Presented to young women and girls by their mothers, grandmothers and aunties as a symbol of coming of age and other major life moment. African women wear waist beads to help with weight control, to keep a famine shape and train the stomach. When scales weren’t easy to come across waist beads were used to calculate and keep track of weight loss or gain. If the beads started to squeeze and/or roll up the stomach – weight was being gained. If the beads begun to fall down to the hip area, that meant weight loss as an indication.
In Africa waist beads were worn for purposes as such as medicine and religious purposes while others use it to denote status, protection and wealth or high position.
Most of the beads won and the style of wearing them was inspired by west African countries.
Waist beads in the bantu culture were treated as a private adornment, believed to posses powers to entrap the male sex and meant to be seen by only and mainly the woman´s husband.
Waist beads are now widely worn in the world for as a trend, fashion and all exposed for all men to glare and see.
Waist Beads: What they truly mean in the Ugandan Culture
- Brown is for eath and stability
- Blue is for healing, harmony, insight and truth
- Green is for prosperity,fertility, abundance, hope and healing
- Gold is for good health,power and wealth
- Purple js for spirituality, wisdom and confidence
- Read: for vitality,passion,bravery,confidence
- White is for light,truth and prurity
- Yellow: Wisdom,Clarity,awareness,energy and Joy
