CRAFTS OF ANCIENT MEXICO - "OJO DE DIOS" WEAVING

The Huichol Indians of Mexico (pronounced Wee-chul) still weave brightly colored yarn on a simple frame of crossed sticks to make a design called "Ojo de Dios" or "Eye of God". Originally, "God's Eyes" were made to be placed on an altar so that the gods could watch over the praying people and protect them, and remind us that God looks with love on people everywhere. It was also customary for an Ojo to be made for each new child as a means for God to watch over the infant and give protection.

Much like southwestern Indian ceremonial shields in shape, the "God's eyes" provide the Creator with a focus point to look through and keep a watchful eye. The cross design of the god's eye represents the legendary four elements: earth, wind, fire and water.

 
 

OJO DE DIOS CRAFT INSTRUCTIONS:

Gather your materials:

4 yarn colors (at minimum)

2 tree twiggs (6-8 inches is best to start with)

Safety box cutter

Craft glue

Scissors

NOTE ABOUT YARN COLOR CHOICES: In choosing your colors, it might be helpful to know that each color does have a meaning. In general, WHITE represents spiritual life, BLACK the afterlife, RED life itself, YELLOW the Universe, BLUE the sky and water, BROWN the earth, GREEN vegetation and bounty. Any variation on these basic colors would carry the same meaning, and/or a combination of meanings. An expample would be the meaning of PURPLE or LAVENDER which would combine RED and BLUE, life and sky/water.

The "Ojo" colors I have chosen to show you here are WHITE, BLACK, RED, AND GREEN/YELLOW. This Ojo is a birthday gift to a male friend of my family's who is of Cherokee heritage. It contains the colors Black (spiritual grounding), Red (life force), Green/Yellow (endless bounty of the earth and the Universe), and White (unknown blessings).

 

  
       
 

Carve shallow indentations in the center of each twigg using the safety box cutter.

  
       
 

Place small amount of glue in the carved place on each twigg. Place glue sides of twiggs together and allow to dry. Your twiggs only need to dry enough to make your weaving easier to handle. Perhaps the ancient weaver would have used some tree sap to stabilize the initial structure.

  
       
  Begin wrapping your first yarn color choice as shown in this photo. Be sure to wrap once around each twig as you work your way around the Ojo. This first color of yarn is important since it will represent the eye itself. Light colors work best for me.  
       
  This photo shows the progress on the front of the Ojo. Contnue to weave at least seven times around, and choose your next color of yarn. Pick a darker color than your center choice so the weaving will have more visual impact.  
       
 

Cut your first color yarn, but leave a tail of about two inches so you can weave it securely together with your next yarn color choice. Twist your two yarns together, and continue weaving around the Ojo while holding the twisted ends in place against the nearest twig.

Hold the twisted ends close against the twig so you can secure it with each pass of your new yarn.

  
       
  Continue weaving in your second color as you did for color #1. Be sure to hold the twisted yarn ends against the twig, and secure them with each pass of color #2.  
       
 

As soon as you have made two or three passes with color #2, you can cut off the excess of the two twisted ends.

Continue adding your color choices. Stop when you have made two or three passes of your 4th or 5th color so you can secure the yarns that will make spiral coverings on your twigs as seen in the next photo.

 
       
 

Cut a lenth of yarn twice as long as the remaining exposed part of each twig end. The yarns should be part of your original color choices for this project, and should be a good contrast. Here I chose RED and GREEN/YELLOW, and laid down a length of each along each twig end.

As I continued to weave my yarn colors, I included the spiral yarns in each wrap around the twigs.

  
       
  Here is a good view of the back side of this Ojo at the point of securing the spiral yarns.  
       
  Here is a nice close-up of that spiral yarn attachment. It is really important to leave yarn tails when attaching yarns anywhere on the Ojo. This will keep yarns from slipping off of your work. Just snip off the excess when you have secured the tails with 3-4 passes of your weaving.  
       
 

Well, it's time to make the tassles for the ends of your twigs. Choose any two colors in your Ojo, and wrap the yarns together around three of your fingers 2-3 times. To make these simple tassels, just tie a scrap of yarn at the top of each wrapped yarn loops. Trim the opposite end so that the fringe is no longer than two inches.

The scrap of yarn that you tied the top of each tassel with is the tail that is laid along the twig ends. As you wrap the spiral yarn around the twigs, be sure to secure the scrap tail on each twig.

  
       
  In this photo I have secured all but one of the tassels with the spiral yarns.  
       
  Here you can see the last few spiral yarn wraps securing this tassel.  
       
  This is the finished twig end with the tassel attached. Snip the spiral yarn after your last loop, and secure the spiral yarn at the back of the twig with a dab of glue.  
       
  Finally, your Ojo is complete.  
       
 

Attach a loop of yarn to your weaving with a darning needle or your fingers. Note that I attached the Green/Yellow yarn loop to the same color area on the weaving.

 

CONGRATULATIONS! Your Ojo De Dios is complete and ready to hang. I hope you enjoy being part of ancient crafts and arts. You have contributed to this meaningful craft by recreating an object of antiquity. I invite you to create you very own unique variation of this craft, and include charms, beads, and smaller Ojos instead of tassels. Leaving the twigs bare of the spiral yarn would also be charming.

  
       
     
       

 

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