Spiritual symbols and their meanings

What Makes Clothing Spiritual?

More and more people are seeking spiritual experiences and a deeper meaning in life. One way to express this is through the clothing we wear. Spiritual clothing can help bring our inner attitude to the outside—and remind us in everyday life what we stand for.

What makes a garment spiritual is rarely its cut, but rather the symbol on it. That is why this page focuses on the symbols themselves: where they come from, what they mean, and why we use them.

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Sak Yant: Thailand’s Sacred Lines

Sak Yant are geometric blessing symbols traditionally tattooed by monks or Ajarn by hand in Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos. Each pattern represents a particular form of protection or quality.

One of the best-known is the Ha Taew—five vertical lines representing five prayers and five directions of protection. It is often found on the shoulder blade. We featured it on one of our hoodies because we kept encountering it on our travels through northern Thailand.

The Flower of Life

The Flower of Life consists of overlapping circles that form a regular floral pattern. It appears in many different cultures—in Egyptian temples, China’s Forbidden Cities, and European churches. Because the pattern can continue endlessly, it is considered a symbol of connectedness: everything is connected to everything else.

In modern esotericism, it is attributed with a harmonizing effect. This cannot be proven—but as an image representing interconnectedness, it works independently of that.

The Mandala

In Sanskrit, mandala simply means “circle.” In Hinduism and Buddhism, mandalas are aids for meditation: The gaze follows the structure from the outside inward and gradually becomes calm. Tibetan monks create elaborate sand mandalas, which they destroy again after completing them—as an exercise in impermanence.

Today, you mainly find mandalas on clothing as large-scale prints, for example on our harem pants.

The World Tree

In many mythologies, the World Tree connects heaven, earth, and the underworld—in Norse mythology as Yggdrasil, in the Celtic world as Crann Bethadh, and in India as Ashvattha. Roots below, crown above, trunk in between: a very old image of how growth requires rootedness.

Do Colors Have Spiritual Meaning?

In many traditions, yes, although meanings vary. In the Indian chakra system, colors are assigned to the seven energy centers—from red at the root chakra to violet at the crown chakra. In East Asia, white represents mourning, while in Europe it is black. Saffron orange identifies Buddhist monastic robes, while in parts of Hinduism, white represents purity.

So there is no universal meaning of colors. What matters is the context—and what the color means to you personally.

Clothing for Meditation and Yoga

Anyone who spends a long time sitting cross-legged quickly notices what makes good clothing: nothing presses, nothing digs in, and nothing slips. That is why loose-fitting pants with an elastic waistband are the obvious choice, along with natural fibers such as cotton and hemp, which allow the skin to breathe and regulate moisture.

Why We Treat Symbols with Care

Many of these signs come from living religious traditions. For devout Thai people, a Sak Yant is not an ornament but a blessing bestowed by a master. That is why we do not treat such symbols as arbitrary decoration.

We create our designs ourselves, work with artist friends locally, and explain where a motif comes from. In our view, anyone who wears a symbol should know what it means—then it represents appreciation rather than appropriation.

Our spiritual fashion is part of our alternative clothing. You can find the latest pieces in our spiritual collection.