World Travels: Henna

Henna: The Botanical’s Power and Secrets Extend Through Time and Culture

Secrets of beauty have been cherished throughout the ages. Much more than just the hand adornment we typically see as Mehndi, henna has an extensive and splendid history.

Henna is one of the oldest and most fascinating beautifiers known throughout time. It was used by Cleopatra as a perfume to seduce Mark Antony. Nefertiti found a double purpose, using it as a beauty enhancer and to treat infections and headaches. The Egyptians also used it to protect their skin from the sun and Lucille Ball’s vibrant red locks were attributed to henna.

Cultures from around the world have always used markings to adorn the body, and have always used plants as their allies - ingesting them, smoking them, applying them to the body one way or another. Anthropologists have evidence to support the theory that henna tattoos have flourished for the last 15,000 years.

Who was the first woman to rub henna leaves on her body and find it beautiful? When did henna become a sacred vehicle of transformation and good fortune? When did it first lend itself to human rites of passage, offering protection and beauty? The journey seems to begin over 5,000 years ago in Egypt.

In the sacred tomb of Ramses II, the fabric used in wrapping his mummified body is dyed with henna as part of the final protection process. His hair is dyed a burnt red and his palms are saturated with henna, as are the soles of his feet and his fingernails. At sunset the ancient Egyptians would burn the henna plant as incense to invoke the spirit of Ra.

Cleopatra went to extreme lengths to protect and enhance her beauty with henna. Leaving Egypt, she crossed the Mediterranean to marry Julius Caesar. In her cargo were baskets of henna carried by her faithful handmaidens. Forsaking Caesar, she fell deeply in love with Mark Antony and the henna seeds Cleopatra brought were planted in the Roman soil.

Henna traveled to Morocco when their daughter Cleopatra Selene married King Juba II of Morocco. With her came her royal court of women and all their potions, amongst them henna. As her court mingled with the women of Morocco the use of henna went beyond the purpose of beautification and adornment. Here, the botanical became the central element of henna parties.

The parties carried many forms. Typically they were called to help a woman who was troubled or when there was a need to contact the spiritual world. The liberating event could last over three days. Women received henna decorations on both hands and feet and remained immobile for the entire period. Each morning the henna was scraped off with a silver bangle and reapplied to get the darkest stain possible. The henna is protected by carefully wrapped scarves while she sleeps. On the third day the henna is baked onto her skin over aromatic coals to darken the decorations and the party arrives. Wrapped in gorgeous robes, incense perfumes the room at sunset. The room glows from the lights of many candles. As night falls, dance begins, scarves become untied, hair swirls, music gets stronger and the trance sets in as the women collapse on the floor and spiritual enlightenment occurs.

The reach of the Roman Empire enabled the ritual of henna to spread to all points within the Mediterranean, Africa, Middle East and Far East.

Henna is the Persian name for a shrub known as Lawsonia Inermis. Henna is native to Asia and the Mediterranean coast of Africa and now thrives in warmer climates worldwide. The plant can grow from 10-15 feet tall with small bright leaves and four-petaled flowers amid a thorny bark. The flowers emit a sweet, seductive scent reminiscent of jasmine and rose and the leaves produce a red dye. Once harvested, they are ground into a fine powder.

When used as body art, henna has taken the name of Mehndi, the Hindi word used to describe the art form of painting henna designs on the body. Mehndi is practiced in many parts of the world.

Traditionally, it is associated with romantic love and the ritual of marriage. It is also used for everyday adornment. In India, North Africa, Southeast Asia and the Middle East, henna is seen as a lucky charm, a blessing upon the skin with the power to bring the wearer happiness and wealth.

Many times pregnant women in their seventh month seek out well respected henna practitioners called hannayas, to have certain symbols painted on their ankle, which will be encircled with a corresponding amulet. These are meant to protect both the mother and the child through birth.

Henna painting also takes away excess heat from the body and calms hives and rashes and balances hyperacidity. During summer, when extremities are painted, including the bottoms of the feet and hands, overheating is avoided.

