I came across a book of adinkra years ago in Community Book Center. I’d never heard of adinkra. Their existence amazed me and opened up a world of possibilities for the novel I’m working on. Unfortunately, the book cost more than my budget could afford just then, and I stored the idea away in my mind. Last year I finally looked the book up again. I couldn’t remember the title, but I remembered what it looked like: blue, with a brilliant bird on the cover and a wealth of information inside.  As soon as I stumbled across “The Adinkra Dictionary”, I bought it.

I’ve just begun reading it. I love the diversity of symbols and meanings.  I’ve taken ananse ntontan, “spider’s web,” as my personal adinkra symbol.  It’s the background for the information bubble on the top right side of this post.

Take a look at the sides of this page – I’ve turned some adinkra symbols into constellations. At the moment, I’ve got gye nyame, funtummireku-denkyemmireku (as “The Adinkra Dictionary” calls it), and duafe as constellations along the side. I plan to create more as time permits.

Why constellations?  Well, my novel takes place in an alternate world.  When my characters look up at the night sky, what do they see? I thought adinkra as constellations fit well.