AREWA KNOT (DAGIN AREWA)

Arewa Knot is among those symbols which their hidden secret have not been discovered and its origin remains unknown. We have been told that it represents “Unity in Diversity”, but sometimes history is not what we have been told.

The Arewa knot is an emotive symbol of Northern Nigerian adopted by Sir Alhaji Ahmadu Bello (Sardauna of Sokoto) as a political identity. The symbol was adopted in the 1950s when Nigerian elites were preparing for political independence from Britain. (Ochonu 2008)

The symbol represents “Unity in Diversity”, which was encapsulated in the “One North” philosophy that was used to fight for representation and privileges for Northern Nigeria and to counter what was perceived as Southern Nigerian persecution and political domination. (Ochonu 2008)

When a symbol loses its meaning and power for an individual or culture, it becomes a dead symbol. The Greek gods might be an example of symbols that were once living for the ancient Greeks but whose meaning and power are now gone. (Paul 1964)

Similarly, with the Arewa Knot losing its true meaning or yet to be discovered, it only remains a symbol used for decorating houses and clothing and adopted as Northern Nigerian emblem; Northern Nigerian political identity (in the 1950s) without a true meaning.

.

There's an interesting theory that the knot has Christian origins and was adapted from North African cross styles (i.e., Coptic cross styles).

http://newsrescue.com/the-northern-knot-the-arewa-insignia-is-actually-of-christian-northern-origins/

RedboneSmith:
There's an interesting theory that the knot has Christian origins and was adapted from North African cross styles (i.e., Coptic cross styles).

http://newsrescue.com/the-northern-knot-the-arewa-insignia-is-actually-of-christian-northern-origins/

Very educating and nteresting information about the history of the knot which has been criticised by a lot of people. I guess there's any big deal again from those calling for the removal of the design of the knot which is part of the design in the Monetary value of Nigeria.

RedboneSmith:
There's an interesting theory that the knot has Christian origins and was adapted from North African cross styles (i.e., Coptic cross styles).

http://newsrescue.com/the-northern-knot-the-arewa-insignia-is-actually-of-christian-northern-origins/

Very educating and interesting information about the history of the AREWA knot which has been criticised by a lot of people. I guess there's any big deal again from those calling for the removal of the design of the knot which is part of the design in the Monetary value of Nigeria.

Kudos

I saw a mention about this ETERNAL KNOT in another topic discussing cross-cultural influences between Yoruba and Hausa/Fulani. I figured my contribution will be best appreciated here, under the subject, than anywhere else.

I will precede with pictures and then follow it up with the significance of AREWA to the Yoruba.

I say AREWA because the term itself is Yoruba and a denotion of the celestial bearing of the Norh Star. The eternal knot is the symbol Yorubas use to ritualize the North Star, which in our language is called AREWA.

Olu,
Its nice to see you again. Your contributions in the discussion on Yoruba origin was very informative and I took some lessons from your input. Thanks!

If I may expand a little bit I will start with the origin of the Eternal Knot itself. How did it become a symbol of ritual with the Yorubas and why do we celebrate or idolize the North Star?

The first writing about the North Star was in the story of Jesus' birth in Nazareth and the appearance of the "three wise men" guided in by the North Star.

The three wise men were priests and worshippers of Celestial Illumination, primarily, North Star.

The interpretation of their presence in Nazareth is that they observed a change in the Star and divined to find meaning. Divination revealed that a king is born. They appeased through divination and offerings for the Star to guide them to the king. This is how they ended up in the manger where Jesus was born.

This would show that a spirituality of deity worshipping and celestial cults existed in Palestine and Jerusalem in the midst of Judaism and ahead of Christianity and Islam.

Who were those that practiced this spirituality?

The first picture is the symbol in its primal state, used by the cult.

The second is a multiple, used for styling.

The third is the Christian version, the knot is super-imposed on the cardinal cross.


