Cord Making
By Joanne Dunster adapted from a workshop by Gabby Cleary
For many of us who follow a Wiccan or Wiccan-based path, the cord is one of our most under-rated working tools. The athame gets most of the press as being the witch’s tool par excellence, and let’s face it, who doesn’t like waving a pointy-stabby thing around in the dark. As for the wand, well even Muggles know that a witch and a wand go together. The pentacle holds the symbols of our spirituality and our connection to the earth, but most of the time it just sits on the altar fulfilling its function. Occasionally, it may be taken for a walk around the circle if it is very, very lucky. 
Then there is the humble cord, the tool that many Wiccans never think of as much more than a merit badge that keeps their robe in place. This workshop is about the cord, that tool that is probably the most practical and beautiful in it’s simplicity. There are just so many things that you can do with it!
In traditional Wiccan groups or covens, the cord has its own particular purposes. It is used in blood control and binding as well as being used as a symbol of different degrees of initiation. It is also used in the wider Wiccan community to handfast couples together.
Those of you who are part of covens will have been taught the use of the cord for your own tradition, this is not the scope of this workshop. 
Today we are going to take a look at some of the many practical ways you can use a cord in your solitary or group work as well as make a set of them to be used in the Spring Equinox ritual. We will see how the cord’s simplicity lends itself to many creative applications.
So Just What is a Cord? 
Well in reality it’s just a piece of string or thin rope. But like most things in Wicca, this piece of string can be so much more!
Think of a cord as a bunch of threads spun tightly together and of the magical potential that you can achieve by spinning your own. Of course, you can buy pre-spun coloured cords by the metre at any good haberdashery, but think of all that energy twining together, colours and numbers and chants all flowing in and around each other to create a kick-ass magical tool. The cord is the easiest tool to make and strangely the least hand made tool. 
Because of its simplicity there is great potential for layering of symbolism. There are no complicated procedures or strange components required and you can insert symbolic meaning into almost every stage of the making process. 
You may want to consider:
•	The simple repetitive movement whilst you are spinning the threads together can raise considerable energy that can be imprinted with your intent.
•	You may want to choose a symbolic colour or groups of colours for the threads used.
•	You can choose a numerically significant number of threads to use. Although remember the more threads you use the thicker your cord will be.
•	You can weave or tie small objects, charms or sticks etc. into your cord
•	Try using a chant during its creation to imprint your intention upon its function.
•	You can wash the threads in appropriate herbal infusions. 
•	If you are really keen you can spin the wool or cotton and dye the threads yourself. 
Discuss: Who has used cords in ritual or magical practice? Did you make or buy them?
Magical Uses
The cord can be used for a range of magical activities. Most people automatically think of the classic binding, but a cord can also be used in the process of creating or consecrating other tools and talismans by wrapping the tool or talisman up with the cord and then ritually releasing it. I have used this method to consecrate items like scrying mirrors or other divinatory tools
The binding aspect of cords can be a positive one, consider the act of handfasting as a positive binding that weaves lives together.
Cords can also be employed in spell work and arguably the most famous example of this is knot magic. Nine knots are tied in a particular order ( 3--7--5--9--1--8--4--6--2) evenly spaced along the cord and a line of the following rhyme (or one of many variants) is spoken over each knot as they are tied.
By knot of one my spell’s begun
By knot of two my spell’s come true
By knot of three, so mote it be
By knot of four, open the door
By knot of five, my spell’s alive
By knot of six, my spell I fix
By knot of seven, on earth as in heaven
By knot of eight, the stroke of fate
By knot of nine, this spell be mine.
Knot magick of this type is useful for spell work where energy and intent is stored in the cord for a gradual release at a later date. An example of this can be found in the traditional sailors charms that used knot magic for storing and releasing winds.
You can bind almost any energy into a cord. Try making a cord at a particular phase of the moon or during different times of the day to capture the energy of those times for later use.
Cords in Ritual
A method of raising energy to be used during a ritual is the cord dance. The cord dance uses cords looped together and held in a wheel pattern by several members of a group. The cords are held tightly and the group walks or runs around in a circle. This is usually accompanied by chanting or song. At the peak of the dance the participants throw the cords in the air and the energy is focused through the cords and released.
The trick to looping the cords for a cord dance is to make sure each cord is looped through all the other cords and not just the one opposite it as this keeps all the cords in the centre and stops them sliding about.
