Cord & Knot Magic: Weaving with Intention

Most people think of knot magic as something symbolic… or maybe something decorative.

But in practice, it’s one of the most direct and tangible ways to work with intention.

In this episode of Magic in Motion, we’re exploring cord and knot magic: what it is, where it comes from, and how it’s been used across cultures as a way to focus energy, direct attention, and build something that holds.

From traditional witch’s ladders and protective cords to devotional ties and woven pieces that carried meaning far beyond how they looked, knot magic has long been used as a way to anchor intention into something physical. Not just something you think about, but something you actively create.

We get into the structure behind the practice, including how different materials, knot counts, and repetition play a role, and why the act of tying, looping, and weaving matters just as much as the intention itself, because this isn’t about tying something off and hoping it works. It’s about choosing what you’re working with, deciding where your attention is going, and reinforcing that choice through steady, repeated action.

This episode also brings the practice into a modern, everyday context. Not as something you need to set aside time for or perform in a formal way, but as something that can be woven into your day. Something that builds gradually. Something that reflects what you’re already doing, but with more awareness behind it because this kind of work isn’t about doing more it’s about directing what’s already in motion.

If you’ve been looking for a practice that feels grounded, intentional, and connected to both tradition and real life, this is a powerful place to start.

If you’d like to go deeper into this, especially working with cords and knot magic in a more layered way, you can explore the LightFUL Witch’s Circle on Patreon. The link is in the show notes.

Books and resources mentioned in this episode:

