Make a God’s Eye
You may have seen, or even made, a God’s Eye – crossed craft sticks with colorful yarn woven around them. But do you know the story behind this classic summertime craft? Read on, and then make your own!
The God’s Eye, or Ojo de Dios, has its origins in the Huichol people of Mexico. It represented a portal between the spirit world and the mortal world, with each of the four corners representing an element. Read more about its spiritual meaning here.
In the 1500s, when Spanish colonists arrived in Mexico, they reinterpreted its meaning to reflect their own Christian beliefs, their own understanding of God’s presence in this world. As you prepare your materials for this craft – all you need are popsicle sticks and yarn – start a conversation about the ways in which different cultures and religions relate to God. Then you can connect more directly to our Biblical understanding of how God sees us and our world. Open Bible has a collection of scripture passages referencing God's eyes . One that is particularly lovely is from Samuel 16:7 – “the Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”
You might continue the conversation as you craft, but this one is pretty meditative, so don’t feel like you need to talk as you work. Consider reading this wikiHow tutorial or watching this one on YouTube. But if you’d prefer to just jump in and go for it, just cross your sticks, wrap the yarn four times vertically and four times horizontally around the center, then begin wrapping the yarn over and around one arm of the cross, then over and around the next, rotating as you go. When you want to change colors, just tie the end of your new color to the end of the old one and keep wrapping!
This craft is VERY forgiving – if you make mistakes before you figure out the pattern, the corrected pattern will often take shape directly over your mistakes, and all is well (this is a good life lesson too!). And once you get into the rhythm of creating your God’s Eye, you can experiment with different colors and patterns. If you don’t have the supplies at home, give the Sunday School classroom a visit next Sunday, and we’ll help you out.
We’d love to see your finished God’s Eye. Share yours with us on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, or bring it to church with you and show us in person!
