Beautiful Cultures

     I live in a small town. A very very small town bordered by farms and woods, and composed mostly of conservative white people. Yet somehow,  in the midst all the stereotypical 'Merica stuff that is a natural part of my community, my school has a surprisingly high concentration of different cultures. I'm lucky enough to be a big part of this in our Coexist club. And today we had our Halloween get-together, where we munched on foods, told scary stories, and (the best part, in my opinion) did Henna!!!!!!!! I cannot express to you how much I love Henna tattoos. Ever since I first saw them when I was a little girl I've been mesmerized. I used to doodle "henna" designs on the backs of my church bulletins during service, and draw "henna" on myself with pens and markers. The designs have always just captivated me, and the idea of a bride being bejeweled with the beautiful, rambling art has always held a certain thrill for me. I sometimes wish I could wear henna at my future wedding, although I'm sure that might shock some of my Mennonite guests, haha. But today was the first time I've ever had real, actual henna done to me, and it's BEAUTIFUL. I wish it lasted longer than two weeks. I almost wish it were permanent. I love it that much. But I don't want to extol my obsession with henna without knowing the real reason behind henna, and that's why I love being part of a multi-cultural club, where I get to learn about other peoples' customs. So here's the Wikipedia description of the history behind henna:  Henna has been used to adorn young women's bodies as part of social and holiday celebrations since the late Bronze Age in the easternMediterranean. The earliest text mentioning henna in the context of marriage and fertility celebrations comes from the Ugaritic legend of Baaland Anath,^[13] which has references to women marking themselves with henna in preparation to meet their husbands, and Anath adorning herself with henna to celebrate a victory over the enemies of Baal.

      It  feels sacrilegious to say that I wish Mennonites had something as beautiful and unique as Henna, but as much as I love my own religion and culture, it is true that I love certain things from other cultures. And I think that's the way it's supposed to be. I'm so glad I get the chance to experience Henna and have friends who can craft it so artfully. And I think it's really cool that I can live in a time and place where I can be a Mennonite wearing henna and have black, white, Asian, Latino, Muslim, Jewish, etc. friends.

Here's a picture of the beautiful Henna my friend MH did for me today. :)

     I encourage you, if your school has a Coexist club, or a multi-cultural club to get involved. Diversity is a wonderful and beautiful thing.

                            -VaughnDL