Recently, the art of Mehndi has enjoyed a revival. Western culture has adapted and altered the traditions so that henna, as a pain-free body decoration alternative to permanent tattooing, is now one of the most popular trends among both men and women. Mehndi is not a mere fad that is expected to rapidly fade away. On the contrary, it provides a long-lasting and spiritual method for adorning the body. Today henna tattooing is in demand and millions of men and women have discovered the timeless mystique of this beautiful art form.

Weddings

Henna is used across the world as a ritual used to bless nuptials. Here are a few ways it is used in the Middle East:

United Arab Emirates

Weddings in the United Arab Emirates are grand celebrations involving great expense. Custom decries that the bride will go into seclusion for 40 days prior to the wedding. During this time she will receive gifts of jewelry, perfume, and silks from her future husband forming her trousseau. Both families will celebrate with traditional music, continuous singing and dancing during the week prior to the ceremony.

Several days before the event, in the night of henna rituals (Laylat Al Henna), the bride’s body will be cleansed and anointed with perfumes. Her hair will be washed with amber and jasmine and Mehndi will be applied to her hands and feet. All of the bride’s female relatives will attend and continue the preparations for marriage.

Yemen

In Yemenite wedding rituals the henna ceremony is called hinne and is the highlight of the event. The bride’s parents throw a party with food, music and dancing that is attended by the entire village. In a procession known as zaffeh, the bride receives offerings of henna. The female guests carry trays of flowers and candles while holding henna on their heads while dancing. The henna is placed in front of the bride and water added as guests rub a small portion on her palms. The bride will be covered in henna and money by the end of the evening.

Morocco

Moroccan wedding rituals also include men. Before the wedding, the groom’s mother presents him with henna, four candles, an egg and water. The egg is mixed with water and then added to the henna. His hands are covered in paste while the candles are lit and placed into the bowl. The male guests dance around the room balancing the bowl on their heads until it falls and breaks. The bride will be dressed in an elaborate costume and placed on a throne to receive her Mehndi. She will be entertained with dancing and drumming.

LATE

I hate being late. I spent 10 years of marriage being late. The kids make me late. My car clocks are set 11 minutes fast. I give dirty looks in the office when my staff is late. So when I’m late—which is rare—I spend most of the date searching out my inner chi.

Travelling has made me lazy the last three weeks. Thanksgiving didn’t help either. My Media Guy cape is fitting a little snugger these days. After six months of the eternal search for the slimmer, sleeker me, I couldn’t let it slip away. So instead of rushing into the office, I started back on three-a-days. That’s three relatively easy exercises done three times a day for three consecutive days. My workout mornings are also supposed to clear my mind. But that’s not always the case.

As I began my first mini-workout, I immediately began to sweat. The sweat was a nervous sweat; a panicked, nearly maniacal sweat brought about solely because of missing work. Why am I like that? Why is the job an integral part of my being? Why do I live for the media? The rush of seeing my clients in the limelight is a drug. One that can’t be relaxed away poolside on vacation. Perhaps I am living vicariously through them. Perhaps I am living vicariously through myself.

I remember those times at the airports in the 70’s with my dad, Media Guy Sr. I asked them who the bald guys with sheets were. He told me they were kooks. Later on, I learned they were Hare Krishnas. While those guys at the airport were probably kooks running from their trapped lives in Los Angeles suburbia, the true Krishna does present something very valuable. It presents the principle of Abhyasa, which is the ideal that life is made from what you practice.

What does it all mean? If you meditate, practicing mindfulness of breath, you become mindfulness itself – and you might experience a sense of being nothing but breath, or even that everything in existence is only of this very breath. This is all fine and dandy, but Abhyasa also has a dark side. If you practice tensing the body, you become perpetually tense; if you practice anger, you become an angry person. Makes sense right? We are what we eat, blah blah blah. Somehow the Hare Krishnas channel of this Abhyasa correctly. If they don’t, who knows? Maybe they wind up giving out flowers at LAX.