Cord Magic by Brandy Williams

Fiber Magic by Opal Luna

Knot Magic by Sarah Bartlett

Transcript

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SPEAKER_00 0:06

Welcome to Magic in Motion. I'm Pat Formasano, the Lightful Witch. Here we explore witchcraft, everyday magic, and the practice of bringing attention to ordinary moments. Because your craft doesn't have to live outside of daily life. When it's woven right into the rhythm of your day, that's Magic in Motion. Welcome back to Magic in Motion. Thank you so much for being here today. I'm Cat Formasano, a delightful witch, and I am super pumped today because I was looking at my gardening efforts, and as I have mentioned, I don't exactly have a great track record at keeping things alive. I more or less just go out there to play in the dirt. And if something lives, it's like, woo-hoo. Um, but not my norm. Anyway, um, and I have to give a lot of credit to my middle son, 1B. He has been hugely helpful, and he's probably the reason we're having this kind of success. But so far, knock on wood, so good. Everything we have planted is alive when, and even things are starting to sprout up. So I am in a fantastic spring mood today, and I hope you are as well. Um, and when I looked at my notes to see what we were talking about this week, I got even more excited because this is one of my favorite topics. So, with that, I am going to ask you to step into my time machine because I want to take you somewhere down my memory lane before we really get into today's topic, um, which I am being very mysterious about. Unless, of course, you just read the title, then you already know. But for right now, let me draw upon the illusion and say it is now summer of 1989-ish. And um I was at sailing camp out on Shelter Island, and this was the first time I was introduced to knots as anything more than the thing that constantly jammed up my shoelaces. So we were learning, you know, different sailing techniques, parts of the boat, all the good things. Um, but we got to knots, and I just had the biggest epiphany. There are so many of them. I never realized it before. And I learned that there's different knots for different purposes. Some meant you um would hold things steady under pressure, or some were designed to slip and release easily, and some were made to tighten the more weight you put on them. And I remember being totally fascinated by that. The idea that something so small as a tiny little knot with just a little twist and a loop of rope could be the difference between something holding or capsizing. Now, if I'm being very honest, I retained pretty much nothing from Sailing Camp. But um, while I'm not out there confidently captaining anything, the knots really stuck with me. For years after, um, every summer, I would wear one of those sailor's knot bracelets. And yes, I did do it primarily because it was a reliable indicator of how my tan was progressing that summer. You remember those days? But it was also something else. It gave me this quiet sense of confidence. It was a connection to the water and to the rhythm of the waves. So even if I wasn't the one steering the boat, I've always just had such an affinity. I grew up in a beach town, maybe that's why, but I love the water and being near it. So there was something that that bracelet always just kind of brought me. It felt grounded and intentional. And like I was carrying a small piece of that sailor knowledge with me. Even if I couldn't name every knot anymore, it brought me great joy just to wear it. And then later that same year, got a little colder. I think the bracelet finally smelled so bad that I had to cut it off of my wrist. Um, but later that year, we went on a field trip for school. Um, it was my first visit to the cloisters. It's a place that will forever rank as probably one of my favorites. I may have mentioned them before, but if you've ever had the chance to go, and especially if you've been there and seen the unicorn tapestries, you know exactly what I'm about to talk about. These are massive. We're talking, I think like late 1400s. Uh sorry if I'm off by a couple of decades, but I'm pretty sure late 1400s, they were woven in um the Southern Netherlands. And each one is about 12 feet high, and anywhere from over 10 to even like 12 feet across, like they had to actually, I think, cut some to fit them on the walls in there because they're just so massive. The entire walls are covered in these scenes that feel almost otherworldly. Uh there's unicorns. Um, there's one where it's a unicorn's resting in an enclosed garden, and there's hunters moving through a dense forest, and there's flowers and animals woven into every single inch of these. And from across the room, you you'll look at this huge wall, and they're stunning. The the colors are still very rich. The details, you you see them, and it's the kind of thing you just stand in front of and you take it in all at once, and it's just amazing. But if you take a few steps closer and you kind of get up close to the wall, you uh uh have a different experience. Everything changes. You start to see the individual threads and the knots and the way each tiny piece of fiber is really placed with intention to make certain colors pop out in the forefront and to make certain shapes. It's it's really magnificent. And anyway, up close, you can't see that whole image anymore. You're just looking at a small section, a handful of like little threads crossing over each other. But you know, because you've already, you know, come from a little further back, you know it's part of something much larger. And I remember being just as fascinated by those unicorn tapestries as I was by the knots at sailing camp. Maybe even more so. That idea that something intricate and meaningful is built piece by piece or knot by knot, or even thread by thread, that what looks like a complete picture from a distance is actually the result of thousands of small, deliberate choices. I've always been drawn to that, to weaving and the idea of structure and connection, even before I had language for why. So we'll fast forward a few years in our little time machine, and I was introduced to knots again, but this time in a completely different context, witchcraft. So, you know, a lot of it is I'm a big history buff. So I started just learning things like the Somerset Witches Ladder, and not too long after I learned about the Valhalla ladder that had been found, and all these things, things started to just click almost immediately. Like it wasn't just