Images of bats are good signs; bats eat mosquitoes, so when they inhabit the house, it’s considered good luck. Sparrow wings refer to the belief that sparrows can eat human flesh, so these birds are considered evil and are kept away from the village. The calabash is one of the most important objects; it was the first container of the gods, so it must never be broken. (That’s why calabashes are hung high up in macramé, away from children and from cats.) Images of calabashes are everywhere on the walls.

Scarification marks similar to those seen on the arms and faces of the people are also seen in the designs on the houses: the moon, the three cross-stitches representing the chicken for sacrifice, and the snake are considered sacred. They are therapeutic and keep away certain diseases.

Images include the snake, the supreme protective deity and a reincarnation of the grandmother, who after her death becomes the snake and must remain in the house. The turtle is the royal family’s emblem. Ants represent the social unity of the village and the work done by the women, especially painting their homes. Lizards and crocodiles are powerful symbols, as they protect the home from evil spirits. As protectors of the clan, panthers and turtles are never killed. Finally, my host told me that the symbols of the cane and the pipe are the ones visitors identify with. When a young person leaves the village to explore the world, he returns with a cane and a pipe to offer to the ancestors, confirming his safe passage back to his ancestral home.