The brilliant and complex mural designs are painted by Basotho women on the earthen walls of their homes. Not merely decorations, the murals are, symbolically, painted prayers, appeals to the spirits of ancestors who live in the earth for peace, for plenty, and for rain, which feeds the crops the women tend. The murals, which wash away and must be repainted every year, also express the Basotho's pride in their own identity.

Author Gary N. van Wyk explores the meaning of these colorful, geometric, and often highly abstract designs by examining the history, religion, and vital traditions of the Basotho. In fascinating text and superb photographs he describes and pictures not only the ongoing glory of their house-painting art but also male and female initiation ceremonies and the powerful spirituality of diviners and healers.