about rope or fiber anymore. It was really that intention and about energy being held and directed and tied into something physical that I was already familiar with. It took something I already loved, the the knots and the weaving and the structure. And this gave it an entire other layer. So once you see it that way, or at least for me, you start to notice these little knots and details everywhere. So I wanted to spend some time today talking about that knots and cords and weaving, not just as craft or history, but as something that has carried meaning and intention and yes, magic across cultures and centuries and into the way we still practice today. And this is something I've been especially deep in lately. This month, um, inside the Practicum over on Patreon, we're working with Knot Magic in a layered and really intentional way. And I have to say, this has been one of the most energizing things I've put together in a while between the knot work itself and the shadow work that's woven into it. It's been a lot, but in the best way possible. So all this has very much been on my mind. So before we are off and running, I want to slow this down for a second and just make a few distinctions because cords, knots, and weaving can sometimes get lumped in together. And while they are related, they're not the same thing. So for me, once I started to see the differences, I really began to understand how each one holds energy in a slightly different way. So let's start kind of in order. We'll start with cords. They're at the most basic level, a cord is created by twisting fibers together. It could be plant fibers or hair or thread or yarn or whatever the material is, it starts as separate strands. And then through repetition and direction, it becomes something stronger and something unified. And that's tremendous because before you ever tie a knot and before you weave anything, the cord itself is already carrying energy. It carries the process of being made, that steady repeated motion and the intention behind it, the direction of the twist, and even the material you choose, all of that becomes part of what the cord holds. So when we work with cords, in a magical sense, we're not starting from zero. We're working with something that already has structure and memory built into it. Now, knots are a little bit different. A knot is a decision point. It's a moment where the cord changes form, where movement becomes fixed or controlled or directed. And different knots behave differently. Some are designed to hold under pressure. The more weight you put on them, the tighter they'll become. And some are meant to release very easily. They hold just enough and then they let go when you need them to. Some are binding, uh, some anchor and some connect. So when you're working with knots, you're not just tying them together, you're choosing how that energy is going to behave. Are you holding something in place or are you trying to reinforce it or contain it? Or are you preparing it to be released? And we're gonna talk more about that a little bit later. First, let's just touch on the weaving piece. Weaving takes multiple chords and it brings them into relationship with each other. It's not just one line anymore, it's a full system. It's a structure and a pattern. And what's interesting about weaving is that the strength doesn't come from any one strand. It comes from how they are interacting with each other over, under, over, under, again and again until something larger has taken shape. And this is where we move from individual intention into something more layered, because weaving holds energy, not just in what each strand represents, but in how they're connecting and how they support each other and how they create something that couldn't exist on their own. So, and I'm putting together something simple for the Lightful Library too. I'm hoping to have it up by the time the podcast goes live, but if not, I'll be within a couple of hours, I promise. But I wanted to break down a few different types of knots and how they behave. Not so you have to memorize anything at all, but just so you can start to recognize what you're working with when you use them. And I also want to kind of take a moment to talk a little bit about the origins. Um, so now we've got that foundation of the cords and the knots and the weaving. I want to zoom out of that for a minute because none of this actually starts with witchcraft. It starts with basic survival. Um, the earliest evidence of cordage goes back somewhere between 30 to 50,000 years. That's let me repeat that. 30,000 to 50,000 years ago is when people started tying things together. And that's kind of wild to think about it. People twisting together plant fibers or, you know, parts of animals or hair or whatever they had available to create something that could hold and carry and bind and build. It was used for their shelter and their tools and clothing and fishing lines and setting traps. I mean, all of it was essential to string, essentially, or the idea of thread or cord. And when something becomes essential to survival, it rarely stays just practical for a long time. It becomes meaningful because you start to rely on it and you start to understand it and trust it. And that is where I think there was a huge shift. When we move forward through different cultures, you start to see the cords and the knots and the weaving show up not just as tools for how they survive day-to-day, but as symbols and eventually as magic. You can go back to ancient Egypt where knots were used in amulets and particularly something they called um the tie-et knot, often associated with ISIS. And these weren't decorative knots, they were protective. They were tied into linens and wrappings, and the objects that they were tied to are meant to preserve life or guide someone into the afterlife safely. Like you'll see on a lot of the mummies, the wrappings are in this particular knot. So here, knots are already being used as a way to hold some protect energy. And then you move a little bit forward into Mesopotamia and Babylon. And in these traditions, you see early forms of binding magic. Knots are used symbolically to restrain and control outcomes and to limit certain things from happening. They weren't complicated rituals. It was just the idea that if you bind something physically, you can influence it energetically. I mean, the this is amaz to me, this is amazing. These are our earliest ancestors, and they're leveraging knots in so many of the same ways we do today. You can