When I weave, what cultural histories am I participating in; what collective identity am I reinforcing; what stories do I inscribe into my being and my weave; and how am I  shaping a new narrative of women and weaving?

Traditionally, weaving has been a “feminine” practice, and although there are, undoubtedly, many men who are artisan weavers, our cultural language and shared histories only seem to depict women as weavers. Unlike pottery or arrowheads, textiles rapidly degrade and so textual and artistic depictions of women weaving can provide historical insight into the actual processes of textile production and the lives of  women. Myths exist in order to represent, replicate and  historicise our cultural and collective identity, and examining how women are portrayed can be a valuable way of understanding our own cultural opinions on women and women’s work in larger heteronormative structures. However, these stories, and especially myths, are not to be consumed uncritically, and any replication and dissemination can reinforce negative social and gender structures.

Resultantly, I’m going to provide a descriptive overview of some common myths, stories and fables in which women are portrayed as weavers in order to provide context for future, more analytical, posts. 

I will add to them over time, so please feel free to send me any that aren’t here!

One of my favourite pieces by the artist, emily ann gabor, in the series ‘Arachne’s Tapestry’. Found at: https://www.emilyanngabor.net/arachnestapestry

The Greeks

Athena

Athena is the goddess of art, architecture, crafts, purity, reason, science, war, intellect, wisdom and weaving, amongst a few other, more random things. She is often associated with Minerva, the Roman goddess of spinning, weaving, wisdom, war and the arts. Athena represents the gendered division of labour and her associations can be divided between men and women, for example, women are referenced alongside weaving, crafts, purity, whilst men are more associated with reason, war, intellect and science. Athena exists in contrast to Aphrodite, wherein Athena is purity and virginity, whilst Aphrodite is the goddess of love, passion and procreation. These associations assimilate weaving and crafts into the ideal imagery for femininity and gender roles in Greek society. For example, there is one particular story of Aphrodite punishing Tiresias by turning him into a spinner and therefore removing his sexual identity and passions. Other myths involving Arachne and Penelope reiterate the identification of weaving and sexual purity, as I will go on to explain! These myths all seem to reiterate a belief that a woman’s sexuality comes at the expense of her productivity. 

Arachne

Arachne is my personal favourite, although I will go into detail as to why in another post. Arachne, a mortal, boasted about her weaving talents and argued that she was more skilled than Athena. Resultantly, Athena challenged Arachne to a weaving competition in order to prove that Arachne’s talents were not only lesser than Athena’s, but that they existed only as a result of Athena. During the competition, Athena wove depictions of the Gods punishing mortals, while Arachne wove a portrayal of the Gods exploiting and tricking mortals. Athena was so angered by Arachne’s choice of subject, but also her faultless technicality, that she cursed Arachne by turning her into a spider; condemning her to a life of spinning. The myth provides insight into the association of spiders with spinning and weaving, and therefore also with women.

Ariadne

Ariadne used a ball of thread to help Theseus defeat the Minotaur and escape the labyrinth. She is now symbolised by thread or string. I have written in more detail about Ariadne in a post here, and about her significance to me and this project. 

Anake

Also known as Necessitae, Anake is the goddess of fate, coercion, slavery, and she controls all bonds (including friendship, love, kinship, work, etc.). Plato believed that she spun the universe: “The sun, moon and planets were her spindle whorls; the sirens sang throughout the webs of time and fate she wove; while all the souls moved through the strands to and from death/rebirth”. In this way, she is closely related to the Three Fates, or Moirai. 

The Three Moirai

Also known as Moerae, Moirae, Parcae, Klothes, Spinners, Fates, or Parcae in the Roman equivalent, they are the Spinners of the thread of life. They are the granddaughters of Kronos, the God of Time, and daughters of Zeus, the God of the Sky, and Themis, the Goddess of Divine Law and Custom. The Moirai are often depicted as old crones, which bears similarity to portrayals of Arachne as a spider, perhaps to reinforce the idea that weaving is antithetical to a woman’s sexual appeal. Individually, they are:

• Clotho (“spinner”) -  who spun the distaff onto her spindle. She is often referred to in regards to Nona (“the ninth”), a goddess needed in the ninth month of pregnancy.
• Lachesis (“allotter”)  - who measured the length of the thread of life. 
• Atroposis (“the unturnable” or “inevitable”) - who was the cutter of the thread of life, and chose how each person or God would die. Her Roman equivalent was Morta (“the dead one”).

