Cloaking the Earth

I first encountered this image when my father was dying. I sat by his side daily in the nursing home as he slipped further towards death. As my visits became more and more wrenching, a friend suggested I read the 91^st Psalm. There I found these words:

He shall cover thee with his feathers,
Under his wings shalt thou trust...
For he shall give his angels charge over thee
and keep thee in all thy ways.

Then after my father died, the image of being sheltered found its way into my work as a fiber artist. As my own prayers for the earth and its people deepened, I began to dream of circles gathering to make prayer shawls for people and places in special need. It was something that anyone could do--young or old, skilled or beginner

In meditation on the places of brokenness in our world, the image of linking people from every tradition in a common concern for our planet earth began to take shape. I realized that every religious tradition has some form of prayer shawl, symbolic of God's cloak of protection. Muslims treasure their prayer rugs which, wherever they are put down, make the space holy for prayer. Jews knot the fringes of their tallit shawls with ritual prayers and Christians often pass their baptismal gowns from generation to generation. It's a metaphor which spans our differences and invites us to share our deepest yearnings for peace and healing.

Last Easter, I led a retreat at the Quaker Center in Ben Lomond, California, to honor and renew our connections to the earth, each other and all life. We painted and stitched our prayers onto cloth and interlaced the hours with singing. On Sunday morning we gathered for a "Stitching Bee." The children's prayer patches were sewn onto family shawls-even the men joined in with needles and thread. During the closing ritual, the Redwood trees sang with us and we danced with our prayer shawls in the midst of their great circle. We found that singing added a wonderful component to the whole experience.

Around the world, different people are taking the initiative to offer workshops in making prayer shawls. Of her workshop in El Salvador, Roxanne Seagraves said "Anything that makes world peace or speaks about making a peaceful world-I'll be there." And for refugees form the war in Kosovo, more than 50 people gathered in Berkeley CA to stitch designs and appliqued heart shapes onto large swaths of cloth chosen for warmth. They will be distributed by "World Vision" in Kosovo. From a family gathering in the Bahamas, Rosi Lovdal wrote "We did 9 shawls during the month I was there. I learned how privileged is the status of grandmother. No one turned me down. All were uncertain. And in the end everyone just absolutely loved doing their shawl."

The process of making these tangible prayers elicits a dialogue. Questions that arise include: What do we hold dear? How can we change our consciousness to become better stewards of the future? Can we envision our earth without the boundaries which divide us and lead us on a journey of destruction? The words and images that emerge continue to surprise us.

How To...

In order to connect this scattered community of cloak-makers, we've created a website at www.cloaktheearth.com with information on how to make prayer shawls and workshop ideas. When one woman wrote from Minnesota saying "I would like to make a shawl but unfortunately I'm sewing challenged," we were able to direct her to the web site with start-up instructions.

There are many ways to make a cloak. Methods range from simple to complex, time-intensive creations. If possible, encourage workshop participants to select their own fabric for their prayer shawls. Fibers such as cotton muslin, wool, linen, silk or rayon are preferable because natural fabrics take dye or paint better.

For children, a one-yard length by 8" width is best; for adults, use a two-yard length by 16" width. Color can be added by sewing or painting with fabric dyes. Pens or permanent markers can also be used. If the fabric is wet, colors will blend into each other. If the cloth is dry and paint is not thinned with water, then colors will be bolder and forms will be sharper.

Beginning with small demonstration squares will help people become familiar with the materials. Small patches, 2x2" up to 5x5," can later be sewn onto a shawl. Pockets are a great solution for people who want a smaller surface to draw their images or messages on. Pockets can be made from colorful material that you purchase and then sew onto the body of a prayer shawl. Families with three or four generations have chosen to let each family member have their own pocket on a communal family prayer shawl. Young children's participation is encouraged!

Pockets allow for ongoing creation of shawls-either through the addition of more pockets or by changing the contents of what the pockets hold. One friend has a prayer shawl with two large pockets on each end which she wears when she visits people who are sick. At the end of the visit people often ask to put a prayer in her pocket. Thus her shawl is full of prayers for those who are healing and those who are dying.

Adding ties at the corners of the shawl make it possible to join a number of shawls into a pinwheel or airy blanket for ritual movement together. This method allows many people to participate without an intensive time commitment. Ties are made from narrow strips of cloth or ribbon to carry words, drawings and prayers. Ties can vary from 1 to 2 inches in width and up to 12 inches in length. If time is short, participants can pin their ties to the corners and edges with safety pins. Later ties can be sewn on to the cloak for a stronger linking.

Workshop Preparation

If there is the opportunity, participants can become acquainted with their prayer shawl by wearing it, sleeping with it, carrying it with them. The more deeply we know the fibers, the richer our experience will be. This can also be a time to pay attention to our environment-become aware of the places where earth is crying out for our attention and care.

If the group is not confident in their creative skills, you may want to have several examples of completed prayer shawls to show them--done in a range of styles. And if you are painting cloaks and drying time is a problem, you will want to bring hair dryers or irons to dry cloaks at the end of the workshop. Heat will set the fabric dye, so iron cloaks between sheets of white paper.

Closing

When making prayer shawls together has been completed, gather in a circle and sing, chant or share a reading to close your time together. Some people may wish to take their "practice squares" of cloth home with them to post in their most sacred spaces. These can serve as reminders to pray for the earth and one another in these changing times.

My hope for this project is that making prayer shawls can evoke the deep spiritual powers which seem to be missing from current efforts at global commerce and political rivalry. It's time to reclaim the spiritual roots that draw us together. Retaining its grassroots heritage, we envision this project growing organically with small groups getting together to make the prayer cloths as a reminder of God's presence and love for the earth and all its inhabitants.

For more information on this project, contact:

Louise Todd Cope
P.O. Box 9348
Berkeley CA 94709-0348
email: LToddCope@aol.com
www.cloaktheearth.com