The Magical Art of Sudanese Henna

Alaa Babiker

The country of SUDAN, a very rich region of great different resources, agricultural, Livestock, plant riches, and cultural ones as well; Sudan is filled with great different cultures, and that is because of its great populations and their interactions together as one nation. Today I am proud to write about one of the cultures that the Sudanese women are known with; the artistic drawing of Henna.

There are two types of Henna, the Natural and the Manufactured. The preparation of the Natural Henna starts from collecting the leaves of Henna Tree, expose them to dry under warm rays, and then grind those leaves until we have the pure powder of Henna that is ready to be used by women. It is mainly used in Sudanese culture as an adornment for married women to dye and color their fingers and feet as a sign of differentiation between married women and single girls. Although in many cultures even girls are allowed to put Natural Henna, but only on their fingers. But now-day’s girls prefer to use the Manufactured Henna, as the photos from Pinterest show.

Some of the other uses of Natural Henna is to dye hair. The Henna powder is prepared to be a very think paste, and then put on the entire hair for 2 hours. It strengthens the hair specially if it was mixed with yoghurt. It also covers all the grey hair with beautiful brown color, and it’s all natural.

Another use of Natural Henna is drinking it’s tree barks or leaves soaked water, for extracting body poisons from the liver and the spleen. Scientists say it also has great effects for the health of the heart.

The second type of Henna, the Manufactured one, is originally a manufactured black hair dye, which is prepared by making a smooth thick paste, and using it for drawing different pieces of great arts on the hands and legs. Some girls use different colored manufactured dyes to make temporarily tattoos on their shoulders and bellies, which gives them even greater adornments.

One important advice when putting Manufactured Henna, is to make sensitivity test before making drawings; it is very important to test if the body is sensitive to the chemicals from which Manufactured Henna was made. Some girls have natural sensitivity reactions to these chemicals, and others use some whitening creams which makes their skin very sensitive and then cause them serious skin issues.

The art of Henna in Sudan descended from our ancient ancestors, our Kushite grandmothers who used to put Henna on their hands and feet, to make them look more special and recognized. The procedure of making Henna itself was for Queens, having women servants decorating their fingers, hands, and feet in a prestigious ceremony was a royal thing to do. Some believed that Henna keeps evil eyes away, and others believed it is to differentiate between married women and single girls. but regardless the reason for its making, the outcome is magnificent; different art pieces that give women chances to practice their art and make them ensure extra source of great income to support their lives.