even, you know, kind of move move up the coast a little bit to Greece. And in Greek mythology, we get one of the most well-known images that's tied to all of these ideas, and that's the fates, the three fates, spinning and measuring and cutting the thread of life. And that alone tells you how deeply this concept runs: that thread is life, and the length is time, and the cutting of the thread is the end. You also start to see knots in the ancient Greek culture used for protection, like the Hercules knot that was believed to hold strength and stability. And, you know, again, let's move across a couple of time zones, and a few years later in the Celtic traditions, knot work became something else entirely. There were endless loops, and that was signifying no clear beginning or end, and represented eternity and continuity and the cycles of life. And these patterns weren't just decorative, they were protective. They were woven into clothing and carved into stone and really built into everyday life to serve as reminders. If we backtrack again across the globe, when we go to Asia, in Chinese knotting traditions, knots are tied for luck and prosperity and protection. And you'll still see these today hanging in homes and given as gifts. And they're intricate and intentional and specific, and each shape and each pattern carries a special meaning. If we go over to the African continent, in West African traditions, particularly in Ghana, there's um kenti cloth, and it's a form of woven storytelling. It's beautiful, especially with all the colors that they use. And the patterns represent ideas and values and history and identity. And so here, weaving becomes communication and about stories being passed down. Not just something that people were making, but something they were saying about their culture and their history. And if we go over to North America, to the indigenous cultures there, you see weaving used in ways that filtered energy. If you've ever seen a dream catcher, I think that's probably the most widely recognized example, especially one that's still used today. It wasn't about trapping, but about filtering the dreams that people were having, allowing what should pass through and then catching what shouldn't. In medieval Europe, that's another great example. There were knot magic that showed up in much quieter everyday ways, like love knots and binding knots and protective charms. They were nothing dramatic, just small acts that were woven into daily life. As colonists came over to America, these knot traditions don't disappear. They do become a little quieter. I mean, it meant getting set on fire. Maybe you should keep your knots on the DL. But basically, the knots were still there. They were hidden in sewing and quilting and household tasks. So just a little less visible, but still very much present in that every day. And then even outside of magic, you see the patterns showing up across all different religious practices, no matter how separate they may seem from each other sometimes. Knots are used in all of them as a way to focus repetition and intention. And you'll see it in things like prayer ropes and knotted cords, fringed garments and shawls, and that physical act of tying and counting and repeating. It gives the mind something to anchor to. Even, you know, for those etymology buffs out there, even language reflects this. In Russian, the root of the word that means to bewitch connects back to tying uh or binding. In Hebrew, an enchanter is connected to the idea of tying or nodding. Even in Latin, ligare, um, which is a verb, it means to bind, which is where we get words like ligament or obligation or things that hold. So even linguistically, this connection between tying and influencing is very deeply embedded. And we still use it. I mean, in common everyday English language, we've got things like tie the knot or being at the end of your rope or hanging on by a thread, tangled up in something, loose ends, um, cut from the same cloth is another good one, and threadbare is another one. Um, there's a bunch of them. So, or even, you know, how many times are you late because you're tied up in something? We say these things constantly. I mean, really, if you stop to just think every day, you probably make at least one kind of a tying reference. We don't just always think about them where they came from, but we're definitely still using them in our everyday. And bringing this all into the present day, there are a few ways that this shows up in modern practice. Um, binding, very common, protection, creation when you're building towards something, and releasing. And I want to spend a little time on that last one because it doesn't get talked about nearly as much as I think it should. Um releasing, we tend to think of knots as things that hold and tying them, but just as important is their ability to let go. Because not every knot is meant to stay tied. Some are meant to be undone. And that matters in practice because there are times when the most powerful thing you can do is to not bind something, but release it, and knots give you a physical way to do that. To take something that's been sitting in your mind or your body or your energy and give it form. You tie it, you name it, you acknowledge it, and then you have the power to undo it. And I think there's something so important about that physical motion and that shift from tension to release that your body understands in a way that your mind sometimes doesn't. It's simple, but it's not insignificant. And I think a lot of times we overlook that because we're so focused on holding and calling in and building. But release is part of that structure too. If nothing ever loosens, then nothing ever shifts. So Please just keep the release in mind as you begin to work with knots a little bit more. Um, and when we look at just in general, the practice of cord magic and knot magic and how it's evolved, chords become tools for carrying or combining intention. Weaving becomes something that's long-term and something that's built over time. And knots, knots become the points where all the decisions are made. So I think one of the most common and well-known across a lot of different cultures, and especially in modern-day practices, are witches' ladders. And this is where we start to see a lot of these ideas come together. And the Somerset Witches Ladder from England, which I mentioned earlier, was this mysterious piece of string. It was just a little bit longer than a yard, and it was found in an attic during the 1878 demolition