Which Symbols Help You Feel Closer To God?

Haitian Vodou culture is spilling with symbolism like the sacred cosmogram, also known as vèvè. 

Drawn by Vodou priests or priestesses using cornmeal, coffee, and flour, each vèvè is uniquely designed to honor a specific Lwa (spirits). 

In the ancient kingdom of Dahomey, spiritualists used palm oil to paint geometric shapes on the ground. It’s possible our enslaved ancestors carried this practice with them, and infused it into Vodou tradition. 

This feels especially sweet when we remember the purpose of vèvè are to be vessels for the spirit realm.

Portals for Lwa to usher energy in and out of our world, vèvè are essential for Vodou ceremonies. 

Vèvè are used to anchor Lwa while they temporarily possess someone’s physical body.

Often we want to wait for a sign to show us the way, but which signs can we show that we’re ready to receive divine guidance? 

Which symbol would you use to convey that you’re ready to surrender? 

Even in a non-spiritual sense, symbolism has always been powerfully woven throughout Black culture. The North Star, Black Power fist, machete, or breaking of chains, all hold the ancestral weight of liberation. 

These symbols are cultural remembering and preservation. Let’s leave symbols for future generations that translate to, “liberation has always been our birthright.”