The third one is the version adopted by Ahmadu Bello for use as political symbol for Northern Region. I know the word cross or christian symbol might make the Hausa/Fulani uncomfortable but I want to share that the cross itself predated Christianity. Christians did not invent the cross, they adopted it. The Cross as an object can be classified as a symbol of universal application. It belongs to no one and can be used by everyone, Muslims included! In fact, a part of the Staff of Authority used in the Sultanate and Emirates has a cross on it, and is not in recognition of Christianity.

Leo Frobenius, the famous German Anthropologist who entered Africa from Carthage (Libya), crossed the desert and explored the sub-Saharan cultures and history had a lot to say and share about the Yorubas.

Among the many items he found historically significant and worth preserving are items of clothing containing "Solomon's Knot".

Why is it called Solomon's knot? I will share later.

An article on Solomon's Knot in wiki.

The greetings amongst initiates of Awo (Yoruba cults) is "Aboru boye, Aboye bo Isise".

In the Egyptian Esoteric, Horus and Isis were both deities dedicated to celestial representation. Akhenaten built a temple for worship of the sky illumination.

The Isise cult of the Yorubas use the North Star symbol, or Arewa, on their hats. This symbolizes an attraction of divine illumination to the Ori (head).

Similarly on the Aare Crown, carried here by the Ooni, the Priest King of the Yorubas, the symbol is blazoned, as a continuum, on one side. The Crown is placed on Ooni's head only once a year.

This Crown is the essence of covenant in Yoruba Sovereingty. Allegiance is given to it from all other beaded crowns on the land. This Crown has been with us for mutiple centuries.

The North Star is not only a beacon, it is a function of spirit in the divinities of Yorubaland.

So I can't understand why a Northerner would say Yoruba copied the eternal knot from them. That shows lack of cultural knowledge and understanding.

Here is a gallery of AREWA on the staff of Orisha Oko and as well on Crowns.

Here are more collections...

Jagaban wears a single strand of the symbol on his hat.

It is popular to wear it on head covering or on the chest to signify illumination to those parts of being.

but why are you posting those notes and other pictures in this thread when according to your own posts and external sources, the symbol is ubiquitous.
Why not create a separate thread for the expression of the symbol in yoruba motifs and designs, or just Africa in general?

MetaPhysical:
I saw a mention about this ETERNAL KNOT in another topic discussing cross-cultural influences between Yoruba and Hausa/Fulani. I figured my contribution will be best appreciated here, under the subject, than anywhere else.

I will precede with pictures and then follow it up with the significance of AREWA to the Yoruba.

I say AREWA because the term itself is Yoruba ]and a denotion of the celestial bearing of the Norh Star. The eternal knot is the symbol Yorubas use to ritualize the North Star, which in our language is called AREWA.

Arewa-North
Yamma-west
Gabas-East
Kudu-South

YonkijiSappo:
but why are you posting those notes and other pictures in this thread when according to your own posts and external sources, the symbol is ubiquitous.
Why not create a separate thread for the expression of the symbol in yoruba motifs and designs, or just Africa in general?

I dont know the reason behind why the OP opened this thread. Hausa/Fulani and Yoruba are both in close proximity in all aspects of commerce, culture, rituals, customs and, if you remove the borrowed culture and religion of Islam and Christiany, we share belief systems as well. My response and highlights are given in this flavor so as to dispell and kill the suggestion and thought that the Eternal Knot is a symbol originally with Hausa but later donated to Yoruba.

There should at no time be a cultural competition between Yoruba and Hausa at all, we have so much in common that the line indeed is very thin between what is Yoruba and what is Hausa.

The Fulani is a foreigner and they met us here.

MetaPhysical:


I dont know the reason behind why the OP opened this thread. Hausa/Fulani and Yoruba are both in close proximity in all aspects of commerce, culture, rituals, customs and, if you remove the borrowed culture and religion of Islam and Christiany, we share belief systems as well. My response and highlights are given in this flavor so as to dispell and kill the suggestion and thought that the Eternal Knot is a symbol originally with Hausa but later donated to Yoruba.

There should at no time be a cultural competition between Yoruba and Hausa at all, we have so much in common that the line indeed is very thin between what is Yoruba and what is Hausa.

The Fulani is a foreigner and they met us here.

