Spiral Of Life

Spiral of Life (2003)
handspun, hand-knitted merino wool/silk

I created this shawl during a period of deep bipolar depression. It was a meditation on the components of a good life, the life I hoped to reconstruct for myself after emerging from despair. I spun the yarn on a hand-hammered, solid silver spindle given to me by a master silversmith in my travels, and began the knitting on a set of hand-carved bamboo knitting needles that I made myself. The pattern is my own design.

The shawl is an eight-armed spiral – eight being a sacred number for both Wicca and Buddhism – and is composed of eight patterns. The first four are leaves, stars, flames, and ripples, which signify earth, air, fire, and water – the Four Elements in balance. Next come a solid white section and a pattern full of holes – light and dark, also in balance. The final two are an AIDS ribbon, for right action, and a heart, for compassion.

Together, these patterns make up what I consider the eight elements of a good life: all elements in balance, then the deliberate choice to act with compassion.

Spiral of Life probably saved my life. It was a symbol for life at a time of great darkness. I designed it as I went, and my curiosity to find out what would happen next, and my drive not to leave it unfinished, bolstered my will to survive.