of an old house in Wellington, Somerset. And it was said to have been found alongside some brooms and an armchair. And the object consisted of black wool interwoven with like a brown and white thread, and then there were chicken or rooster feathers that were looped through it every few inches. The workmen who found it and the locals believed that a witch had previously lived in the house and deemed it to be a witch's ladder that was used for dark magic, like stealing a neighbor's milk or causing illnesses. Now, full disclaimer, at the time that this theory surfaced, local farmers were said to have found this very amusing because uh the practice of stringing up these feathers was thought to help keep the neighboring wildlife out of the crops. But it was all rather sensational. And at the time, the Victorian folklorists really popularized the find, suggesting that the knotted feathered rope was designed to bind curses. And it is now considered a significant piece of Victorian-era folklore. So, regardless of whether it was indeed used for baneful magic or just keeping the animals out of the crops, it's one of the earliest recorded examples that shows knots being used not just symbolically, but as an active part of shaping a particular outcome. And while a lot of people are familiar with the Somerset Witch's Ladder, the Italian Witch's Ladders or Girlanda delle Streghe, which translates to witches' garlands, are believed to predate the 1878 Somerset find. It was um, or actually several of them were found in Tuscany during the late 19th century. Now, these items were typically from what they were collecting, consisting of a cord or a rope, and oftentimes it would incorporate the intended victim's hair, and it would be knotted with black hen feathers, and then they were often placed under a mattress, or they were accompanied by like a rather crude image of I don't know if it's a chicken or a hen, but it's stuck with black pins. So, unlike the Somerset Ladder, which was primarily associated with stealing milk or roof crossing, um, the Italian versions were specifically intended to cause severe illness or misfortune or even death to the person who slept in the bed where these witches' garlands were hidden. The cursed feathered garlands were basically believed to be created through malicious magic and required the victim to find to find it before you know something bad happened to them and dispose of it with running water in order to break the curse. Now, these Italian traditions are reported as part of a long-standing, very active system of regional folk magic. And it's a little bit more direct and sometimes harsher in the use of the cords and knots that would be like compared to what we see in England. But it's a very clear example, again, of knots being used, not just to hold energy, but to direct it in a specific and controlled way. Whether it's binding or cursing or influencing outcomes, all of these actions are very intentional and very, very specific. And then if we move to the 20th century, particularly with Wiccan traditions, we see the witch's ladder reframed a little bit. At a very high level, the uses of witches' ladders sort of expands here. People begin using them for manifestation and focus and structured intention. They're still working with the knots and still with the intent of ushering in a particular outcome, but now with a broader range of purpose. And this expansion has led to some beautiful and powerful creations. Generally, I feel like these practices tend to fall into one of three buckets. And sometimes there's a little bit of overflow, but into the other buckets. But protection is one and always has been. Binding or restriction is another bucket. And then the third to me is really about creation or fertility. And sometimes this can be literal or a little bit more figurative. Um when I I laugh when I when I say this because I don't know if you've ever seen that movie, The Proposal, with Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds. Um, but whenever I think of Witch's Ladders used for fertility, I start thinking about that scene where the two of them are like dashing around the room. His parents are coming in and they're trying to make it look like they're madly in love and they're snuggling in the bed. And Sandra Bullock reaches for this blanket that Betty White, the grandmother, had given them and she calls it the baby maker. And Sandra Bullock grabs the blanket, looks down at it, and it's like, oh no, the baby maker, and launches it across the room as the parents are walking in. It is such a good scene. But essentially, the baby maker blanket is very much the same idea as the witch's ladder and using it for fertility. Using these textiles to create conditions for something to grow is a really powerful opportunity. And it comes with the idea of devotion and commitment as well, choosing to stay tied to something intentionally. The scope of the traditional witch's ladder has just expanded so far beyond the simple knotted chords. It's evolved into this sophisticated tool for multi-layered spellcraft. While originally used for cursing or binding through the knots alone, and still can be very much, but some modern practitioners now treat the ladder as kind of a physical anchor for a huge variety of energetic signatures. Um, by weaving in herbs like lavender for peace or crystals like black tourmaline for grounding, the person creating this adds a permanent kind of vibrational quality to each knot. It, you know, you can choose to incorporate tag locks as well. So, you know, and those are your personal items. So things like a lock of your hair or a drop of saliva can transform the latter from a general charm into a really specific tool that's tied directly to you or to the individual you're creating it for. Things like, you know, teeth or nail clippings are sometimes added to just provide that extra bit of magic to attach it to someone. And it represents deep structural protection for the self. The evolution of this ladder, I mean, to me at least, it's it's really it can be a functioning, you know, hanging talisman in your home that just radiates intention through all sorts of things going on around you. Or, you know, it can be something that you keep very private in a drawer or, you know, in a private place. You can use a huge variety of materials as well just to make the latter, whether it's, you know, simple twine or silk or hemp or wool or really, I mean, it can be anything, recycled fabric, even that means a lot to you, maybe from