Luck and love
Henna night
The women's evening before a wedding when the bride's hands and feet are painted with henna and blessed.
Presented by ClearTrust Customs described as customs, free to read.
A henna night is held before a wedding in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Turkey, India and many other places, with local names such as laylat al-henna, kına gecesi and mehndi. Women of both families gather, sing and paint the bride's hands and feet with a paste made from the henna plant. Henna is believed to bring baraka, a blessing, and to guard the bride from the evil eye.
This is an outline of a custom, said as belief and practice. It is not instruction, it does not say that the rite works, and it is not medical advice.
What goes into it
- Henna pastePlantGround leaves of the henna plant, made into a paste.
- PatternsGestureDrawn on hands and feet by an artist.
- SongsWordSung by the women of both families.
- Candles and sweetsOfferingCarried in a procession in some places.
- Gold coinObjectPressed in the palm in Turkey.
- Women's gatheringSpaceA private evening at the bride's home.
- Plant
- Gesture
- Word
- Offering
- Object
- Space
Each part has an equal wedge. The ring shows what goes into the rite, not how much. Colour is the part's role.
The steps, drawn
Each drawing shows the kind of act in that step. Details differ from place to place, family to family and practitioner to practitioner.
Step 1: Gather Women of the two families meet at the bride's home. Step 2: Speak Songs of blessing and parting are sung. Step 3: Cast The henna artist paints the bride's hands and feet. Step 4: Rest The bride keeps still while the paste dries and stains. Step 5: Close The dried paste is removed, and the stain is watched for its depth.
Local forms
In Morocco a henna artist, called a neggafa or a nekkacha, draws patterns that may include protective motifs, and the bride's hand may be wrapped for hours. In Turkey the bride's family hold a lament-like song and a gold coin may be pressed into the henna in her palm, and in India the mehndi design can hide the groom's name for him to find. Many Jewish communities of North Africa and the Middle East have also kept a henna evening.
Meaning and cautions
The rite serves as both a farewell and a blessing, and scholars read it as a women's rite of passage with songs of parting. Natural henna is a reddish-brown paste, while so-called black henna sold in some places contains a dye that has caused serious skin reactions, so health agencies advise against it. It is a living custom, and also a growing industry of pre-wedding parties.
What it is for
- Bless a bride
- Ward the evil eye
- Mark a passage
Who does it
Related entries
Also part of it, and being written: Henna (The plant and dye.), Mehndi (The art of the designs.).
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Sources and further reading
Original text and drawings by the EveryJaadu desk, written with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. Closed or sacred detail is left out. If we have something wrong, tell us.
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Evil eye: FocalPoint, CC BY-SA 3.0, source