Magic fairy knot

Some of the most detailed knots are magical and ritualistic. The Celtic knot is one such main group of knot work magic systems. There are others too, including the Pixie knot and their associated with matted hair and disappearances, reappearances and bridle stirrups for riding. 

The fairy knots have been used in magic since ancient times. Even during the witch trials, in 1588 Alison Pierson was tried as a witch for using knot magic to heal a bishop of St Andrews. Then another woman named Jonet Morrison was executed for using knot magic to cure a sick baby, even though she cured the baby, she was still punished and died in 1662. Some have used the knot magical system for selfish reasons though. In the same year 1662, Isobel Gowdie was tried for witchcraft for being part of a coven that used magical knots to steal cows milk. 

Where did they get their knowledge from? According to Janet Trall, she learned about knot magic from fairies. She cured a sick man named Robert Soutar by using the knotted magical system. She let him go through a "hesp of yarn, and afterwards cut it in nine parts, and buried it in three lords' lands." Thomas Geace was a doctor who also used yarn to heal sick people and afterwards he burnt the thread. Many more people up and down the country have used knotted objects to cure the sick, and passing the illness to cats who became sick and died, while human patients were cured. Some of these knots were made with green woodbine. 

More info about this in the book A Darker Side of Faery by John Kruse.

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