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Meskel and the Demera
The Ethiopian feast of the True Cross, with a great bonfire whose falling pole is read as an omen.
About Meskel and the Demera
Meskel, kept on 17 Meskerem (27 September in most years), commemorates the finding of the True Cross by the empress Helena. On the eve, a tall pyramid of branches topped with a cross and yellow meskel daisies, the demera, is raised in each village and city square. After chanting and processions the pile is set alight, and many say the direction in which the burning pole falls shows the way of the year ahead, whether good harvest or hardship. People take charcoal from it and mark their foreheads with it. The celebration in Addis Ababa's Meskel Square is on UNESCO's list of intangible heritage.
Also part of it, and being written: Meskel (The festival of the Cross.), Divination (The reading of the falling pole is a form of omen.).
Written by the EveryJaadu desk with AI assistance. Background: "Meskel" on Wikipedia. Customs differ from place to place and family to family, and are described as belief and practice. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.