Mandala Knot for Handfasting Rituals

Legend has it that "tying the knot" was a literal part of marriage ceremonies and not just a colourful idiomatic synonym. Based on my research knots are still a small part of ceremonies in certain cultures, but overall are not that common. That said, handfasting rituals that involve knots are a thing. As a decorative knot tyer, I would like to help handfasters expand their vocabulary beyond the staid overhand knot. Plus, having a nice decorative piece that was the very knot tied in your ceremony is romantic, no?

The knot I am proposing to use here is the Mandala Knot. Now just about any knot that involves two linked overhands (there are a surprising number!) has been called "The True Love Knot". This mandala knot links four, so we're going an extra step.

First we will learn the knot as a smaller thing before we start tying people up. 8-)

To illustrate the technique and to produce a substantial knot, I am using 1/2" braided utility rope. For a real ceremony one might want something prettier and make rope (or braid rope) with yarn, ribbons, or fabric. Of course, there are also very decorative ropes of good size in the form of drapery tiebacks ("passementerie" is a helpful search term for the fancy stuff). Two ropes of approximately 2 metres in length are needed.

To tie the knot for learning purposes, I've used shoelaces in my illustrations and round shoelaces would work well. Also satin cord, leather lace, or paracord. Something more substantial than package twine is recommended, though.

• for the right hand side, cross the working end over the standing part before going through the loop
• for the left hand side, go through the right hand loop before crossing the working end under the standing part, then through the left loop

At this point you have ABoK 796 or 同心结 which I am translating as the Simpatico Knot. The relative overs and unders are important to your final result, so please follow the illustrations.

Digression: If you take the centre loops through the side loops you end up with the Sauvastika Knot, which I have also proposed as a good candidate for a handfasting ritual.

Continuing on:

• returning to the right side, go under the left loop from below
• go through the Venn intersection from the left, back to front
• now at the front, cross over the rest of the right hand side before going back through the loop from back to front
• returning to the left side, go through the Venn intersection from front to back, towards the left
• cross under the rest of the left hand side before going down through the left loop from front to back

Tightening the knot should be done carefully as just pulling on the top and bottom will leave you with a lumpy and misshapen result. Try to keep each side's knot as flat as possible. Gradually remove the slack until you are pleased with how it looks. This is the Mandala Knot (曼陀罗).

The Mandala Knot is 2 interlinked sets of stacked overhands. As many overhands as desired can be stacked. To my eye, the more overhands that are used, the more the knot looks like a yin yang symbol (if 2 different colours are used), but without the dots (alas). Since the handfasting ritual described below will be using the tying method with independent sides, the analogous "small" knot version is included here but increased to 3 overhands per side, for more fun. Simply stop at the 4th black slide and 4th white slide for the 2 overhand version.

• for the right hand side, cross the working end up and over the standing part before going down through the loop, back to front
• bring the working end from the left through the loop back to front, past the existing knot towards the upper right
• bring the working end down through the loop, back to front (this completes the second overhand)
• repeat the last 2 steps as many times as desired to create bigger knots

• for the left hand side, go through the right hand loop before crossing the working end up and under the standing part, then down through the left loop, front to back
• go through the Venn intersection from the right, front to back, continue past the existing knot from beneath towards the upper left
• bring the working end down through the loop, front to back (this completes the second overhand).
• repeat the last 2 steps as many times as needed to match the right hand side

Even after translating the knot to bigger cord, tested around arm props, and writing out the instructions, working with live people is very different and required several attempts. Practice until you are confident before the big day!

• have participants clasp arms, left hands over right
• tuck the first cord under the 1st participant's left hand, cord end towards the thumb
• wrap cord around clasped arms
• when reaching the outer wrist again, take the working end through the looped cord towards 1st's left hand
• continue wrapping in the same direction
• when reaching the top again, take the working end through the loop there towards 1st's left hand and tuck the end under 2nd's right thumb

• tuck the second cord under 2nd's left hand, cord end towards the thumb
• wrap cord under clasped arms
• when reaching the middle, take the cord end through both loops of the first cord towards 1st's left hand
• continue wrapping 2nd's left arm (and 1st's right)
• when reaching the outer wrist again, take the working end through the looped cord towards 2nd's left hand
• continue wrapping in the same direction
• when reaching the middle, take the cord end through both loops of the first cord towards 1st's left hand
• continue wrapping 2nd's left arm (and 1st's right)
• when reaching the top again, take the working end through the loop there towards 2nd's left hand and tuck the end under 1st's right thumb

• participants now unclasp while holding onto the given cord ends and pull their arms free of the encircling rope

The top and bottom (free ends) can be sewn together fairly invisibly for a neat finish (and to keep the knot components properly oriented) and then hung as is. Of course, more decorative finishing can be applied as desired. The ends can be tasseled by applying extra material or by unravelling the cord, depending on the cord that was used. The knot can be framed into a shadow box with other mementos of the day, etc, etc.