For me, in the here and now, Abhyasa could manifest itself into running late on a regular basis. Could it be that I found my secret identity? The LATE Media Guy. Holy mother of the white rabbit, Oh dear! Oh dear! I shall be too late! Yet I digress.

On my ride into the office I muttered to the inane DJ yapping about nothing from the radio what kind of drama awaited me at the office. I got my answer 10 steps past the lobby with a shrieking “Omigod! from one of the middle offices. ”A mouse!”

Crap! Just what we need on the heels of a potential new client in the house in roughly 26 minutes.

I zoom over to Miya’s office and she says, “There it is. Right there, stuck in the glue trap and still alive!”
Sure enough, stuck on an industrial strip of adhesive next to the dishwasher is wispy little auburn field mouse glancing up at us, squealing and clearly scared out of his tiny mind.

“Dead mouse walking,” Arrogant Bob from accounting declares. “Why can’t we buy mouse traps that snap their necks?”

A meaner, more unforgiving Media Guy might use words like wretched, deplorable and maybe even putrid in describing our crummy accounts payable guy's latest inappropriate comments. Have I mentioned how I want to torch the smugness from Bob’s smiling grill with a flamethrower before? Yeah, probably so; back to the mouse.

As explain to Miya that we have to get rid of him, we notice he’s rolled onto its side where the glue’s really locked him down. “How will you get rid of it?” she pleads. Before I can answer she belts out, “I don’t want to know, I can’t stand watching this,” as she throws up her hands and barrels past Allison.

Equipped with a linen napkin, Allison transports the shrieking cargo to the back alley. Once outside Dr. Allison moves into Grey’s Anatomy Mode sizing up the mouse’s medical situation. (I’m glad her Thursday nights watching ABC are productive.) She gives him a gentle prod and it cries in pain. I feel a dull ache spread across my chest. He’s stuck and there’s no way to free him. She says there’s only one thing to do.

Placing him down on the pavement, she covers his head and puts it out of his misery. The squeaking stops. R.I.P. Mr. Wrong Place, Wrong Time Field Mouse. A moment of silence is followed by a quick prayer.

Seconds later, as I’m washing up an inconvenient thought pops into my head. Did we kill that mouse because it was the right thing to do or did we kill it because we couldn’t stand to see it suffer? If I could ask the mouse to evaluate Allison’s Dr. Grey persona, what would his reaction be? He might be unhappy she decided to crush his head so quickly. Good gawd, over thinking must be a family trait.

As Allison and I set up for the pitch, any negative feelings I had about killing the mouse dissipate quickly. He might have been a cute little thing, but he’s got a thousand brothers and sisters waiting to take his place. Carriers of grime and sickness, mice have no place in the office. There’s nothing cute about Hantavirus. A rodent problem can shut scare the bejeesus out of everyone.

In this case I prefer to dwell on the positive, and the excitement that comes with knowing there is no tomorrow, as our rodent encounter illustrated. Onto the pitch knowing that once again when your physical fitness quotient is higher you improve mental focus and reduce anxiety. And your cape flows like it should.

That’s a relief because these food and beverage people are tough to please.

Media Events: Atlantis Dubai

Dubai’s At It Again!

November 20, 2008. Circle the date because you won't see another night like this; at least until the next mega-million-dollar party. The folks behind the groundbreaking Palm Jumeirah island unveiled one of the biggest nights of the year to launch the flagship resort: Atlantis. The 1,559 room ocean-themed resort was home to three days of celebrations culminating with an amazing extravaganza. In case you missed it (and you probably did, as you had to be one of the 2,000 invited guests wearing custom-designed blue and gold handmade Taj Taj bracelets), here are some of my favorite moments.

