Sensual charms for the body

Waist beads are a longstanding tradition with its roots in the African world. From little girls and boys, to pregnant women, dancers, and even the elders, waists have been decorated and laced with the seeds of the earth symbolizing sensually striking ethnicity and sexual expression. Beads have always been used by many cultures to adorn bodies, fortify altars and consecrate spaces. From warding off evil spirits, protecting a new born baby to enticing a partner, it’s symbol and power transcends fashion, royalty and beautification and holds deep spiritual roots in ancient dynasties.

In the West African tradition, the waist is most strongly identified with female sexuality. Unlike, the buttocks and the breasts, the waist holds the flexibility to move and curve in more ways than one indicating the depths and power of female sexuality and womanliness. Sitting there are the navel -the cord that transports food and nourishment from mother to child and below the navel is the womb – the creative/sexual center.

Hidden from view and underneath womens clothing, waist beads exercise their evocative powers by means of the sensations of touch, sound, smell and movement. In some parts of Africa beads are adorned with bells to give off a signal letting a woman’s man know that she is ripe and ready for sexual intermingling. In other parts beads are saturated with natural fragrances of sandalwood, sage or anointed oils. Shaman women carry stones and gems in the pouches that hung from their belly waistbands utilizing their healing properties in healing the community. In rituals of dance, a woman stands over burning incense to cleanse her energy bodies as well as her beads, while movement of her waist is magnified when she dances. The belly dancer’s ornamentation in Eastern cultures has its origin in the African waist bead tradition.

Various cultures tribes and regions in Africa carry their own unique symbol and rituals around the wearing of waist beads. As a young girl growing up in West Africa, waist beads were always a mystery to me. They sometimes mark a new status and rites of passage among certain ethnic groups through dance, celebrations, instructions and entertainment or around the initiation into womanhood. Girls were taken deep into the forest and were sworn to silence. They would reemerge looking fresh and womanly. It was a secret society.

Waist beads aid a female in listening to and understanding the changes, messages and intuitive powers of her monthly moon cycle and the rhythm of her body. A woman can tell when she is ovulating from the natural swelling of her abdominal region. In some traditions they were used to carry the container that holds the sacred blood of her menses and the blood is given back to the earth in some rituals. The waist bead holds a spiritual meaning that ties in to the sacredness of her physical body. It keeps a woman close to her womb energy and the intuitive powers of her yin essence.

In Liberia, women wear beads that rest at the crown of their iliac crest - the thick curved upper border of the pelvis. You can feel these two bones with your thumb when you rest your hands on your hips. The beads rest loosely so there are no restrictions that constrict proper breathing. Women in the west, unfortunately, suck in their stomachs and wear tight pants and belts that hinder their natural ability to breath from their diaphragm contributing to female health disorders. Beads are tailor made for each body to give room for movement and proper circulation of energy in her abdominal region while conforming to the natural shape and changes that a woman’s body goes through each month.

In Ghana, beads are used as fetishes to protect against the forces that seek to destroy an unborn child. Pregnancy charms and amulets are added to beads strings to protect both mother and gestating child.

Today, women in the West have added on to those original traditions with belly button piercing and various ornaments to seal off the entry zone from negative energy in day-to- day encounters; as well as contain their power by preventing leakage of energy from their creative center. It is believed that the breaking of the waist beads is a marking of spiritual intrusion, as the navel is a point of spiritual entry into the physical body.

Choosing the right beads, stones or gem for your waist beads is essential. Having it designed and made with each woman in mind is wise so as to effectively protect and enhance each unique body and spirit. Prayers and anointment of the beads are also a part of the African tradition. Wise women apply these sacred practices when deciding to wear waist beads.

Waist beads make great gifts for the holiday season or that special occasion! And they can add spice to your intimate life!

Beads by Sewra Kidane @ waistbeads.com