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Symbols for every wish

Pick what you’re wishing for, then where in the world you’d like the symbol to come from. Every card shows its earliest record.

15 symbols from Sub-Saharan AfricaSort

Sub-Saharan Africa · For prosperity & businessCowrie shellsShell money; imports rose in the late 15th centuryStory card from £2.99 Sample price

Sub-Saharan Africa · For loveOsram ne NsorommaAkan Adinkra cloth, British Museum, 1817Pendant from £28 · story card £8 Sample price

Sub-Saharan Africa · For good healthEthiopian prayer scrollWellcome Collection scroll, 19th centuryStory card from £2.99 Sample price

Sub-Saharan Africa · For courageIziqu (Zulu valour necklace)Colenso’s Zulu–English dictionary, 1861Story card from £2.99 Sample price

Sub-Saharan Africa · For courageTuareg stone armringDescribed by the explorer Henri Duveyrier, 1864Story card from £2.99 Sample price

Sub-Saharan Africa · For calm & sleepShona headrest (mutsago)A Shona headrest collected before 1890, now in the British MuseumStory card from £2.99 Sample price

Sub-Saharan Africa · For your careerCi wara (Bamana antelope headdress)Carved headdresses; pictured in a Paris book of 1917Story card from £2.99 Sample price

Sub-Saharan Africa · For good people around youKola nut (ọjị)Achebe’s novel Things Fall Apart, 1958Story card from £2.99 Sample price

Sub-Saharan Africa · For loveIncwadi yothando (“love letter” beadwork)Zulu beadwork, acquired by the Horniman, 1966Story card from £2.99 Sample price

Sub-Saharan Africa · For safe travelsAgadez crossTuareg cross, recorded 1972Story card from £2.99 Sample price

Sub-Saharan Africa · For a happy homeAkoma NtosoAkan Adinkra sign of understanding one anotherStory card from £2.99 Sample price

Sub-Saharan Africa · For childrenAkua'baBritish Museum, Af1940,01.1Story card from £2.99 Sample price

Sub-Saharan Africa · For prosperity & businessBese SakaAkan Adinkra sign of abundance and togethernessStory card from £2.99 Sample price

Sub-Saharan Africa · For courageGye NyameAkan Adinkra proverb sign, “except for God”Story card from £2.99 Sample price

Sub-Saharan Africa · For study & examsNea Onnim No Sua A OhuAkan Adinkra proverb sign, “lifelong learning”Story card from £2.99 Sample price

We describe what each symbol has meant and how people used it, with sources. We don’t promise what it will do.