Waist Beads

I was thinking about how I miss my waist beads. It's a part of some Ghanaian cultures for women (once you hit puberty) to start wearing beads around your waist. They look just like prayer beads or beads you tie around your neck or wrist but they're tied around your waist and worn under your clothes. It's tradition but now seems more like fashion. I don't know too many modern Ghanain women who still wear them.

Just like people have comfort blankets, they were my comfort beads. I wore them for the longest time. They were medium sized pearly white beads. I always planned to get muticoloured ones(navy, cream and black) after I lost my virginity but I never did (get the muticoloured ones). I could never find any in the african stores in the States. I found a bead shop down town but the ones I wanted were far too expensive and I couldn't find the right kind of string, (the ones that seem to last forever).

Each time the sting holding the beads would break, I'd tie the separated ends together. I would never take off my beads. I slept in them, showered in them. They were more than a part of me, they were a part of my body. Eventually there wasn't enough string to go around despite the fact that I was loosing weight. When I finally stoped wearing them, I felt so naked and awkward. I had grown so accustomed to feeling them and hearing them rustle against my skin. It felt like the only tangible african part of me had been cut off. Oh, I miss those beads!

I remember how they'd sometimes slip out of my jeans. I could always tell what was going on when people would look at my mid section with curiosity. The great thing about waist beads. You could always tell when you were bloated, gained weight or lost weight but they were a headache with tight clothing. Maybe that's why I'm not into wearing really tight stuff.

When I was younger my aunt told me that before waist beads were just used as traditional decoration, they symolized womanhood. Of course you have to have some kind of a waist and hips to be able to wear them, so it made sense to me. But she said they made you fertile and held magic to attract men. They were also used to tie "period rags" on and kept them in place. I guess underwear wasn't very popular amongst the villagers back then. How much of this is true? I don't know but as a silly little kid, I believed it all. My aunts have told me some pretty doubtful stories over the years and of course I'm going to pass them on.

Are waist beads sexy? All guys african and non-african seem to think so. Then again, wouldn't any guy love anything that accessorises the mid-lower body area? I'll never forget my very first non-african boyfriend. He loved the soft rustling sound the beads made. He said they reminded him of falling leaves. The thought that on a hot summer day I'd sleep wearing nothing but my beads was such a turn on for him. They seem to have the magic my aunts talked about. Yup, I miss those beads!