a certain article of clothing or something like that. But you can choose all these things for their symbolic weight. And ultimately, it it is a growing complexity, but with these ladders, it shifts you toward a highly personalized and really artistic piece of folk magic that's so personal to you and to what you're really wanting. Um, like, for example, like if you wanted to do, you know, and these are these are your bigger rituals, right? So things like a protection ladder, you might want to, you know, knot in some black obsidian, you know, for absorbing negativity and maybe use dried garlic or rosemary for warding off, you know, bad things. Or maybe it's iron or nails or teeth to symbolically kind of bite down, you know, whatever it is you're trying to protect against. Um, for fertility ladder, you could bring in moonstone to align with lunar cycles and reproductive health, or pomegranate seeds, or even um dried fig is really good too. These are ancient symbols of abundance of the womb. So um even the color that you use for a fertility ladder, something like green silk, um, you can represent the vibrant growth and that ever evergreen kind of vitality of new life. Like there are so many little components where you can really express yourself and bring in what what matters to you because essentially it's your magic that's fueling this. And the more connected you are to it, the more successful it's going to be. But you know, these are these are kind of big, more ritualistic ladders. And this is where I want to bring it back down to keeping it simple because I think there's a lot of really beautiful and elaborate witches ladders and other not and woven workings out there. I mean, there's one I made a long time ago. It was a protection one, and it was after my third son was born, and I still have it. It's very meaningful to me. The the items that I wove into it, I'll just leave it at that. But it's, and I've seen some others out there as well. Like there are some really beautiful long-term projects that become not just meaningful and powerful, but also they become part of the aesthetic of your home. And I I love when that happens. I think it's a really nice marriage. But sometimes we just need, we just need to knock out some knots and get what we need. So that's okay too. This was really meant to be very simple, in some some circles they call it low magic, but it's it's supposed to be something that day-to-day you can do that's easy, not only to make, but easy to focus on and focus on your intentions while you do it. If you've ever worked with the knots before, just the simple knots on a string, it almost becomes meditative as you're doing it because your fingers, you know, they're just it's almost like memory muscle. They're making the knots, but you're able to focus on what's happening. Um, I know personally for me, I I blow into my knots, um, you know, blow my intentions into them. And it's very, it's a very peaceful experience, I find. Um, and I I really, I hope if you've not done it, I hope you'll try it because it really, it's quite an experience. But anyway, sorry, back to the everyday practices because it doesn't really need to be a whole thing. You don't have to be elaborate with your tools or even what you're adding to your ladder or complicating setups or whatever you're doing. So first thing I would mention is just the morning knot. And this is taking a piece of cord or string or ribbon, it could be whatever you have handy, or it could have more meaning than that. But you can just take this single piece of cord and tie a single knot in the morning. And as you do, decide what your day is going to hold. And as you're pulling that knot tight, you know, when you have that little O, blow those intentions into the knot as you pull it tight. And it doesn't have to be everything, it doesn't have to be the 30,000 things you are wanting or hoping from the day. Just one thing and keep it in your pocket if you have it or somewhere nearby. And it's really just kind of nice just to like kind of fiddle with, like, think of it as an original fidget spinner. Um, but you know, just to kind of have that knot. And as you're, you know, rolling it between your thumb and forefinger on a very boring conference call. Hypothetically, of course, I never do this. But you know, in my mind might drift a little bit and just sort of think about what I was wanting um that knot to bring in. So really easy, and it's just one knot, and you just kind of keep it close all day. And then, you know, if you need to when you get home, you can release it or keep it, you can build on it. There's there's all the fun you can have with your knot. But um, speaking of that, I would say the next thing is releasing the knot. So at the end of the day, or whenever you need it, you can tie a knot if you didn't start one already in the morning while naming something that you are maybe ready to let go of. And usually the way I would start this is when I'm tying the knot is to kind of put into it what I had hoped for or what work I had put into it, because I feel like that recognition is important to seal within the knot. And then when you're ready, you know, sometimes I think a reset is helpful, whether it's water or some breathing. But when you're ready, untie it and do it very slowly and deliberately so that your body kind of feels that shift of the release of the cord as it's loosening. You kind of feel that pressure leave your body of whatever it was that you were carrying and you want to let go of. Um, another really easy thing to do is braiding. Um, and you can do this a number of ways. You can take three strands of a particular type of cord and you can assign each one of them a certain meaning. You can use different colors if you want to, or uh it depending on your length of hair, but I like to braid it into my hair sometimes. Like there are certain times I like to take um oils, infused oils that I've made, and I'll just put it in a little like strand of hair on the bottom, like on the bottom part of my hair, and just do a tiny braid. And while each like link of the braid is going around, I'm really focusing on the intention. And I just I really like that because it's such a nice connection of thought to action to energy, and it's all braided together. And it doesn't have to be perfect or gorgeous, no one's gonna see it. Just enough to really bring whatever those things are that you're that you're calling on and just bringing them into alignment. So these are very quick and easy things. As I mentioned