Thread and spinning

Use in the book

The Fates’ distaff separates completed thread, the thread being spun, and unformed tow into past, present, and future. The creation image changes the relation: divine power is a substantial ball that unwinds without becoming less whole. That inexhaustibility is part of the image’s claim, not a property of ordinary textile work. The line contained in a point is likewise compared with an armful of thread within a ball. Here the material model helps imagine extension arising from concentrated form, without giving a mathematical proof.

Places to read

1. I, p. 37, entry 1, ¶1Spinning differentiates temporal positions and degrees of formedness.
2. I, p. 146, entry 8, ¶1An inexhaustible ball models creation without loss of divine fullness.
3. I, p. 163, entry 1, ¶1A line is imagined as thread drawn from a point.

Translation in this edition

The English translation keeps distaff, spindle, and tow separate, and preserves substantial in the divine ball-of-thread image. The “To the one” opening and equals sign in the point/line fragment are not completed or erased. No textile object is made a universal key to all three passages.