Body Painting: Body Painting With Henna

History

For centuries, mehndi — the art of henna painting on the body — has been practiced in India, Africa, and the Middle East, where the henna plant is believed to bring love and good fortune, and to protect against evil. Mehndi is traditionally practiced for wedding ceremonies, during important rites of passage, and in times of joyous celebration. A paste made from the crushed leaves of the henna plant is applied to the skin, and when removed several hours later, leaves beautiful markings on the skin that fade naturally over 1 to 3 weeks.

Besides being the key ingredient in mehndi, henna has also been used to dye the manes and hooves of horses, and to color wool, silk, and animal skins, as well as men's beards. Studies of mummies dating back to 1200 BC show that henna was used on the hair and nails of the pharaohs.

Until the art of mehndi became hot news in 1996, henna was mostly used in the United States as a hair dye. Widely recognized now as a wonderful way to dye the skin and to achieve the look of a tattoo, traditional henna uses and application processes have gone contemporary. Although some will always prepare their own henna paste, mehndi kits of varying quality, with foolproof instructions and convenient stencils, can be purchased in many retail and online outlets (including this Web site).

Henna: Traditions and Culture

Practiced for five thousand years throughout India, Africa, and the Middle East, the act of painting the body with preparations made from the crushed leaves of the henna plant, whether it be in preparation for a special occasion or in celebration of a particular event, has always been done with the assumption or fervent wish that the act would engender good fortune, happy results, and good feelings.

Mehndi in India

In the north and western parts of India, the desert areas where the henna plant grows, mehndi (or henna painting) is a very important part of the wedding ritual and ceremony. As the story goes, the deeper the color obtained on the skin, the longer the love between the couple will last; hence the belief that a proper mehndi application is tantamount to a prayer to the gods for everlasting love and a successful marriage.

Mehndi in Morocco

Pregnant Moroccan women in their seventh month seek out well-respected henna practitioners called hannayas in order to have certain symbols painted on their ankle, which will then be encircled with a corresponding amulet. The henna and the amulet are meant to protect both the mother and child through birth. Once the baby is born and the umbilical cord severed, a plaster of henna, water, and flour is placed on the newborn's belly button in order to ensure beauty and wealth.

In the Eye of the Beholder

The crushed leaves of the henna plant, when mixed with other natural ingredients, yields a thick, fragrant paste used for painting hands and feet. The olive green, dried henna powder, once mixed with such ingredients as black tea and coffee, cloves and tamarind, turns dark. Once the paste is applied on the skin, it is allowed to dry, sometimes overnight. The dried henna is scrapped off the skin resulting in a maroon-red stain. Henna has traditionally also been used for hair conditioning and dyeing, skin antiseptic and tonic, and as cloth and leather dye. Henna is a cosmetic and a medicine, but most importantly, it is a marker of beauty, auspiciousness and celebration.

Henna painting is considered a woman's art form, often to mark special events in a woman's life, especially marriage. The painted bride is denoted special by the intricate, elaborate henna patterns on her hands and feet, attesting to the liminal occasion in which she is transported from one stage of life to another. Henna designs add beauty and decoration to the parts of the body that are in view, namely hand and feet, but patterns usually extend towards the elbows and knees, causing erotic curiosity for the concealed parts. Designs vary with each culture, and even within cultures. Generally speaking, Arabic Swahili women's designs consists of large, bold floral patterns, whereas Moroccan Berber women paint geometric, linear designs. In India, Hindu women prefer paisleys, vines and birds such as peacocks. Muslim women do not paint figurative images due to the Islamic prohibition on representational art.

In the past decade, henna painting has experienced an immense popularity in the United States. Although ethnic communities residing in the West have always practiced the art of henna, the acceptance of this form by Westerners, especially celebrities, is a relatively new phenomenon. Popularly called "temporary tattoo," henna painting does function like tattoos. People who are reluctant to acquire a real tattoo, test out a location and design by first having an ephemeral henna version of what will eventually become a permanent part of their skin. Also like tattoo, henna designs in the US resemble "tribal" bracelets and anklets, belts and rings. The practice of wearing henna as jewelry was born in the West.

Why is mehndi so universally popular? Well, it's fun, for one thing. (Safe and harmless fun, we might add, backed by 5,000 years' worth of tradition!) Part of the fun is that it is so personal, and yet public at the same time. And yes, when you apply a henna tattoo, you are making a statement. But it's your statement!