Henna House (48 page)
Authors: Nomi Eve
I am grateful to Rachel Sharaby for her in-depth exploration of Yemenite bridal henna rituals. Her essay, “The Bride's Henna Ritual: Symbols, Meanings, and Changes,” in
Nashim: A Journal of Jewish Women's Studies & Gender Issues
11 (Spring 2006), was an essential companion to my work. Additionally, I relied upon the extensive research of Noam Sienna. His Web site, hennabysienna.com, and his blog,
A Research Blog About the History, Culture, and Religious Significance of Henna Art
, were my go-to sources for the step-by-step instructions for the elaborate henna scenes in my book. Another valuable source was
Henna's Secret History
by Marie Anakee Miczak. I also gleaned important information from
Anath, the Virgin Warrior Goddess: Victory, Henna and Grain
by Catherine Cartwright-Jones.
Henna has been used since ancient times by women for medicinal purposes and for adornment. The Yemenite Jewish community mostly stopped using henna after being brought to Israel in Operation On Wings of Eagles. But since the 1990s, the tradition has enjoyed a revival. Now it is once again common for a Yemenite Jewish bride to have a Night of Henna before her wedding, and to wear the towering tishbuk lu'lu' crown as her foremothers did. But one no longer needs to be a Yemenite Jew to partake in henna. In Israel, non-Yemenite brides now occasionally choose to enjoy the henna ritual as a way of connecting to the sacred past, and infusing the present with the magic and mystery of the rites.
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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author's imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2014 by Nomi Eve
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First Scribner hardcover edition August 2014
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.
ISBN 978-1-4767-4027-0
ISBN 978-1-4767-4030-0 (ebook)