also use thin stems of plants such is ivy or even twine, string or ribbon.

In my last post I explored the Minoan sacral knot, a religious symbol from ancient Crete that consisted of a length of cord knotted together with a loop at the top, and the sacral scarf, a looped-and-knotted length of fringed fabric.

But these aren’t the only instances of knotwork in Minoan religious iconography. And while the sacral knot may be related to the Egyptian tyet (Isis’ symbol), these other knots are more closely allied with snakes.

Many symbols and images have held sacred meaning within religious traditions around the world and throughout time: the circle, the cross, the pillar, the pentagram. These symbols don’t necessarily mean the same thing in every tradition, and sometimes we can’t even be sure what the original significance was for each culture.

One such symbol is the knot.