up on Patreon, we've got um just commonly used knots, and there's a bunch of really great resources out there too. There is um one website, if you know you know what kind of knot you're you're trying to make, you can kind of float through and identify it, and then it'll actually show you the video of making that, you know, making that actual knot. And that is um God, what is it called? Animated knots.com. If you go to that website, you'll see videos for making a bunch of different knots. And it's more nautical and theme, but if you know which one you're looking for, it's a really great resource. And I'll I'll make sure to put that link in the show notes as well. But um this is really just the knot tying and the weaving, even just the cord twisting, it's something we've been doing for thousands of years. We've just changed the language around it or stopped calling it magic. But if you want to go deeper into this, into the working with the knots and the cords in a more layered and structured way, that's exactly what we're doing this month in the Practicum on Patreon. Um, it's week by week, but you can join at any time and take a look at it. But we really do. We start out um, you know, using weavers' terms, we start out with a warp, which is kind of the structure for everything. And then each week we're going to build on that with intentions, things that we're trying to manifest and bring in, and then essentially weave it together by the end of the month. And it's a it's a really cool practice, um, personal practice to me, but it's a really good foundation if you're just starting and it's something you can kind of modify or build on it to make it your own. Um, and that's there's just, I think, so much to appreciate in something as simple as a cord and a knot or a woven piece of fabric, especially when you begin to recognize how much intention they can hold. And what looks small or ordinary is often carrying far more than we realize. Um, and speaking of gratitude, before we wrap up for today, let's take one small moment together. Wherever you are right now, if you're restocking the pantry or finishing a deck for tomorrow's meeting, or just debating whether or not to reschedule your dental cleaning next week, just pause and take a slow breath in. And a slow breath out. Today we spent time with cords and knots and weaving, talking about where they come from and how they've been used across time and the ways that they still show up in how we work with intention today. At their core, they remind us that small, deliberate actions repeated over time are what creates strength and structure and meaning. It leaves us with so much to be grateful for, like the steady work that happens behind the scenes, that quiet repetition that builds something that's lasting, and the understanding that not everything needs to happen all at once to be meaningful. It also invites us to feel grateful for the connections in our lives, the way things come together and support each other and form something so much stronger than they would on their own. And just as important, it gives us a moment too to feel gratitude for release, for the ability to loosen what's been held too tightly and untangle what no longer fits and let something go with the intention instead of resisting it. So just for this pause, bring your attention to your own path and from what you've been building to what you've been holding to what you may be ready to release. What are you thankful for that has come together in your life? What feels steady and supported or more structured than it once did before? And lastly, if there's something you've been carrying that's ready to loosen, feel gratitude for the awareness of it and for the ability to shift it and for the space that opens when you do. So if today's episode resonated with you, take a look at how these thread workings and chord magic might help you with what you're intending. Not everything needs to be a big ritual and not everything needs to be figured out all at once. Sometimes the work is just noticing what you're holding and what you're building and where your attention is being directed. As you move through your day, even just today, try to be a little bit more mindful and notice where your energy is going. What are you thinking of and committing to, and what connections are you making? The things that are asking you to stay with them and continue, you know, what are they? And are there multiple objectives that might be strengthened by weaving them together? Does something that feels really high pressure need some help with loosening? Or what are you continuing to build that might be helped by a knot to help carry some of the weight? Because the kind of work that this is isn't about doing more, it's about directing what's already in motion. Small actions still count and steady attention still matters. And the way you move through things, what you choose to connect to and what you choose to strengthen and shape, it matters more than you might realize over a period of time. But even if you're just a little bit curious, grab some string or yarn and try making that braid of three intentions. Or do um a circle of nine knots to go around your wrist for protection. Test it out and see how it feels knowing that these workings are in it with you for the longer term to fortify and strengthen what you want. I mean, there are a lot of things we would love if they appeared instantly, but sometimes, you know, what happens in the unseen takes a little bit longer than we think it will. And that's because this kind of work just doesn't happen all at once. It's built piece by piece, not by not, and thread by thread. So until next time, if you'd like more ways to weave magic into the motion of your life, you can find me on Facebook at The Lightful Witch or in my Lightful Witches circle on Patreon. Be sure to check out the free Lightful Library where I share lunar practices, journaling prompts, tarot spreads, spell work, shadow work, and practical tools for living a little bit more intentionally. You can listen to Magic and Motion on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you like to listen. And if you enjoy working with the rhythms of the season, my books and journals are available on Amazon. Until the next time, remember how bright your light is and notice. The magic you bring to whatever you choose to shine it on, whether you're taking a quiet pause or moving through your life in motion. This is Cat Formasano, the Lightful Witch, wishing you a day filled with light.