Consecration
Cornmeal
The sign opens a ceremony, a spiritual pathway, or a sacred space for work.
Fonctions du signe
permanence
Sign Corpus
A tradition-specific graphic communication system consisting of a defined corpus of signs with shared visual grammar, drawing conventions, and ceremonial functions. Examples: the Vodou vèvè corpus; the Palo Monte firma/patipemba tradition; Ejagham Nsibidi; Abakuá Anaforuana; Akan Adinkra. A sign system is identified by tradition, geographic origin, and governing authority. The existence of a system and its name are public; its internal grammar and full sign inventory may be restricted.
Sign Functions
Charcoal
White chalk (cascarilla)
color significance
Drawing surface not covered by existing concepts.
The sign creates a boundary of spiritual protection around a person, object, or space.
Meios de desenho
sign type
The sign marks the boundary or domain of a spiritual entity, house, or society. Particularly important in Abakuá Anaforuana.
The graphic sign system of Brazilian Umbanda and Quimbanda, consisting of drawn points (pontos) associated with Orixás, Exus, and Pombagiras. Related to but distinct from Palo Monte firmás; developed in the Brazilian context with syncretic elements from African, Indigenous, and Spiritist sources.
Sign System
Firma / Patipemba
drawn by
A specific documented occurrence of a graphic sign: a particular vèvè drawn at a specific ceremony, a firma traced before a consultation, an Adinkra stamped on cloth. Distinct from the abstract sign type (iroko:GraphicSign). Records medium, surface, date, ritual context, and photographer/recorder where available. Photographic documentation of sign instances is community-restricted; the sign's existence is public.
Cloth / fabric
Àwọn iṣẹ́ àmì
Médias de dessin
Carved / incised
governing authority
Kongo Cosmogram
Ponto Riscado (Umbanda/Quimbanda)
Funciones del signo
Wood ash or specific burned materials used for cooling, ancestral, and threshold-crossing signs.
Colored chalk
Sign Instance
related sign
Adinkra (Akan)
Commercial or natural paint used for wall murals, cloth stamping, or semi-permanent sign installation. Common in Adinkra cloth production.
Paint
A body of water, basin, or liquid surface. Used in some healing and cooling ceremonies.
The spiritual entity primarily associated with or invoked by this sign. Range: iroko:SpiritualEntity. Community-restricted.
The primary ceremonial function of this sign. Range: iroko:SignFunctionScheme.
Interior or exterior wall surface. Used for semi-permanent protective signs.
sign meaning
Ink
Floor (interior)
The Kongo-derived graphic sign system of Palo Monte and related Cuban-Bantu traditions. Firmas are drawn to open, close, seal, and communicate with Nganga (spirit vessels) and their governing Mpungo. Patipemba are specific ground-drawing configurations. The directionality and polarity of firmas is operationally significant.
Drawing Media
The foundational Kongo cosmological diagram (dikenga dia Kongo) representing the cyclical journey of the soul through the four moments of the sun. A cross-in-circle form that underlies both Palo Monte firmás and traces of Kongo spiritual geography throughout the Afro-Atlantic diaspora. Foundational to understanding other Kongo-derived sign systems.
Cascarilla (eggshell powder)
sign function
The sign records an event, tells a story, or encodes historical knowledge. Characteristic of Nsibidi's documentary function.
Ground cornmeal used for vèvè and some Lucumí ground drawings.
The esoteric graphic script of the Abakuá society in Cuba, derived from Ejagham Nsibidi through enslaved Cross River practitioners. Anaforuana signs represent potencia territories, spiritual forces, and society knowledge. Among the most protected sign systems in the Afro-Atlantic world; specific signs are restricted to initiated members at specific grades. Related to but institutionally distinct from Nsibidi.
Sealing
Door / threshold
Firma / Patipemba (Palo Monte)
Interior floor of a temple, hounfò, or ilé. The most common surface for Vodou vèvè.
Permanent
Àwọn ìrú ètò àmì mímọ́
Prenda signature
Cosmograma Kongo
Ink applied with pen, brush, or stamp. Common in Nsibidi documentation and Adinkra cloth stamping.
Ground charcoal used for ancestral, funerary, and dark-force-related signs.
Blood
Communication
Sign System Types
Tipos de sistema de signos sagrados
The sign transmits information or messages between practitioners or between practitioners and spiritual forces.
Iroko Framework: Vèvè Module (Graphic Sign Systems and Sacred Diagrams)
Refined wheat flour, the most common medium for Haitian Vodou vèvè.
invoked entity
Sign Permanence
Permanence du signe
Gunpowder used in Palo Monte firmás and some Vodou vèvè for Ogou/Oggun-family entities. Associated with warrior and fire forces.
Ìṣẹ́ àkókò àmì
Efun / Cascarilla
Territorial marking
Body (skin)
Semi-permanent
Powdered eggshell (cascarilla), a cooling and purifying medium used across multiple Afro-Atlantic traditions.
documentation record
Ponto Riscado
Gunpowder
Nsibidi (Ejagham/Cross River)
Harina de trigo
The abstract GraphicSign of which this is a specific drawn instance.
Domain module. Vocabulary for documenting graphic sign systems, sacred diagrams, and esoteric scripts across Afro-Atlantic traditions. Covers Vèvè (Vodou), Firma/Patipemba (Palo), Ponto Riscado (Umbanda/Quimbanda), Anaforuana (Abakuá), Nsibidi (Ejagham), Adinkra (Akan), and Kongo cosmograms. Access control runs from public (sign system typology) through initiated-elder (operational drawing sequences) and no-access (selected Anaforuana protected by tradition authority). Use with iroko-authority to document which lineage or sodality context authorizes transmission of a sign system.