The cord dance can also be used to empower an object, brew, bowl of water etc. The cords are looped together and danced over the object then at the peak of the dance the cords can be placed over the object and the energy allowed to discharge into the object.
If you are ever running a ritual with large numbers of people a cord dance is a great way to give people meaningful participating roles in a ritual without having to learn lines or complicated actions. For a simple cord dance about 8-10 people is about the maximum number as people will not have enough space to move otherwise.
For larger numbers of people and a more dramatic layered effect you can use different lengths of cord in your dance. This gives the effect of several concentric circles of people joined by their cords at the centre.
If you want to learn to be more creative with cords you can explore their use within the context of a larger series of rituals. One example of this is to create eight cords one, for each of the sabbats. Then empower them by arranging them in order and performing a cord dance with them. Use thread colours, numbers or other correspondences when you create the cords to enhance their Sabbat connections. Then over the course of a year incorporate these cords in a unique fashion for rituals you write and perform for each of the sabbats. This is an excellent long term learning exercise for a group. 
Some suggested colours for each of the cords might be:
Samhain	South West	Black and Silver	
Yule		South		Red, Green and White
Imbolc	South East	White, Yellow and Green
Ostara	East		Green and White
Beltane	North East	Red and White
Litha	North		Red, Orange and Gold
Lughnasadh	North West	Orange, Gold and Brown
Mabon	West		Gold and Black
Our group has used this exercise several times and some of the ideas we came up with for using our cords were:
•	Weave wheat into them
•	Hung crystals, bells and other objects from them
•	Create a group talisman
•	Measure a plot for planting
•	Spun people into spring with them (wrap it around their waist and pull one end)
•	Created a pendulum and scryed with them
•	Egg filled with sand and hung from a cradle with the cord. Divine into the sand markings
•	Lead people on a journey with them
In solitary practice this exercise might be simplified. You might want to create a single cord and add items to it like a charm bracelet over the course of a whole year or single ritual.
Making a Cord
There are two main methods for making a cord. The first is to braid or plait threads together. However unless you take your time and do this neatly, plaited cords will often become lumpy and come apart over time. Plaited cords are useful if you are going to tie things into the length of the cord as it easy to stop, tie your object in and then continue to plait over the top.
The other method is to spin several threads together. You will need to use threads that are twice the length of the finished cord as you fold the threads in half during the process.
1.	Obtain your threads. Embroidery thread is cheap, comes in a dazzling array of colours and one skein is exactly the right length to create a cord that will tie around most peoples waists. You will need about 6-8 skeins to create an average thickness cord.
2.	Lay your threads out on the ground next to one another. 
3.	Find a friend to help you if you can, or tie one end of your thread bundle to something solid. A door handle is ideal.
4.	Each person holds one end of the thread bundle and begins to twist it. Make sure that you twist in opposite directions so you don’t undo the other person’s twisting. 
5. 	If you are empowering your cord for a purpose keep your intention firm in mind whilst spinning or write and use a chant that utilises your intention. Below is a general chant for cord spinning that can be used to spin, empower and consecrate your cord.
	Made to measure 
Wrought to bind
Blessed be this cord entwined!
6.	As you spin you will notice that the threads will start to kink up. Keep that thread tight! Or it will knot up. Do not let go or it will unwind and make a mess.
7. 	When it starts to become difficult to continue spinning you will need to fold the cord in two. If your arm is not long enough to keep the cord stretched and reach the middle you can use a third person to help you. Keep the thread tight and fold the cord so that one person is holding the two ends together and the other person is holding the middle.
8.	The person holding the middle grips the cord a few centimetres up the length and lets go of the end, this will cause that few centimetres to wind up upon itself. Continue to move up the cord bit by bit allowing the threads to wind neatly up until you reach the other end.
9.	Tie the end off and give the cord a firm pull. This sets the spin into the cord.
10.	If you have made your cord with other people and you do not wish to have their energies remain in the cord (sometimes it is desirable as in a handfasting cord) you can take the opportunity to snip a piece of the cord off, usually when you trim the end. Hold the cord and visualise the other persons energy moving to the piece you are going to cut away then snip it off and give the piece to your helper to dispose of. 
11. Your cord is finished !
Activity: Split participants into groups to start making cords for ritual.
Activity: Take everyone through a cord dance to consecrate and empower the cords just made.