NODUL – SIMBOL ARHETIPAL
THE KNOT – ARCHETYPAL SYMBOL

Author(s): Delia Anamaria Răchișan
Subject(s): History, Cultural history, Social history, Recent History (1900 till today)
Published by: Editura Universităţii Vasile Goldiş
Keywords: knot; archetypal symbol; sacred; profane; cultural space;
Summary/Abstract: This paper aims to highlight the fact that the knot represents an archetypal symbol, a universalia found across various cultural spaces. It reveals unity in diversity and a range of binaries: tying-untying, benign-malignant, sacred-profane. At first glance, the knot might seem trivial, but it proves to be complex. At the symbolic level, the knot encapsulates the essence of life and becomes a generator of destinies. Thus, the knot binds and unbinds the fate of human beings or even humanity’s destiny. The knot’s ambivalence determines its positioning between auspicious and inauspicious. The ontological universe of the Romanian village offers generous examples in this regard: for instance, the thread of the trinket [mărțișor - a traditional amulet] must be tied three times because the evil eye and malevolent forces are believed to stop at the level of the knots, protecting the wearer (apotropaic function). A knot also intersects and creates a blockage. Therefore, a pregnant woman in the countryside would never wear a coat knotted at the level of the abdomen. Similarly, the knotted waistband is an indispensable item in magical rituals (believed to ward off the Forest Maiden). The knotted woolen sash, untied by the groom on the wedding night, evokes the Herculean knot of love. The Gordian knot signifies a major problem, while the knot of Isis suggests immortality. The traditional knot from Maramureș County, featuring jingles attached to traditional gates, filigree, spindles, keychains, or artisan bottles, evokes the sacred Dacian knot with its hollow center, which must be distinctly separated from the Unclean's knot with a solid center. The knot represents an indispensable archetypal symbol for any cultural space.

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