It’s always interesting when an item or garment that has long exclusively belonged to a specific culture crosses over into “the mainstream.” Such is the case with red string jewelry, which is popular today and derived in many cases from Red String in Kabballah. The Red String itself has existed for thousands of years as a Kabbalist tradition, and there is therefore a whole methodology built up around how it is to be made, used, and what the ultimately meaning of the item is.
While non-Kabbalist wearers tend to mix and match bracelets featuring red string any which way, the Red String is traditionally worn on the left wrist, which in Kabbalist mysticism represents a symbolically-receptive side of one’s spiritual self, and can ward off negative evil eye forces. In addition, it is woven from thin scarlet wool and knotted seven times—itself a significant number in Kabbalah—before being sanctified with a Hebrew blessing. Red string was strung around Rachel’s tomb, and so the red string as come to be commonly associated with her, who is herself depicted in the Torah as a selfless and giving individual, and the item therefore can take on that connotation as well.