Penelope

The name, Penelope, etymologically combines the Greek word pēnē (πήνη), “weft”, and ōps (ὤψ), “face”, which is considered the most appropriate for a cunning weaver whose motivation is hard to decipher. However, her association with weaving is most commonly understood in regards to The Odyssey. Penelope is Odysseus’ faithful wife, and cunningly misled suitors who attempted to pursue her whilst Odysseus was away. She claims that she will decide on a new husband only once she has finished weaving a shroud, yet every night she unravels all the weaving she had done in the previous day in order to elongate the process. As weaving was a woman’s work, she knows the male suitors will not catch on to her plan. Penelope remains faithful to her husband, but is most often praised for her intelligence; Homer describes her as ‘periphron’, which refers to her wits, prudence and creative discernment. Additionally, her daily weaving and nightly unravelling is cyclical, and reiterates the associations of women with the cycles of the Earth (menstruation, etc.) - this idea is alluded to in a lot of literature on witchcraft. 

Philomela 

Philomela was, unfortunately, kidnapped and raped by her brother-in-law Tereus, King of Thrace, who then imprisoned Philomela and cut out her tongue so that she would be unable to accuse him. As a result, she had no other way to tell her story than to weave it into a fabric, which she then sent to her sister, Procne, who then rescued her and took revenge on Tereus. Philomela’s suppression and silencing reiterates Arachne’s; both women are condemned from speaking their truth by patriarchal power structures. However, both show the importance of speaking up for eliciting change, and the role that weaving has in empowering women to do so. Weaving is a ‘silent’ practice, and I am interested in exploring how this links to ideas of non-representation. Also similar to Arachne, Philomela and Procne are transformed into a nightingale and a swallow; birds known for their beautiful singing capabilities. 

Lina

There isn’t too much information on Lina, but she is known to be the goddess of flax weaving, and therefore linen. 

A Greek depiction of Athena. Found on Pinterest.

In Europe

Rumpelstiltskin

A Grimm Brothers tale in which a lowly miller boasts to a King about his daughter’s ability to spin straw into gold. The King and the miller make a deal; if the girl spins all the straw into gold, then the King will marry and provide for her, if not, she will face death. Of course, the girl is unable to spin the straw into gold, and just as she is about to give up in despair (and subsequently, be killed), an imp appears to weave in her place. However, unable to pay the imp for her work, she is forced to give her first child as payment. The girl marries the king, and when the first child is born the imp appears to take the baby. Seeing the girl’s grief, the imp provides an opportunity to keep the child if she is able to guess his name. The girl has no idea what his name is, but then, just as before, just as she is about to give up, she takes a walk into the woods and overhears the imp singing a song in which he reveals his name, Rumpelstiltskin. When Rump. finds out that the girl has ‘guessed’ his name correctly, he is so enraged that he rips himself in half. 

The Emperor’s New Clothes

This story originates from Denmark, and reiterates some of the themes associated with both Athena and Arachne. It tells of a vain and pompous emperor who is obsessed with looking good in rich fabrics. He hires two weavers who promise to make him the most beautiful suit from a fabric invisible to anyone who is not suited to their position in society. The Emperor’s associates are unable to see the cloth, as is thee Emperor himself, but embarrassed about their shortcomings, they all pretend that they can and praise the weavers for their work. The Emperor marches through the streets naked, and yet the townspeople play along in the same way that theEmperor and his associates did, out of fear of being inadequate. A naive and humble child in the crowd, however, exclaims that the Emperor is in fact not wearing any clothes, and the townspeople join the child in shouting that the Emperor is naked. The tale proves that pride and vanity can work against you, but it also echoes the role of weavers as cunning and witty. 

Norse mythology

The Norns are the Northern fates. They resemble the Moirai, as three females who rule the destiny and fate of Gods and mortals. Their names are Urðr, Verðandi, and Skuld. Urðr, in particular, is related to the Old English ‘wyrd’ (‘weird’) and we can see The Norns represented in the Weird Sisters (Three Witches) in Shakespeare’s Macbeth. 

Baltic myth of Saule

Saule is the sun goddess, and she is often represented by the image of a wheel as a depiction of her ‘spinning sunbeams’. 

The Three Moirai, Weird Sisters, The Norns, the Triple Goddesses. Found on Pinterest.

In Japan

The Tanabata legend depicts a Weaver Princess, Orihime, who is a talented weaver, spinner, and seamstress. When she marries a Cow Herder, Hikoboshi, they both neglect their duties and talents, and as a result her father, Tentei, punishes them by transforming them into star-crossed lovers. This, again, shares similarities with Greek myths of weaving women being unmarried and pure.