Well, you have a right to your own beliefs and opinions.
But Hausas and Yorubas to me, aren't that close. Maybe you are talking about CERTAIN groups within the Yoruba fold like Northern oyos and some Igbominas having some elements of northern affinity, especially and mostly with Nupe and not even really Hausas. Due to hundreds of years of living in close proximity, similar life views in general, certain similarities in aspects of their cultures, and so forth.

But if you visit some other Yoruba people groups like Ondo, Ilaje or those of Ketu in Benin ~ Those of Ife or Ekitis, you would realize that sometimes, the cultural distance between both groups can be like night and day.
Nice submissions by the way.

Ersan:


Arewa-North
Yamma-west
Gabas-East
Kudu-South

Yes, I get what you are saying.

In the ancient times people navigated using the Sun and the North Star. Travellers on animal and on the high sea use the Sun to find bearings and direction of travel during daytime, but in the pitch of darkness when the Sun has retreated they depended on the North Star for guidance.

In addition to that, there are other esoteric powers associated with the Star and it is believed that the night sky is a reminisce of the primordial space, dark, empty and without knowledge, it is a dimension in which dark energies project with strength. The Star is the enlightenement of souls. If you see the Star and follow it you can remove darkness, emptiness and you gain tremendous knowledge and control over the energy of darkness.

Beside having it as a naming convention for compass bearing and using it for political symbolism I am not sure Hausas have any spiritual meaning attached to it, as do, largely, the Yorubas.

YonkijiSappo:


Well, you have a right to your own beliefs and opinions.
But Hausas and Yorubas to me, aren't that close. Maybe you are talking about CERTAIN groups within the Yoruba fold like Northern oyos and some Igbominas having some elements of northern affinity, especially and mostly with Nupe and not even really Hausas. Due to hundreds of years of living in close proximity, similar life views in general, certain similarities in aspects of their cultures, and so forth.

But if you visit some other Yoruba people groups like Ondo, Ilaje or those of Ketu in Benin ~ Those of Ife or Ekitis, you would realize that sometimes, the cultural distance between both groups can be like night and day.
Nice submissions by the way.

What happened to the Hausas in their invasion by Fulani is truly a large scale tragedy. All their traditional and customary divinities and beliefs were erased and replaced with Islamic doctrines.
Today the Hausa has no other God but the one given to it by Islam. Their indigenous divinities are all wiped out.

This explains why you disagree with me on the similarity. You are comparing a spiritual Yoruba with an Islanic Hausa, of course there will be no common ground. Compare spiritual Yoruba with spiritual Hausa and you will be surprised.

MetaPhysical:


I dont know the reason behind why the OP opened this thread. Hausa/Fulani and Yoruba are both in close proximity in all aspects of commerce, culture, rituals, customs and, if you remove the borrowed culture and religion of Islam and Christiany, we share belief systems as well. My response and highlights are given in this flavor so as to dispell and kill the suggestion and thought that the Eternal Knot is a symbol originally with Hausa but later donated to Yoruba.

I am curious as to what element of hausa culture today you lot consider as having slamic roots. Like your brother said, any similarity between us is due to proximity rather than origin.

There should at no time be a cultural competition between Yoruba and Hausa at all, we have so much in common that the line indeed is very thin between what is Yoruba and what is Hausa.

I beg to differ, our origins are different (if you disregard adam and eve), so is our language, our genetics and our phenotype. Other than recently adopted similarities, its harder to find what we do have in common.

The Fulani is a foreigner and they met us here.

Prior to the fulas, Kano, gaya and their brothers were foreigners and they met the first inhabitants of hausaland. Various ethnicities came into hausaland during the great starvation of the sahel as foreigners. Then bagauda amd his people met barbushe and his people as a foreigner. Rumfa became leader of hausaland as a foreigner. These patterns are similar to the immigration of fulas, their case is differs a tad bit due to the fact that they had an established culture and their migration is quite recent. Looking at history over time, hausa people have always been an assimilation of foreigners. Today distinction between these ethnicities in terms of identity is minimal, just like i am sure distinctions between these groups i mentioned arrived as foreigners has vanished. So who are the hausa people to you? What does foreign mean?

