Women who Weave the Cosmos
In the myth of the Maya, it was a woman who started the movement of the cosmos. She put her drop spindle in rotation, a twirling motion only old experienced hands master, and the stars, planets and Milky Way began their circular path far above, year in and year out, millennium after millennium.
The names of the pieces of the Maya backstrap loom relate to human beings. The loom has a head and feet, it has ribs, an umbilical cord and even a butt. The shuttle feeds sustenance to the growing cloth and the up-and-down movement of the shed is seen as a beating heart.
The weaver ties one end of the loom to a tree, and adjusts the other end around her lower hips as she places herself on the ground. Once in a sitting position with the legs in front of her, the weaver rhythmically moves her hips back and forward to tighten and loosen the weft. The relationship between the woman and her cloth can be seen on the stelea and pottery that the classic Maya elaborated in the warm temple cities of lowland Guatemala, Mexico and Honduras.
Join our Textile Tour of Guatemala and witness an ancient tradition still practiced.
