Navajo rugs deliberately include a spirit line to avoid trapping spiritual energy

Evidence

The Navajo are among the world’s great weavers, famous for their beautiful and intricate woven rugs and blankets, and they say that this art was taught to them by Spider Woman (selection 8). This selection explores the sacred dimension of Navajo weaving: that Spider Woman taught the first weaving on a loom built according to her instructions (with the parts of the loom corresponding to elements of the cosmos); that weaving is a sacred act connecting the weaver to Spider Woman and to the harmony (hózhó) of creation; and the famous tradition of the ch’ihónít’i, the ‘spirit line’ or ‘weaver’s pathway’ — a deliberate small line or flaw woven from the center of the design out to the edge of many Navajo rugs. The spirit line is said to release the weaver’s spirit/mind from the rug so that it is not trapped in the perfect enclosure of the design, and also reflects the deep principle that one should not strive for a closed, ‘perfect’ completion — that a deliberate small opening or imperfection is right, leaving room for continuation, for spirit, for life. — , A Year of World Stories, 9940

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to wabi-sabi and Islamic art’s deliberate imperfection mentioned in the adjacent pedagogical note; a cross-cultural pattern of intentional flaw.
• SEED: Article angle: the deliberate imperfection as a design and life philosophy across Navajo, Islamic, and Japanese traditions.