Weaving has many spiritual and mythical meaning behind it. One, is that from the Dogons who believe that each stage of spinning and weaving thread is a symbolic analogy to human reproduction and resurrection.
With this, they believe that the processes of spinning and weaving could only be done in daylight hours. To work at night would be to weave silence and darkness into the cloth. The color of the cloth can also have some spiritual meaning.
Textiles were also used as a form of identity with each tribe having their own unique patterns . Many different types of patterns were formed in places that specialized in weaving. Kings would request several types of cloth to show their prestige and importance.