The Legend of the Loom

Today while sitting in the McDonald’s Play Place I began to read a story called “The Legend of the Loom”. It is the story of how the Navajo learned the sacred art of weaving. However, as is indicated throughout the legend, this weaving is as much a spiritual journey as it is a means to an end. Just as rugs are woven by the intermingling of threads, so our live are woven by the experiences and dreams that we hold on to and try to create.

For the Navajo each aspect of the loom and the work itself provides a connection to this world and its creators. For example, the four corners of the loom represent the four directions: North, South, East and West. The top bar represents Father Sky; the bottom of the loom represents Mother Earth. The left and right poles are rain and moisture, while the actual loom strands represents rain, the first essential for live.

As the story goes, White Shell Woman is taught the art of weaving by the Navajo Spirit known as Spider Woman (who is married to a spirit known as Spider Man – sorry Peter Parker your name is not unique). Anyway, this Spider Woman teaches White Shell Woman everything about weaving in four days and then sends her back to her village with this new-found gift.

It is interesting (at least to me) that under the direct tutelage of Spider Woman she was able to complete four rugs in four days effortlessly. However when she returns home she works nonstop, but is not able to finish her first solo rug. She becomes frustrated with her efforts and tries to destroy her half-finished rug. She was so enraged that she ripped the rug from the loom, tore it to shreds and then threw it out of her home. She was finished!

However, she found that she was unable to sleep that night; her dreams were uneasy. Upon awakening she sees the Spider Woman recreating the destroyed rug. And the advice that she gives White Shell Woman is as important today as it was when the Navajo Nation was strong and vigorous. Her advice?

“From the moment you begin to weave, your thinking spirit enters the rug. It lives in the spirit line. Even if you quit weaving, even if you rip and tear the rug as you did last night, the spirit remains and will haunt you until the rug is finished. Never give up.”

We each are given a loom, a gift if you will. We must use our personal gifts to help not only other people but ourselves. How many of us have unwittingly damaged our spirits by not completing our personal missions in life? How many of us have allowed ourselves to become bitter because of our lack of success? How many of us have then tried to shoot down other people’s dreams because ours didn’t work out as we planned it?

Moving into the entrepreneurial world, how many of us have gotten involved with a network marketing business because we wanted to achieve a level of financial comfort, of autonomy but have let bad experiences kill our dream and rip it to shreds just as White Shell Woman did? Or how many of us watched someone else effortlessly (or so it seemed at the time) sell a product, add someone to their team or otherwise build their business? And we think “Well, that doesn’t look too hard. I think I can do that!” only to find ourselves frustrated because we haven’t achieved our goals (product, business-building, financial benchmarks) when we thought we should have?

Do you have a dream of being self-sufficient, of being self-employed? Or do you yearn for the perks of working with a network marketing company that will allow you to duplicate your efforts through team-building? Are you seeking a way to earn sufficient money so that you can spend time traveling or doing outreach programs to help others? If this is truly your dream then follow Spider Woman’s words and Never Give Up!

The Navajo have a tradition, no, a sacred law, regarding their rug-making. No rug can ever be put aside until it has reached completion. These weavers will continue to work towards their goal (completing the rug) until the bitter end because they believe to do otherwise would leave their spirit trapped inside of the loom. Are you willing to trap your spirit inside the walls of discouragement, bitterness and frustration? Or are you willing to take up the challenge to work and overcome whatever obstacles are in your way to achieve the best use for your gifts.

The choice is yours. And as Spider Woman demonstrated, we can only complete our tasks with a complete understanding of what we’re trying to do. Education is one of the keys to success. And having someone who will share the ways and means of achieving in our lives is a true blessing. To begin your educational journey, please visit www.streetsavvymlm.com and request a free newsletter that will help clarify some common misconceptions about running your own business (and some of the immediate perks).

This story is a Navajo legend that was told by Sarah Natani and compiled with other American Indian Spider legends in a book called Spider Spins a Story: Fourteen Legends from Native America. Some of the background about the Navaho people (which I plan to look up) can be found in Walk in Beauty: The Navajo and Their Blankets.