Re: Of Men and Henna!

Posted by Catherine Cartwright Jones on May 12, 2000 at 07:58:46:

In Reply to: Of Men and Henna! posted by Babaganooj on May 12, 2000 at 02:58:48:

Could you hang around this forum a whole lot? You write wonderfully,
and I really like hearing what you have to say!

Henna certainly has a strong scent, and when a strong smell is
associated with something frightening or stressful in childhood, a
feeling of revulsion can stay long after the memory of the even is
largely gone. There is a men's aftershave that affects me that way.

When I was hennaeing a Moroccan family here, the teenage boy turned
white as a sheet when he smelled the henna, and began trembling. His
mother specifically hugged him and murmered "They don't do that here,
you don't have to worry." , and it was in reference to late
circumcision. She was very highly educated, she was a French teacher
in Morocco, and had come to visit her brother runs a business in
Cleveland. I think they were arranging to leave the boy with him for
high school and college. The man watched the henna, and wrote out
Arabic words for me to copy. I asked him to write the word "blessing"
and he didn't seem to know what I meant. I asked "baraka", and he
said, "oh. that bullshit we USED to believe in."

It's often difficult to keep in mind that every place is diverse,
because every person and their experiences are different. Am I
correct in thinking there is a very good annual jazz festival in
Aleppo, or is that another city in Syria? We have a CD called "The
Sultan's Picnic" that was recorded from a jazz festival in Syria, that
we absolutely LOVE, and I know there are more in the series but don't
know where to find them.

• Sirius Henna Conference

Follow Ups:

• Re: Of Men and Henna! Babaganooj 17:11:45 5/12/00 (2)
  • Sabah Fakhri Kree 07:42:10 5/16/00 (0)
  • Re: Of Men and Henna! Catherine Cartwright Jones 18:08:07 5/12/00 (0)