Gashi Necklace w/ Tuareg Cross Pendant (GTC22)

This necklace has Green Gashi and Silver Accent beads and Vintage Hinged Tuareg Cross Pendant.

It measures approximately 27.5″ in length. Tuareg Cross Pendant measures: 4″ w x 4.25″h

Gashi Beads: In the local language “gashi” means fired. These are West African beads from Ghana. The beads are pressed in moulds, then fired. They are often left with a granular, opaque surface and sometimes polished to acquire a deep, glowing color ranging from green to blue to brown.

Tuareg Crosses: Tuareg Crosses, now worn by women as pendants around their necks, were originally worn by men, passed down from father to son when the boy reached puberty. The father would pass it on by saying “My son, I give you the four corners of the world, because one cannot know where one will die”!

Most of the crosses designs are named after Oasis towns between Agadez in Niger and the Hoggar Mountains to the North. The Agadez Cross, is the best known of the Tuareg Crosses, which is widely worn by women of the Agadez but is also worn by nomads as far west as Mali.

Like other crosses, it is used as a form of currnecy to buy cattle, cloth or food in times of need.

The crosses are believed to be powerful Talismans and protective symbols.

Jackal track-marks on the back of the cross represents “power” and “cunning”, qualities a father passes on to his son to survive in the Desert of Life.

An old saying in the Sahara desert: “If you were lost and pointed the cross towards the sun, its shadow would show you the direction of a watering hole.”