Mehandi
Mistress McCutchan
With all the popularity
of body ornamentation, it makes sense that mehandi is showing up on bodies everywhere. Mehandi, or henna painting, is an ancient Indian art that stains the skin with a mixture of henna powder, lemon, tea, eucalyptus and water. Traditional designs are drawn onto the hands and feet with what looks like a pastry bag, and unlike tattooing, the designs can last from two to six weeks.
Henna is commonly used in Western culture as a hair dye, but in the Middle East, India, and parts of Africa it is used to decorate the body. It is said that henna was originally applied covering the feet and hands to help draw heat from the body, especially for pregnant women. Eventually intricate designs were developed. Mehndi is traditionally applied to a bride the night before her wedding, and she’ll try to leave it on as long as possible, to get as dark and long-lasting stain as possible, because it is said that :
1. The darker your Mehndi, the more your mother-in-law loves you, and
2. As long as you have Mehndi on you don’t have to do any housework or cooking!
It is also said that the night before the nuptials, when women gather together and, during the hours they must devote to having the designs applied, they enlighten the bride-to-be on the mysteries of married life. Another custom calls for the bridegroom to find his name in the intricate design, before the marriage can be consummated.
Henna painting in Africa is a little different. “I had the opportunity to spend an afternoon with a group of Soninke women (from Gambia) who apply henna,” says Lise Anderson of Andalusia, in Cleveland. “They call it ’Jab’e’ (the spelling is phonetic – Soninke is not a written language). They spend hours applying tape to their hands and feet – then cover everything in henna paste and wrap it all in plastic bags. After the henna is set they remove it, leaving the tape, and apply a blackish paste of ashes, ammonia compounds and other corrosives. This causes the henna stain to turn blackish, but is very poisonous (the Soninke women were the first to point this out; there have been recorded deaths from its use).This is left on for a period, then everything, including the tape, is removed. It looks beautiful, and lasts a very long time.
“ I have a good friend that just married a Gambian man – she went to Africa and had it done....she said the black paste hurt a lot, but she was glad she did it. She brought back chunks of white material that was to be mixed with the ashes to make the paste and offered me some, but... I said no thanks!”
Henna can be applied anywhere on the body, but the hands and feet tend to hold the color the best.
Thank you Lise for your help with the info this article and thank you Marsha Knight for the pictures.
Want to contact a mehandi artist in your area?
Check out our resources and henna patterns for inspiration!
|
