Description
The Crafty Witch’s Guide to Cord Magic: The Art of Braiding and Knotting Spell Cords
The Crafty Witch’s Guide to Cord Magic by Loren Morris is a practical, illustrated guide to transforming thread, cord, knots, beads, charms, and other materials into physical spellwork. Written by a practising Traditional Witch and owner of Primitive Witchery, Loren Morris combines the meditative act of making with magical intention, showing readers how a handmade cord can become both a working magical object and a record of the spell placed within it.
Cord and knot magic has a fascinating history. There is no single origin or tradition that can claim the practice: knots, threads, ropes, and bindings have appeared within folk magic, charms, healing customs, protective practices, and witchcraft across different cultures and periods. In British magical history, knotted cords have been recorded for purposes ranging from healing to ritual practice. Folklore surrounding sailors also tells of winds being magically bound into knotted ropes, with knots released when a particular wind was required. Modern witchcraft traditions have continued to incorporate ritual cords for purposes including circle work, initiation, meditation, and spellcraft.
At its simplest, cord magic uses the physical act of tying, braiding, wrapping, or knotting to represent and hold magical intention. A practitioner might concentrate upon an intention while creating each knot, choose colours according to magical correspondences, or incorporate beads, shells, amulets, bells, herbs, or other meaningful objects. Depending upon the working, a cord might be created for protection, prosperity, healing, confidence, remembrance, manifestation, or another personal intention. Historically and within contemporary practice, knots can symbolically bind or contain something, while untying them may represent release.
Across 176 pages, Morris provides clear instructions for making specific spell cords, supported by 30 diagrams and photographs showing both finished pieces and the process of construction. The repetitive movements involved in knotting and braiding can also make cord magic particularly suited to meditative spellwork: rather than simply assembling ingredients, the practitioner physically spends time creating and concentrating upon the working.
The book also gives readers scope to personalise their cords, choosing materials and symbolism according to their own intentions and practice. Finished cords may be kept on an altar, incorporated into ritual, carried or displayed where appropriate, or used as part of continuing spellwork.
An excellent choice for witches who enjoy practical, tactile forms of magic, The Crafty Witch’s Guide to Cord Magic brings together textile craft, folk-magical ideas, creativity, symbolism, and spellcraft in a form that can be adapted to an individual practice.
Format: Paperback / softback
Pages: 176
Illustrations: 30 diagrams and photographs
Author: Loren Morris
