The Meaning of Adinkra Symbols

This site of Adinkra symbols from Western Africa is really quite amazing. The meaning of each symbol is given on the site. The symbol shown above is the symbol of greatness, charisma and leadership. All of these symbols look very much like embellished phosphene symbols. I think these symbols may represent an intermediary step between abstract geometric representation and symbolic language.

http://www.welltempered.net/adinkra/htmls/adinkra/adin.htm

Adinkra Symbols of West Africa

http://www-01dept.princeton.edu/lcst/symbols/

In looking at a global map and an associated timeline for prehistoric art, I wanted to review the evolution of symbols and pattern imagery found in Africa -- where the oldest art object (see previous post) has been found -- to see if I could identify a 'next step' or transitional phase. I was looking, in particular, for evidence of embellished phosphene symbols. And I think I've found them in the Adinkra symbols of West Africa.

Oldest art in the world - A System of Patterns

The world's oldest example of abstract art, dating back more than 70,000 years, has been found in a cave in South Africa.

Complex motif

Dr Christopher Henshilwood, from the State University of New York at Stony Brook, says: "They may have been constructed with symbolic intent, the meaning of which is now unknown.

"The engraving itself is quite a complex geometric pattern. There is a system to the patterns."

"We don't know what they mean, but they are symbols that I think could have been interpreted by those people as having meaning that would have been understood by others."

The engraved ochre pieces were recovered from Middle Stone Age layers at Blombos Cave, 290 kilometres (180 miles) east of Cape Town, and are at least 70,000 years old.

Dr Henshilwood says more than 8,000 other pieces of ochre were found in the cave, many of which had been rubbed smooth as if to make pigment powder.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/1753326.stm

Stone Age Map 10,000 B.C.

The oldest map in the world, discovered in Ukraine in 1966, is from about 11,000 - 12,000 B.C. Inscribed on a mammoth tusk it was found in Mezhirich, Ukraine. It has been interpreted to show a river with dwellings along a river.

http://www.infoukes.com/history/inventions/

I think this map may have been a battle/attack plan. The lines at the top indicate attacking from the top of the mountain. The shape of the buildings indicate what type of defenses they have. It looks like a catapult in several of the structures. I can imagine a general sending out a scout to make this drawing and then returning to the army with the map, so they could prepare for the battle.

The 10 Sephirot - Patterns in Spirituality

This investigation into the world of patterns is leading to spirituality. This pattern represents the 'Sephirot'. It looks very similar to the central structure of E8.

The idea of the ten Sephirot (literally the "categories" or "symbols") is the most familiar and widespread of all Kabbalistic motifs. It first appears in the books of Sefer Yetzirah and Sefer Bahir, and probably dates from the first millennium. It is a very conscious attempt to offer an alternative to a rational, philosophical view of how God interacts with humans and vice versa.

In a nutshell, the Sephirot are like a transistor that enables us to receive messages and send them. If God, Ein Sof, is not physical in any way, then there is a problem as to how there can be any interaction between the purely spiritual and the material. By interposing the Sephirot they become the channels through which we receive and transmit the lines of communication with the Divine.

- from Jeremy Rosen's website: http://www.jeremyrosen.com/writings/kabbalah/sephirot_and_humanity.html

The Beauty of E8

Here is another beautiful image of the E8 structure. This one shows depth and grid-like structures are more clearly emphasized. It's from an interview with Garrett Lisi here: http://backreaction.blogspot.com/2007/08/garrett-lisis-inspiration.html

The Star of David is the E8 Root

As I was reviewing Garrett Lisi's paper, An Exceptionally Simple Theory of Everything (6 Nov 2007), I noticed with some astonishment that the root of E8 -- the fundamental core of this pattern - is the symbol used to represent the Star of David.

Garrett Lisi's paper is available here: http://www.arxiv.org/pdf/0711.0770