MetaPhysical:


What happened to the Hausas in their invasion by Fulani is truly a large scale tragedy. All their traditional and customary divinities and beliefs were erased and replaced with Islamic doctrines.
Today the Hausa has no other God but the one given to it by Islam. Their indigenous divinities are all wiped out.

Wrong! Today maguzawas and the tsumbubura still exist. We see them everywhere, especially in rural areas of kano and katsina. The practise of these people differ in all forms to the practise of the yoruba culture.

Fun fact: in recent times, these maguzawas are actually becoming more christanized than islamized.

This explains why you disagree with me on the similarity. You are comparing a spiritual Yoruba with an Islanic Hausa, of course there will be no common ground. Compare spiritual Yoruba with spiritual Hausa and you will be surprised

Wrong! We know the origin of every aspect of our culture and we can differentiate them from what is islamic. I wonder what aspect of hausa culture tpday you consider islamic.

YonkijiSappo:


Well, you have a right to your own beliefs and opinions.
But Hausas and Yorubas to me, aren't that close. Maybe you are talking about CERTAIN groups within the Yoruba fold like Northern oyos and some Igbominas having some elements of northern affinity, especially and mostly with Nupe and not even really Hausas. Due to hundreds of years of living in close proximity, similar life views in general, certain similarities in aspects of their cultures, and so forth.

But if you visit some other Yoruba people groups like Ondo, Ilaje or those of Ketu in Benin ~ Those of Ife or Ekitis, you would realize that sometimes, the cultural distance between both groups can be like night and day.
Nice submissions by the way.

I like fried chicken and i like this comment.

MetaPhysical:
I saw a mention about this ETERNAL KNOT in another topic discussing cross-cultural influences between Yoruba and Hausa/Fulani. I figured my contribution will be best appreciated here, under the subject, than anywhere else.

I will precede with pictures and then follow it up with the significance of AREWA to the Yoruba.

I say AREWA because the term itself is Yoruba and a denotion of the celestial bearing of the Norh Star. The eternal knot is the symbol Yorubas use to ritualize the North Star, which in our language is called AREWA.

I find this information quite interesting. Although I know the Hausa language is classified as Afroasiatic but didn't do much finding as it regard the connection of the Endless Knot (Eternal knot) to Yoruba. However , personal experience had shown that once there is a kind of sacrifice in which the Yoruba tradition in the use of RAM without blemish for sacrifice. The killing of the Ram's is directed TOWARD THE NORTH. The white Ram's skin and white hair are removed outrightly from the body. And this has nothing to do with ISLAM. Although , I do know a little about the Hausa's history and how their ancient way of worship was destroyed by UTHMAN DAN FODIO. However, on the issue and history of the knot in connection to Yoruba is a new area I may delve into to learn more.

There are whole lot of it which started at Egypt with her gods, then Israelites looking on to the cross and the interpretation within the whole of Middle East. The the Three Wise men were priests who had to follow the sign which signify the birth of a unique being on Earth.

In what way is AREWA connected to Yoruba tradition?

MetaPhysical:
Olu,
Its nice to see you again. Your contributions in the discussion on Yoruba origin was very informative and I took some lessons from your input. Thanks!

If I may expand a little bit I will start with the origin of the Eternal Knot itself. How did it become a symbol of ritual with the Yorubas and why do we celebrate or idolize the North Star?

The first writing about the North Star was in the story of Jesus' birth in Nazareth and the appearance of the "three wise men" guided in by the North Star.

The three wise men were priests and worshippers of Celestial Illumination, primarily, North Star.

The interpretation of their presence in Nazareth is that they observed a change in the Star and divined to find meaning. Divination revealed that a king is born. They appeased through divination and offerings for the Star to guide them to the king. This is how they ended up in the manger where Jesus was born.

This would show that a spirituality of deity worshipping and celestial cults existed in Palestine and Jerusalem in the midst of Judaism and ahead of Christianity and Islam.

Who were those that practiced this spirituality?

Same here dear brother.

MetaPhysical:
An article on Solomon's Knot in wiki.

