Sana’ani wedding processions.. Some gladden, others bring you down [Archives:2007/1025/Reportage]
February 15 2007
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Wedding-related events such as engagements, weddings and special women's parties flourish during the summer. The wedding procession is considered the most important wedding ritual and every Yemeni region has its own unique procession carrying happy emotions for the bride, her family, friends and relatives.
However, Sana'ani wedding processions involve both happiness and sadness at the same time. While the bride's mother is happy that her daughter will move to her own house, which is considered her domain, she worries if her daughter will be able to accept her new life and uphold her responsibilities as a wife and later, as a mother.
Yemeni weddings have their own ceremonies and etiquette, which vary from one region to another. Such variety reveals Yemen's traditional civilization, as well as reflects Yemeni civilization's richness from one end of the nation to the other.
The Sana'ani procession is one such Yemeni procession rich in rituals, but there are different types of Sana'ani processions, each with its own ceremony, words and music. The groom's procession also differs from that of the bride. In this piece, we'll concentrate on the Sana'ani bridal procession and all of its types.
Because a Yemeni bride's feelings vary from happiness to sadness, bridal processions have specialized rites, words, music and even feelings. Thus, the rites vary from welcoming her to bidding her farewell. A Yemeni bride has at least four different processions, which are performed in the following sequence:
Al-hammam procession
Considered the wedding celebration's first procession, the bride goes with her friends to a steam bath as a type of Sana'ani custom. She goes from early morning while her mother and some of her neighbors await her return near the door to welcome her with a special procession and shrill, trilling cries of joy.
Singers also must join them to sing and chant words about going from the steam bath as attendees clap and shrill amid the fragrance of incense and aloes; a type of incense has a very nice smell.
Al-naksh procession
Al-naksh procession is distinguished by happiness and delight. The bride's friends, relatives and neighbors gather and start chanting, beginning by praising Allah and praying for the bride and her family and then describing the bride's beauty and charms. It's called al-naksh procession because it's the day the bride decorates her hands and legs with either black-colored naksh or henna.
Al-thibal procession
In this procession, the bride's entire family, relatives, friends, neighbors and the groom's family gather. It's a custom to light candles when the groom's family arrives and place them on al-mashab, a large plate to which candles are affixed and colorfully decorated eggs are placed. The procession begins only once the candles are lit.
At the end of the procession, the bride's sister puts al-mashab in the middle of the room. Girls begin to dance and make the bride join them in a very delightful mood. At the end, one of the bride's relatives takes the inscribed eggs from al-mashab and extinguishes the candles.
Wedding day procession
The procession of the wedding party day is the essential one and is characterized by delight and enjoyment. Longer than al-naksh procession, it may contain a mixture of Sana'ani and other non-Sana'ani processions. Many girls and women attend this party to participate in the ceremony and encourage the singer or group of singers to sing more.
Al-takhrooj procession
Considered a tradition in Sana'a, as well as its surrounding areas, this is a procession to bid the bride farewell as she goes to her husband's house. The groom's family brings a singer for al-takhrooj procession.
It's the most difficult moment for the bride as she leaves her family and friends, for whom it also prompts tears and sadness. It begins by remembering Allah and praying for the bride to be happy in her new life under the shade of her husband and his family.
Those attending this procession usually feel sad due to the event's tone and words, which begin with a dialogue between mother and daughter. The bride describes the last moments of her departure, while the mother describes the degree of her sorrow and how difficult the situation is for her; however, she accepts that the fate must befall her.
In the same song, the daughter responds, saying she'll never forget the days she lived under her family's roof and promising to visit them from time to time. Following this dialogue, the mother advises her daughter to be a good wife, sister and her husband's beloved. She must be everything in her husband's heart and the daughter replies that she will listen and obey.
During this dialogue, tears flow from the mother's eyes. Although she tries to seem happier and hide her tears and sadness, the signs on her face reveal what's concealed in her heart. Her daughter's feelings also are moved while listening to the song, so she tries to think of something different as a type of escape from reality – her departure. During these moments, many visitors are moved and also begin crying.
Many girls and families prefer not to revive this ceremony due to the sad feelings it brings to all of those around the bride. Visitors to the procession also deem the ceremony unnecessary because marrying and going to the groom's home is a certainty and a happy occasion requiring people to be happy and joyful rather than sad and gloomy.
Sana'a schoolteacher Salwa Saleh says, “I'd rather not have this ceremony anymore because the wedding party will change from sharing the bride's family's happiness to crying. Then each one will try to hide his tears, which have no place on that day.”
“Whenever I attend al-takhrooj procession, I cry because the words and the songs have an effect upon me. It really moves me, so I cry and all of those around me cry too,” Eshraq Al-Sirri commented.
However, many Sana'a families consider the occasion an essential thing they must do and some brides like to go to their groom's house with a procession.
Aisha Sultan notes, “In our family, we must bring a singer for this occasion because my family brought a singer for my wedding party and those of all of my sisters.”
Al-laqfa procession
In this ceremony, the groom's family must provide a singer to welcome the bride and her family at the moment of their arrival. This procession is important in some families, but others are satisfied with al-mejera, which is one wherein there's shrilling for the bride when she arrives. They also are accustomed to break eggs in front of the door to the groom's house in order to break the eye of envy or any evil that might happen to the bride or groom.
Sana'a Center employee Raja'a Jaber says, “My family considers al-laqfa procession an important thing, whereby the two families agree upon the exact time of the bride's arrival in order to be ready to do the procession when she comes.”
The singer sings for the bride and her family by mentioning their attitude and prestige in the viewpoint of the groom's family, the happiness the groom's family has regarding her arrival to their house and how the bride will move to her husband's house and that she will live under his roof.
Haifa'a Al-Aros, one of the most famous singers in Sana'a, confirms that every type of procession has its own happiness, joy, sadness and crying, saying, “A singer has a very important role to motivate participants' feelings during the procession. In the wedding party procession, she encourages them to participate with her in the procession, whereas in al-takhrooj procession, she makes them feel sadness at the situation.”
When asked about the different lyrics and how such variety came about, she replied, “The words are considered an old tradition, especially in al-laqfa and al-takhrooj processions, and they can't be changed like those of the wedding party procession.”
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