Cowrie Shells

Cowrie shells (Cypraea moneta and related species) were the world's most widespread natural currency before the minting of coins, used from Africa to China to the Americas in trade systems that predate recorded history by thousands of years. In South Asia, they circulated as currency into the 20th century in some rural areas, and their association with money, prosperity, and the goddess Lakshmi remains deeply embedded in folk practice. The shell's form — smooth, oval, and with a toothed slit — has led to universal associations with the feminine, the womb, fertility, and birth across dozens of cultures independently.

In Hindu practice, cowrie shells are prominently associated with Lakshmi, and a pattern of 16 cowrie shells is used in the Laxmi puja that forms the central ritual of Diwali. The shells are cast like dice in divination practices, thrown in sets of 16 to answer questions about fortune and future, a practice called cowrie divination that connects South Asia to virtually identical practices in West Africa and the African diaspora religions. This transcultural use of cowrie shells as both money and spiritual objects is one of the most remarkable examples of universal human symbolic consensus.

As personal talismans, cowrie shells are strung on red or gold thread and worn as bracelets or necklaces, placed in money boxes and safes to multiply wealth, and sewn into clothing and accessories as protective decoration. A cowrie shell placed in a baby's crib protects the child from the evil eye. Fishermen across the Indian Ocean coastline carry cowrie shells for protection at sea. In tantric practice, the cowrie is used on altars as a representation of the goddess and as a vessel for sacred offerings.