KING SOLOMON'S KNOT? NO WONDER. THE CURIOSITY OF WHITE RESEARCHERS TO IDENTIFY THE YORUBA ETHNICITY. THIS IS EVEN NOT PART OF WHAT I HAVE EVER COME ACROSS.


THANKS FOR MAGNIFICENT INFO

MetaPhysical:
An article on Solomon's Knot in wiki.

KING SOLOMON'S KNOT? NO WONDER, THE CURIOSITY OF WHITE RESEARCHERS TO IDENTIFY THE YORUBA ETHNICITY. THIS IS EVEN NOT PART OF WHAT I HAVE EVER COME ACROSS.

THANKS FOR THIS MAGNIFICENT INFO

YonkijiSappo:
but why are you posting those notes and other pictures in this thread when according to your own posts and external sources, the symbol is ubiquitous.
Why not create a separate thread for the expression of the symbol in yoruba motifs and designs, or just Africa in general?

It is part of knowledge sharing. irrespective of where it is posted. It is not a waste. Shockingly, I saw this “University of California at Los Angeles Fowler Museum of Cultural History, USA has a large African collection that includes nineteenth and twentieth century CE Yoruba glass beadwork crowns and masks decorated with Solomon's Knots"


This was during Jesus Christ!!!

Olu317:
I find this information quite interesting. Although I know the Hausa language is classified as Afroasiatic but didn't do much finding as it regard the connection of the Endless Knot (Eternal knot) to Yoruba. However , personal experience had shown that once there is a kind of sacrifice in which the Yoruba tradition in the use of RAM without blemish for sacrifice. The killing of the Ram's is directed TOWARD THE NORTH. The white Ram's skin and white hair are removed outrightly from the body. And this has nothing to do with ISLAM. Although , I do know a little about the Hausa's history and how their ancient way of worship was destroyed by UTHMAN DAN FODIO. However, on the issue and history of the knot in connection to Yoruba is a new area I may delve into to learn more.

Ypu couldnt be more wrong. First and most significant blow to hausa animist cults was dealt by the hausa king of kano ali yaji dan tsamiya, the first islamic jihad in west africa. During the time of bil foduye majority of hausas were muslims.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yaji_I

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Santolo

Further islamization was the carried out by Muhammad Rumfa, who is widely considered one of the greatest hausa kings.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad_Rumfa

Ersan:


Ypu couldnt be more wrong. First and most significant blow to hausa animist cults was dealt by the hausa king of kano ali yaji dan tsamiya, the first islamic jihad in west africa. During the time of bil foduye majority of hausas were muslims.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yaji_I

I didn't mention as if there weren't Islam. I inferred about the outright destruction of an identity. Have you no knowledge on the destruction of Hausa tradition having a knowledge as the ARK which is kind of the type of MIDDLE EAST TRADITION? Is Hausa language not Afroasiatic? How come I was wrong? I am not new to criticism? I want you to enlighten me.

Ersan:


Ypu couldnt be more wrong. First and most significant blow to hausa animist cults was dealt by the hausa king of kano ali yaji dan tsamiya, the first islamic jihad in west africa. During the time of bil foduye majority of hausas were muslims.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yaji_I

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Santolo

Further islamization was the carried out by Muhammad Rumfa, who is widely considered one of the greatest hausa kings.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad_Rumfa

One of your wiki info still support my point


Pre-Islamic Hausaland


An aspect of the traditional Maguzawa Hausa religious traditions, Bori became a state religion led by ruling-class priestesses among some of the late pre-colonial Hausa states . When Islam started making inroads into Hausa land in the 14th century, certain aspects of the religion such as idol worship were driven underground. The cult of Tsumbubura in the then Sultanate of Kano and many other similar Bori cults were suppressed, but Bori survived in "spirit-possession" cults by integrating some aspects of Islam. The Bori spirit possession priestesses maintained nominal influence over the Sultanates that replaced the earlier Animist kingdoms.


I hope you understand the basis in which UTHMAN DAN FODIO did suppress the local religion when he came and woo people to support and the usurping he did in Sokoto. The rest is history.