So, pursuant to my interest in using textiles and braids as spells, I was doing some reading on wheat weaving, known as 'corn dollies' in the UK. It is pretty fascinating as a tradition and some variant of it exists where-ever wheat was cultivated throughout the world. The last bit of wheat harvested for the year is taken and woven into a blessing for the farmer's home. The lore suggests that in some areas the spirit of the crop was thought to be forced down into the last bit, so it was being taken and preserved, to be planted first when the time came so that the next crop would be bountiful again. 

The area of Britain that self-identify strongest with Merlin would be Wales (correct me if I am wrong!), and there are several designs that survive to this day. I was looking about on the internet and found The Wheat Goddesses, a little shop that sells these intricate works. In addition to the Welsh fans that abound, there is a twelve-spoked wheel, called "Merlin's Wheel" and they state that the idea behind it was that there was one spoke for every month of the year and its purpose was to maintain the balance, the natural progression of seasons. This is a re-phrase of my understanding anyway. 

That got me to thinking about some of the Lore presented in the World of the Five Gods, a Lois McMaster Bujold series that I adore. In their belief system there was a period of time where demons escaped into the world, beings of chaos that disrupted order and could not engender it, who enticed men to become sorcerer's (by sharing a soul, which was eventually consumed by the demon) to allow the demon to take on some order - such as speech and memories and in turn lending power to the man. The age of sorcerers was terrible because the seasons were completely disrupted and chaos threatened to consume all. Anyway, it ended well, but what of the age of the Titans as described in Greek mythology or the age where the Jotun had the run of the world before the Norse Gods shut them away are all different viewpoints of the same thing? 

A twelve spoked wheel, woven of wheat as a ward against such chaos sounds like it may have been a little prayer, or a small charm against chaos. Was it the basis of some greater spell Merlin was thought to have used? Maybe. 

In addition to braiding and weaving the wheat, Challah bread is a woven blessing that has its own significance and different shapes for the occasion and throughout the world. Fascinating! 

Does anyone out there weave wheat or make corn dollies? Any stories to share? 

Be well!