Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Knitting intentions

I've noticed lately how closely tied to spirituality my knitting is.  I often find myself knitting intentions into all I do, sometimes without a lot of conscious effort.  Lately I've been knitting baby clothes for charity and have often whispered in my mind "May he/she grow up strong, healthy and may they walk their own path and not be coerced into a path they did not choose."  I have done this especially with the baby sweater and blanket I am knitting for my cousin's soon-to-arrive grandson.  They are fundamentalists and I used to get a lot of emails from her spouting out lies about our current president and the godless liberal agenda.  How can I be godless when I have more gods than she does?

I'm not knitting intentions that will turn this child or any other child away from a path I wouldn't choose for myself.  I'm hoping to give them strength to choose their own, even if they choose the path of their parents.  I think if I had had a choice early on, I wouldn't have chosen Christianity. I not only never had the choice, but also the fear of what would happen if I ever left Christianity left me terrified into middle age and beyond.  That's not fair to children to indoctrinate them into a specific path and threaten them with eternal damnation if they ever left it.

I didn't use to think that way.  I thought that giving my son a Christian foundation would strengthen his faith and he would never leave it.  It's what they all think.  How it's irresponsible to let a child decide for himself because those early years are so critical.  You grow up believing that and pass that on to the next generation.  And so on.

I just hope my intentions give the children I knit for a chance to decide for themselves, even if they choose Christianity.  Because having no choice at all is a lot like slavery or prison.  At least it feels like that.

2 comments:

  1. I'm not a knitter but I am a big baker (and cook) and have always "stirred" intentions into my food.

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    1. I never thought of it as magick before you talked about it. I remember knitting "prayer shawls" when I was a Christian and saying that I had prayed or pondered scripture while praying but the truth was that I just watched tv and never thought about the person I was knitting for. There was pressure in that sense that I had to be doing something actively "Christian" while knitting or it wasn't as good a gift. Not in the church I was presently in, but in the larger community I had come from. It made you a better Christian if all you did was "for the Lord."

      Now I do truly focus intentions although I still watch tv and movies while knitting. I'm much more aware of each article as a product of magick and creativity. I feel much better about my finished work as a result.

      I wish I found cooking as wonderful as I find knitting. I used to tell myself I liked it but I never really did. I only do it to save money because I would much prefer someone do all the cooking and cleaning up...like a restaurant or something. :)

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