“Mola” means “clothing” in Dulegaya, the native language of the Kuna people of Panama and Colombia. Molas are the traditional costume of Kuna women. Two mola panels become the front and back of a blouse.
We are told that this comes from an older tradition where Kuna women painted their bodies with geometrical designs. At a later stage in their history, they transferred these designs into fabric.
I have a collection of these designs that I pray with. And so next week I will post one mola in the morning and one mola in the evening and invite you to allow the mola to speak to you as you draw breath and weave prayers from it.
When the government of Panama attempted to “westernize” the Kuna by forbidding the practice of Kuna language, traditional dress and culture, a huge wave of resistance led by women sparked the Kuna Revolution of 1925, where the Kunas won the right to govern their own territories.
One popular native design is the “Sammu Mola” (Palm Tree). The Kunas believe that when a tree is hurt, the animals in the wild would soothe its wounds energetically at night so that it is completely healed in the morning..
The umbilical “tree” of the newborn is wrapped in a banana leaf and fastened to the birth hammock and then buried under a fruit or coconut tree. afterwards. And then that tree and the child are now said to belong to each other.
Let us pray: Tree of Life run your roots deep inside us. Together let us drink from many streams. As we are fed by the rains that come from wind and clouds, let us become food and medicine. for each other. For all of these things, we are grateful.
