Nature Hand Looms are beautiful ways to symbolically weave ourselves back into a sacred relationship with the wild world. This practice provides a form through which one begins to attune to the all of the wild life that surrounds them and creates a woven piece that can be placed upon one’s home nature table or altar.

Find four smaller sticks that are relatively stiff and firm. With twine or yarn, bind the four corners together until you have a solid shape. This creates the frame. Using the same yarn or twine (or a different color or variety), create the warp of the weaving—this is the lengthwise or longitudinal warp yarns, which are held stationary in tension on the stick frame or loom.

Take this loom in hand and walk out into your wild sanctuary. Prayerfully invite signs and symbols to come through from nature. You might feel that a fern frond represents something very powerful for you. Ask the fern for permission to partake in this creation. You may come across grasses that speak to you of the resilience of the plains. Respectfully request that they become part of your loom. These wild ones become the weft of your weaving.

This practice can be completed during one time out in your wild sanctuary or over the course of time, becoming a dynamic place for meaningful experiences and messages to be held. I like to place my nature looms by my nature altar as a way to daily return to the revelations received in the wild.

Rewilding Practices