The Scene

Picture 113 live actors and dancers, 200 dinner tables lit by 3,000 candles and 208 lanterns. Now picture 7,200 square meters of carpet covering the resort’s beach. At least. 5,000 burgundy carnations, 700 Monstera leaves and 100 cans of glitter completed the resort’s sparkling transformation.

8:00 p.m.

Red Carpet Arrivals

Like at so many Hollywood premieres, they arrived one-by-one in their Armani suits and haute couture gowns: Charlize Theron, Lindsay Lohan, Mary-Kate Olsen, Petra Nemcova, Agyness Deyn, Dame Shirley Bassey, Rani Mukherjee, John Abraham, Mischa Barton, Robert DeNiro, Janet Jackson, Preity Zinta, Gosha Kutsenko, the Duchess of York, Michael Jordan, Boris Becker, Bipasha Basu, the Dubai royal family and Lily Allen.

Charlize Theron

Ghada Adel and Robert DeNiro

Janet Jackson (with some dude)

Lindsay Lohan

Ahmad Helmi and Phaedra

Mary-Kate Olsen

11:25 p.m.

The Concert

Kylie Minogue opened her 60-minute performance with “On a Night Like This,” wearing a black and gold Jean-Paul Gaultier creation, while best selling Middle Eastern pop sensation, Nawal Al Zoghbi’s performance lead a crescendo into the climax of the evening.

Kylie Minogue

Nawal Al Zoghbi

1:10 a.m.

The Fireworks

Bollywood star, Priyanka Chopra rose from the stage as the Goddess of Atlantis released the world’s largest ever fireworks display, completely lighting up 43 km of palm-shaped shoreline and illuminating the entire island with more than 100,000 specially designed pyrotechnic devices.

MGS Chat: Emirates Airlines' Nigel Page

Set to begin nonstop service to Los Angeles’s LAX Airport starting October 1 and San Francisco’s SFO on November 20, Emirates Airlines senior vice president of commercial operations of the Americas, Nigel Page, answered my three burning questions.

MEDIA GUY: You offer gratis chauffeur service to and from the airport from 26 locations (including New York, Paris, Doha and Dubai) for first- and business-class passengers, but what about amenities for the regular passenger?

NIGEL PAGE: Our current economy class does offer plenty of room and excellent service including fine multi-course meals and in-flight entertainment with over 600 channels of on-demand programming, as well as Short Message Service (SMS), phone and email at their seats.

MG: What’s been your biggest challenge as an airline?

NP: We’ve always said that our biggest obstacle has been to try us once. Once we get them on the plane, we find we have a customer for life. Whether it’s seven-course meals prepared by some of the best chefs in the world or the air’s most exclusive wine lines or even being able to access personal email accounts (Hotmail, Gmail and Yahoo) on your wi-fi laptop, our experience is unparalleled.

MG: Do you think you could be this successful without the help of the Dubai government (the airline’s owners)?

NP: They have definitely taken a “you are on your own” attitude towards the airline. They give us no subsidies and no fuel discounts. I suppose the best subsidy they have given is the incredible tourism destination that is being created. Our strategic hub between Europe and Asia, along with strict control of costs and a dedication to employees are some of our success secrets. The importance of job security for our employees with no layoffs or downsizing keeps us from the cruel cycle of low morale, poor service and ultimately decreased profits.

World Portraits: A View From Below

SAUDI ARABIA...Ornate wooden balconies dot the landscape of Saudi Arabia’s residential areas, inviting you to picture countless days where students reviewed notes for upcoming exams and families offered tea and coffee on a lazy weekend afternoon.

Sailors of the 15th and 16^th centuries roamed the Indian Ocean for the prized East Indian redwood., valued for its resistance to insects and humidity. The region was rewarded with an architectural look that has become the signature for townhouse-style residences.

World Travels: Faraway Faces

A far cry from the ubiquitous strip malls with their lattes and cell phone stores, a visit to the countryside of the Gulf, Mediterranean, Europe and North Africa is like being let in on a secret: the undeniable beauty of life.

