Re: Religious meaning


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Posted by Catherine Cartwright Jones on September 27, 2001 at 12:44:22:

In reply to: Religious meaning posted by Jeannine on September 27, 2001 at 02:47:38:

Henna is associated with religious holidays, but is not in itself an
act of religious devotion, just as Easter baskets and Christmas trees
are associated with Christian holidays, but are not in themself
religious. Henna is SOCIAL, though it does have some sense of being
"special", purifactory, and a little bit magical.

When the Spanish Inquisition tried to outlaw henna in the 16th
century, the Christian women who loved to use henna, went to the
governer's office and protested that henna was NOT a religious
practice assoiated with Islam, and therefore should not be outlawed.
The Christian women won the first two rounds of legal suits, though
the Spanish Inquisiton finally won in a round of "ethnic cleansing"
laws.

Egyptian, Arab, Ethiopian, Armenian and all other Christian
communities in the middle ease use henna! Women of the Coptic
Christian Church and the Armenian Christian Church celebrate a "night
of the henna".

I'm working on a paper presently that includes information that
supports the use of henna at Easter. There's more, better, and older
justification for henna's use at Easter than there is for Easter
baskets! If Christianity hadn't migrated north into colder countries(
where henna can't grow), Christianity would certainly still be using
henna, as the early Christians in Palestine and the eastern
Mediterranian countries were.

Henna is a social practice that is used as part of the celebration of
with many religious holidays, and non-religious acivities (such as
betrothal and marriage) .....by Muslim, Hindu, Canaanite, Christian
and Jewish people (and many more).

The 9/11 tragedy is an excellent reason to continue to do henna, and
work harder at mustual understanding between all people. We MUST care
about each other, understand each other, and set aside the
temptation to hate! We share the same joys, the same love, the same
sorrows, the same skin. So henna! The traditions of henna go back
9000 years and across over 60 countries. Why ever should it be
abandoned now?

 


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