Henna: what Heaven smells like
Posted by Catherine Cartwright Jones on December 20, 1999 at 02:34:38:
Source: "The Seed and the Soil, Gender and Cosmology in Turkish
Society" Carol Delaney, University of California Press, 1991
(in Turkish, Kina isthe word for Henna)
"Kina Gecesi:(night of the henna) ...while the bride is being hidden,
some guests leave and those remaining go to find the bride; when they
do, she is led into the house and onto the bed. Meanwhile, others
have made the kina (henna) into a paste and put it in a large round
cake pan with candles stuck into it. If there is a lamp burning, it
is turned off, and those carrying the lit-up kina march in singing.
Kina is considered auspicious; it is the sacred soil of Cennet (Heaven
, Paradise), which is envisioned as a garden, and it exudes the smell
of Heaven as opposed to earthly soil. The woman (human soil) is
anointed with sacred soil, and the flame, a symbol of male (but
divine) procreative power, transforms her into a bride of heaven. The
songs that are sung while it is being brought in confirm this
interpretation:
"She wore a slipper of divine light on her feet
She comes swaying swaying
She's the Bride [gelin] of Muhammed
Woman, let your kina be auspicious
Where is this girl's mother
May candles burn in her hand
May her place be Paradise
May her words be sweet there.
Girl [kiz], did your father reach the pazar
Did he buy kina for your hand
Woman [kadin], let your kina be auspicious
May your words be sweet there.
He struck[calmak] the lining [astar]with his hand
A saw cut her hand
May your Lord make you look delicious
May your words be sweet there. "
- Re: Henna: what Heaven smells like Eliz. 21:09:05 12/20/99
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