Galbain: cycle of life

Size: 60x100cm, 2x3ft

Weaver: Guillermina Ruiz Bautista

Materials and methods. Criollo sheep wool natural dyed with bèé (cochineal). Hand woven on a walking Zapotec loom of the 16th century style using a 7 threads per in reed and wool rayon blend for the warp.

Patterns and symbols: the cycle of life pattern in the center of the rug is the symbol one gets by joining both hands at the tips of the fingers similar to a mudra. This union represents the balance of the left and right side of our awareness. On one hand, the left side we call Rubeæz and denotes the type of awareness associated to our intuition and conection to nature and the spirit world, for instance the words for Jaguar, ants, genitals, censer,  etc... are associated with our word for left. On the other hand we have the naliì awareness, the awareness associated with language and logic that allow us to understand the cause and effect phenomenons of the physical world; words associated are music, straight lines and honesty, keys and locks etc. The ancient teachings can be summarized in the moto live a life of balance, this is expressed in the subtle balances of the pattern in the four sacred directions.