The Nine-Knot Tradition

The Practice / Knot Magic

Tying a knot into a cord and speaking words over it is one of the simplest magical acts there is, and also one of the most thoroughly documented. The knot appears in magical practice from ancient Mesopotamia to medieval Europe to the present, and in contexts ranging from healing to binding to weather control. It's worth understanding the historical breadth of this practice before working it, because the history is part of what gives it weight.

Historical Background

Pliny the Elder, writing in the first century CE, documents the use of knots in medical magic in Naturalis Historia, describing various remedies involving a specific number of knots tied with specific words. He is fairly skeptical of these practices, as is his habit, but he records them in enough detail to indicate they were in wide use. The use of knots in binding and healing appears throughout the ancient world in contexts that predate Pliny by centuries.

In Norse magical tradition, the manipulation of thread and knot is associated with seiðr and with the concept of galdr, verbal magic that often accompanied physical acts. The Eddic poem Sigrdrífumál mentions runes carved into items and the use of verbal formula with physical actions. Binding magic (niðstöng, the níðing pole) and unbinding magic both appear in the corpus. The concept of wyrd, fate as a woven or threaded thing, underlies much of the magical thinking.

Sailor's knot magic is extensively documented from the British Isles, Scandinavia, and the Finnish tradition. A witch could tie up the wind in three knots: untie one for a gentle breeze, two for a stronger wind, three for a storm. Scott's The Pirate (1821) includes a version of this tradition, and it appears in ethnographic records from the 19th century as a living practice in parts of Scotland and Scandinavia. Knud Leem documented Sámi use of wind-knot traditions in the 18th century.

In hoodoo and African American folk magic tradition, knotting appears in cord spells, mojo bags, and in the use of knotted red string for protection and healing. This tradition represents a syncretic development that drew on West African, indigenous American, and European folk magic practices as they came into contact in the American South. The contemporary practice owes as much to this lineage as to any European one.

The Logic of Knot Magic

A knot physically secures two things. At the moment of tying, both ends are free; afterward, they're connected, and the connection holds. The magical use of the knot extends this logic: the knot fixes an intention in place the way it fixes two ends of a cord. The spoken words at the moment of tying are the intention being fixed.

Untying a knot reverses the binding, which is why cord spells for releasing, ending, or banishing typically work by untying rather than tying. The cord holds what you placed in it; releasing the knot releases what was held.

Number matters in knot magic. The specific count is determined by the intention and by tradition. Three is the number of completion and of manifestation. Seven is associated with cycles, with the days of the week and the planetary spheres. Nine is three times three, amplified manifestation. Thirteen is death and rebirth, appropriate to workings that cross thresholds. For a full reference on number symbolism, see Number & Knot Correspondences.

The Nine-Knot Cord Spell

This is one of the most commonly documented cord spells in the Western folk magic tradition. What follows is a working method that synthesizes the traditional sources.

Materials

A cord of natural fiber, at least 9 inches long for nine knots, longer if you want space between them. The color should correspond to the intention: see Color Correspondences for guidance. Red for protection or love, green for abundance, black for binding or banishing, white for purification or clarity, purple for spiritual work or divination. Traditionally wool or linen, though any natural fiber is appropriate.

Timing

The cord spell is traditionally worked on a specific day of the week aligned to the planetary influence you want to invoke, and ideally at a planetary hour. See Planetary Hours & Days for reference. For most purposes, the growing moon is appropriate for workings of attraction; the waning moon for release and banishing.

The Working

Begin with the cord lying before you. Take a moment to settle your attention, state your intention clearly, either aloud or inwardly, and then:

Tie the first knot near one end and say (aloud is traditional):

By knot of one, the spell's begun.

Tie the second knot near the other end:

By knot of two, the magic's true.

Tie the third knot in the center:

By knot of three, so shall it be.

Tie the fourth knot between knots one and three:

By knot of four, the power's stored.

Tie the fifth knot between knots three and two:

By knot of five, the spell is alive.

Tie the sixth knot between knots one and four:

By knot of six, the power is fixed.

Tie the seventh knot between knots two and five:

By knot of seven, the power is driven.

Tie the eighth knot between knots six and four:

By knot of eight, sealed by fate.

Tie the ninth knot in the final space:

By knot of nine, the power is mine.

The verse is traditional and appears in variant forms across several sources; the knot progression, specifically this non-sequential ordering, distributes the knots evenly along the cord and ensures each one is tied with the full length of cord accessible.

After the Working

The cord may be kept, buried, hung in a specific place, worn, or disposed of, depending on the intention. A cord worked for ongoing protection might be kept in a safe place or worn. A cord worked for a specific outcome might be burned or buried once the outcome has manifested, releasing the built intention. A cord worked for banishing might be buried far from the home, at a crossroads, or in running water.

Variations

The nine-knot structure is the most common, but knot spells can be worked with any number. A three-knot spell for a quick working, a seven-knot spell for something you want to manifest over a week, a thirteen-knot spell for workings at liminal times like Samhain. The verse adapts to the count.

For related techniques: The Witch's Ladder uses knotting in a more complex form incorporating feathers or other ritual objects. For spinning your own cord for this working, see Spinning Intent.

Sources

• Pliny, Natural History, book XXVIII — the knot remedies, in the Bostock and Riley translation at the Perseus Digital Library, Tufts.
• The Elder Edda — the Eddic poems in English, including Sigrdrífumál and its verse-with-act formulae.
• Scott, The Pirate — the 1821 novel that fixed the Northern Isles wind-knot tradition in print, in Norna of the Fitful Head.
• The Museum of Witchcraft and Magic — surviving knotted cords and charms in a catalogued collection, Boscastle.

Continue reading: The Witch's Ladder · Number & Knot Correspondences · Planetary Hours & Days