Beauty lies not only in the eye of the beholder, but in the imagination of the host, the hand of the cook and the heart of every craftsman who fuses beauty with hospitality. Here, it’s your private garden. Your sea. Your spa of sanity. Your friends. Your family. This is home. At least for a while.

This is the beauty of lands and people untouched by modernity and suspicion as seen through our 16 faces, each different, but overflowing with life.

Kuwait

Syria

Italy

Turkey

Sudan

Palestine

Germany

Israel

Libya

Qatar

Jordan

Armenia

Iran

Lebanon

Egypt

Syria

Iraq

Original published in ALO magazine by the Media Guy, that's me(!), Michael Lloyd

World Travels: Jordan and the Oud

The Sound of Music: Keeping the beloved oud alive and well

Behind the counter of his Jordanian shop, its walls lined with musical instruments, Jerar Hallaby plays his favorite oud, calling to would-be customers as they stroll by.

Everyone in Amman loves music, he says, but these days few can afford to buy an instrument. Back when his father opened this shop in the teeming central business district, customers would fill the shop as if it were a fruit market.

“I could not sit here and have a conversation with you, as I am doing now. Believe me, it was packed,” says Hallaby, massaging his chin covered in salt and pepper stubble. His father imported instruments from as far away as Lebanon, Egypt and Germany, and in a workshop in the back, he used to make stringed instruments. It was here that Hallaby found his first love, the pear-shaped lute known throughout the Middle East as the oud.

His mind still in reverie, he picks up an oud and plays an exotic tune in a minor key, a song of hope and resilience. “You play this instrument for yourself, like you are having a conversation,” Hallaby says. “You can tell it things that you cannot tell to others.” He repeats this last phrase to himself, relishing it like a poem.

The love of the oud is centuries old. Pictures of oud-like instruments have been found on stone carvings and wall paintings of ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia. The earliest ouds were thought to be carved from a solid piece of wood that resembled Chinese and Japanese instruments which are descendants of the ancient Persian barbat.

During the Moorish period in Spain, the oud gained its characteristic appearance. The staved wood and vaulted back design was carved from a single piece of flexible wood. This is where the oud gained its name, from the Arabic word meaning wood or flexible stick.

Cradled comfortably in the player’s arms, it is light as a feather and smooth to the touch, generating a gentle tone similar to that of the harpsichord or mandolin. The skillful technique of putting the wood together is what gives the oud its delicate and beautiful tone.

“Jordan has been good to me,” he says, still plucking his prized instrument. To many in the outside world, Jordan is a distant country, a peaceful oasis tucked in between Israel, Syria and Saudi Arabia, where Indiana Jones rode through the stone city of Petra. But a stroll through Hallaby’s shop is a journey through a land of music where the Tablah, also called the darbukkah or dumbak, and the qanun carry the workload of any group rather than a set of drums and an electric guitar.

Kids today let music come to them,” he says. “In my day we brought ourselves to the music. We could play three instruments and speak the same languages. Still, they love music. But they can’t play a note of it, not now.”

The glass cases of Hallaby’s shop look full, with gleaming trumpets, tubas and trombones. In one case full of ouds, there are woodwinds but not an electric instrument to be found. “But instead of playing this,” he says, tapping his oud, “they play that.” He points at a radio.

He shrugs. “It’s a different sound.”

As he plays the oud, using his thumb instead of a pick, deep tones reach out into the room. A young couple peers in through the trumpets and guitars hanging in the front glass window and enters the shop—she in a black head scarf,  he in a Western sports coat and slacks—and listen patiently, appreciatively. They are the very picture of the new diversity and prosperity, spreading across the region.

Why isn’t Hallaby’s shop full now, as Jordan is enjoying one of its better tourism years? The answer may be found in the half dozen CD shops in this neighborhood, where every dance hit from Egypt, Lebanon, Western Europe and America can be found. “Playing your iPod takes no effort and requires no lessons,” he explains.

Once again he strikes a chord on his oud, telling it things he cannot tell others.