Embroidery – Strengthening the Spirit within

Recent archaeological finds tell us that embroidery in its simplest, most practical form really existed even in 30,000 BC long before what we have physically seen so far. As man evolved and became more aware of his environment he built himself shelter and tools to hunt. He then learned to make clothes for himself from the animal skins and vegetation around. The earliest clothes were whole animal skins wrapped around one’s self, and gradually man evolved a sense of aesthetics. Splinters of bone cut and sharpened into a point together with animal hair/plant fibres (serving the purpose of thread) allowed for the initial versions of what we today call “embroidery”. Cave drawings and stone carvings depict these bits of clothing joined together with stitches.

I recently tried “slow stitching” a bookmark and whilst the project involved just the basic running stitch joining pieces of fabric together; the process over 3 days was extremely therapeutic and calming. I had never heard of slow stitching before this – to slow stitch is to take time to mindfully create something new through stitching, focused attention to the process nourishes us physically and spiritually and in the long run helps us react to the environment around us in a gentle and more grounded way. It reminded me of our Kantha Embroidery that originates in the eastern part of the country. Kantha embroidery uses the simple running stitch, over patched bits of used cloth and saris to make purposeful items like blankets, shawls, etc. Daily life inspired Kantha embroidery, which often showcases nature such as the sun, the tree of life, oceans, animals and the cosmic universe. Whilst ‘Kantha’ means ‘rags’ in Sanskrit (which reflects the fact that Kantha embroidery is made up of discarded garments or cloths) there is also the spiritual element to this embroidery form. The word also means ‘throat’ and was named so due its association with the Hindu deity, Lord Shiva (Nilakantha). The mythological story about the Samudra Manthan says that in order to protect the world, Lord Shiva consumed the poison that came about due to the churning of the ocean. Goddess Parvati (his wife) quickly wrapped her hands around his neck, strangling Lord Shiva and stopping the poison in his throat, rather than allowing it to drop to the universe that is held in Lord Shiva’s stomach. The strangling caused his throat to turn blue and hence the name Nila Kantha (Nila is blue and Kantha is throat)

When I visited the Auroville, Pondicherry in one of our school trips 30 years ago, we went to the needlework workshop where there were many people sitting in absolute silence stitching the most beautiful embroideries. why all the silence and seriousness ? – the matron at that time told us that “embroidery was a gift from the gods” and that an embroiderer had the special ability to reflect his life within outwards to the world through the needle and thread, and hence we must be quiet so that they could listen to what their inner beings were telling them. It all went over my head at that time (me being all of 13-14 years) But today, being a Waldorf parent and slowly trying to understand the anthroposophy behind the education; I kind of get what the lady back then was saying. If we look at embroideries the world over, most of them were patronised by the ruling kings and queens, and the religious orders …so they definitely were not for the masses. In those days royalty were considered representatives of the gods here on earth (Egyptian history – pharaoh tombs) . The embroideries depicted scenes from life around them, and other spiritual mythological beliefs. I assume it would take someone with a strong spiritual will power and imagery within to be able to beautifully represent the same on fabric. Someone with a fulfilled soul life that we should all aspire to have!!