Waisted By Mika
Traditional, handmade waistbeads, sourced directly from Ghana
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From birth to death, beads play an important role in Ghanaian customs and traditions. Beads are used for ceremonial and decorative purposes for both males and females, young to old. Waistbeads, are traditionally worn around the waist/bikini-line as adornment for women, enhancing her femininity. Waistbeads are traditionally believed to give a women her curvaceous shape and hips. They also symbolize fertility, spiritual well-being, and sensuality. More modernly, waistbands are also used to monitor weight gain and loss.
Waistbeads are handmade strings of mostly plastic or glass beads. Ghanaian traditions state that the bigger (and fancier) the beads, the more affluent the girl's family.
Below are a few traditional meanings for bead colors:
Gold: Good Health, Power, Wealth
Green: Abundance, Fertility, Prosperity
Red: Confidence
White: Purity & Truth
Blue: Loyalty & Truth
Yellow: Energy, Joy & Happiness
Purple: Royalty, Wisdom, Spirituality
Brown: Earth, Nature, Stability
