Elfnoodles » symbols http://www.elfnoodles.com Elf is coming to get you Tue, 19 May 2009 13:47:28 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 en hourly 1 More interesting symbols: Adinkra http://www.elfnoodles.com/notebook/more-interesting-symbols-adinkra/ http://www.elfnoodles.com/notebook/more-interesting-symbols-adinkra/#comments Thu, 23 Aug 2007 16:33:35 +0000 elf http://www.elfnoodles.com/notebook/more-interesting-symbols-adinkra/ I have this little drawstring bag that I bought on clearance at the end of the Folklife Festival a few years ago. I never gave much thought to the design on it until a few days ago, when suddenly I thought about it again and wondered if it meant anything.

Adinkra bag

I did some internet searching, and the good news: why yes, it does. The bad news? I have no idea what. It is, apparently, an Adinkra symbol – Adinkra being a symbol system native to Ghana that originally started out as meaningful embellishment for clothing, and now is used on all sorts of things. Each of the symbols has a very specific meaning, often a proverb. A description of one of the published books about the art says there are over 800 of these symbols.

This particular symbol is, unfortunately, not listed on any of the websites about Adinkra, so it will remain a mystery until I find the opportunity to hassle a librarian to get one of these books on loan. (That could be a while.)

More about Adinkra: Adinkra Symbols of West Africa, History of Adinkra.

]]> http://www.elfnoodles.com/notebook/more-interesting-symbols-adinkra/feed/ 3 Reading: interesting symbols http://www.elfnoodles.com/notebook/reading-interesting-symbols/ http://www.elfnoodles.com/notebook/reading-interesting-symbols/#comments Sun, 12 Aug 2007 14:28:36 +0000 elf http://www.elfnoodles.com/wordpress/?p=315 I took to wondering a little while ago what the meaning of the symbol associated with the Chalice Well at Glastonbury was. I found this good description on About.com. Also be sure to check out the link explaining the Vesica Pisces symbol, which is part of the Chalice Well design. I don’t really have any inspired commentary to make on it, but it’s interesting reading (suffice to say the “Jesus Fish” didn’t originally have the meaning people think it does, even to early Christians). Another interesting read is the origin and various appearances of the Ouroboros through time.

Also fun and tangentially related: Godchecker.com.

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