Mapuche designs

Aconcagua haversack decorated with fringe and with a külpuwe ñimin design, which meaning is associated with a sacred snake. (photo by Heinrich Sanguinetti)

All our handmade haversacks and saches are decorated with symbols depicting geometry patterns, inspired by the rich Mapuche textile tradition. Each design has a meaning, as described below:

Star design.

Arms in a hugging gesture, suggesting care and love.

Symbol of the eyes, windows to the soul and the physical body.

Common to all Andean cultures, it is a symbol of status used by the chief.

Symbol of the heavens and life; also a cosmological symbol of the world.

The Plan of the Master Weaver
Author Unknown

Our lives are but fine weaving
That God and we prepare,
Each life becomes a fabric planned
And fashioned in His care.

We may not always see just how
The weaving intertwines,
But we must trust the Masters hand
And follow His design.

For He can view the pattern
Upon the upper side,
While we must look from underneath
And trust in Him to guide.

Sometimes a strand of sorrow
Is added to His plan,
And though it's difficult for us,
We still must understand.

That it's He who fills the shuttle
It's He who knows what's best,
So we must weave in patience
And leave to Him the rest.

Not till the loom in silent
And the shuttles cease to fly,
Shall God unroll the canvas
And explain the reason why.

The dark threads are as needed
In the Weaver's skillful hand,
As the threads of gold and silver
In the pattern He has planned.