Drawing Surfaces
Superfícies de desenho
Ash
The ritual significance of colors used with this sign, where applicable. Initiated-only.
Anaforuana
Medios de dibujo
Paper, parchment, or documentary material. Used in some Palo and Espiritismo contexts.
Anaforuana (Abakuá)
Bare earth or dirt surface, often at crossroads or outdoor ceremony spaces.
The surface of an altar, throne, or ritual table.
The graphic sign system of Haitian Vodou, consisting of elaborate diagrams drawn in flour, cornmeal, ash, or gunpowder on the ground or altar surface to invoke and represent specific lwa. Each lwa has one or more canonical vèvè; regional and lineage variations are well-documented. Drawn at the opening of ceremonies and during possession rites.
The sign constrains or binds a force or entity. Initiated-only detail.
Pigmented chalk in tradition-specific colors, used for signs associated with particular spiritual forces or chromatic requirements.
The semantic or esoteric meaning of the sign as transmitted within the lineage. Initiated-only.
Temporary
Adinkra
The sign closes or concludes a ceremony or seals a spiritual agreement.
Graphic Sign
Wheat flour
The material used to draw this instance. Range: iroko:DrawingMediumScheme.
While many Adinkra symbols are widely published, their ceremonial and mortuary use context should be documented with appropriate respect for Akan tradition authority.
Animal or human blood used as a drawing medium in highly restricted ceremonies. Initiated-elder access for operational detail.
White chalk or powdered eggshell (cascarilla/efun) used for protective and cooling signs in Lucumí, Palo, and Vodou traditions.
Harina de maíz
Nsibidi
Binding
Funções do signo
Types de systèmes de signes sacrés
A sign within the same system that shares visual elements, modifies this sign's function, or is typically drawn in sequence with it.
Living tree or bark surface. Used in some outdoor and forest-spirit ceremonies.
A consecrated object, vessel, drum, or implement.
Protection
Fades naturally or is ritually removed after the ceremony concludes (e.g., ground drawings exposed to weather).
drawing sequence
The surface on or within which this instance was drawn. Range: iroko:DrawingSurfaceScheme.
Remains for an extended period but is understood to be renewable (e.g., wall signs, painted objects, cloth).
drawing surface
Water surface
A discrete ritual diagram, symbol, or graphic mark belonging to a sacred sign system. Each sign has a conventional form, a tradition-specific name, and one or more ceremonial functions. Examples: a specific Vodou vèvè drawn for Ogou Feray; an Abakuá Anaforuana sign protecting a potencia's territory; a Palo firma drawn to open a Nganga. The sign's form and name are community-restricted in active traditions; its operational use and drawing sequence are initiated-only.
Narrative / Recording
Paper / document
Tree / bark
The step-by-step sequence in which the sign must be drawn. The directionality and order of strokes often carries operational significance. Initiated-elder only.
The practitioner who drew this sign instance. Range: iroko:RitualPractitioner — a vèvè, anaforuana, or other sacred graphic sign is always drawn by a human agent exercising ritual capacity, not merely any person. Community-restricted.
An ideographic script and graphic sign system originating among the Ejagham and neighboring Cross River peoples of Nigeria and Cameroon. Used by Ékpè society members for communication, record-keeping, and ceremonial marking. Nsibidi predates colonial contact; some signs are public while esoteric variants remain restricted to Ékpè initiates. Ancestor system to Cuban Abakuá Anaforuana.
Permanência do signo
Àwọn ilẹ̀ ìkọ̀
directionality
Opening
Vèvè (Haitian Vodou)
Altar surface
Àwọn ohun ìkọ̀
The complete inventory of graphic signs held and transmitted by a specific lineage, house, or tradition community. Different lineages within the same tradition may hold different signs or use the same sign with different operational meanings. A sign corpus is lineage-specific and represents a distinct LineageKnowledgeGraph.
The title or institution with authority over this sign system. For Anaforuana: the Abakuá potencia leadership. For Vodou vèvè: the Houngan/Mambo body. Community-restricted.
The sign activates or consecrates an object, person, or space for sacred use.
Wall
Dikenga
Permanencia del signo
Intended to endure: carved stone or metal, tattooed or scarified body marks, Nsibidi on permanent objects.
Other
Whether this instance is ephemeral, temporary, or permanent. Range: iroko:PermanenceScheme.
Ephemeral
The sign identifies a house, potencia, lineage, or practitioner's affiliation. Primary function of Anaforuana territorial marks.
drawing medium
Door, doorframe, or threshold — boundary surfaces with protective and liminal significance.
The skin of a practitioner or initiate. Used for protective and initiatory markings.
Superficies de dibujo
Farine de blé
Photographic, rubbing, or tracing record of this sign instance. Range: iroko:SacredMedia. Community-restricted: documentation should not enable replication.
Destroyed or erased immediately after use as part of the ceremony (e.g., vèvè covered by dance, flour swept away).
Ground / earth
Sacred object
Vèvè
Many Anaforuana signs are protected at initiated-only or no-access level by potencia authority. Researchers must obtain community approval before documenting or publishing specific signs.
Surfaces de dessin
Whether and how orientation of the sign affects its function (e.g., inverted signs in some Palo and Kongo traditions activate opposite polarity). Initiated-only.
A system of visual symbols originating among the Akan of Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire, each symbol encoding a proverb, concept, or value. Traditionally stamped on cloth for funerary and ceremonial use. More publicly documented than many Afro-Atlantic sign systems due to widespread commercial adoption, though ceremonial uses retain their gravity. Increasingly present in diaspora contexts.
Pólvora
Identification / Territory
Fabric or cloth, particularly for Adinkra stamping and some Vodou ceremonial use.
Signs carved or incised into wood, stone, metal, or other materials for permanent installation.