Henna is the Arabic name of a bush of the botanical name, Lawsonia Inermis. Leaves are harvested from this bush, dried and powdered to make henna powder. The paste made from this powder which is used to dye the skin, is mehndi / henna paste. The pattern on the skin resulting from the application of henna paste is called mehndi/ henna. If you have henna patterns on you, you have been "hennaed".

Since many countries from the Atlantic coast of Africa to Malaysia use mehndi / henna, there are many other words for both the bush and the adornment; though in every country, the plant and the skin pattern are known by the same name.

The henna plant, which can grow to 9 feet high, was traditionally found as Far West as Egypt and as far s the Yellow River in China. Similar plants are also found in the New World, however they do not have thew same hennatannis and are not as useful for dyeing human skin, but are used in making leather.

The practice of using crushed leaves from the henna plant for personal decoration is as old as recorded history. There is very persuasive evidence that henna was used by the Neolithic people in Catal Huyuk, in the 7^thmillennium BCE to ornament their hands in connection with their fertility goddess. The religion these people practiced was the predecessor to the religious of all the people in the ancient Middle East, and henna seems to have been used by all of these people as part of their adornment and belief system. The earliest civilizations that can be proved to have used mehndi / henna include Babylonians, Assyrians, Sumerians, Semites, Ugaritics, and Canaanites.

The earliest written artifact that mentions mehndi / henna being used specifically as an adornment for a bride or woman's special occasion is in the Ugaritic legend of Baal and Anath, inscribed on a tablet from about 2100 BCE, from north west Syria. Anath was a goddess of fertility and battle. In the legend, she adorned her hands with mehndi / henna before battle, and brides ornamented their hands with mehndi / henna as a preparation for wedding. As mehndi / henna is mentioned as a part of the legend, it may be inferred that the mehndi / henna was in use by the Ugaritic people, as a bridal tradition, and as a women's celebratory cosmetic along the eastern coast of the Mediterranean for many centuries prior to 2000 BCE.

There are many statuettes from Crete and Mycenae from the period 1700 BCE to 900 BCE that show goddess synchronous with Anath, with raised hands that appeared to be ornamented with mehndi / henna. Several of these goddesses also have facial patterns that are identical with scarification that was used to honour the goddess Anath, and identical to patterns are made in harqurs (a cosmetic closely related to henna) have been used until the present time by Arabs, Bedouins, and North African tribal groups.

There are numerous artifacts from Iraq, Palestine, Greece, Egypt, Crete, and Rome from 1400 BCE to 1 AD that show women with mehndi / henna patterns on their hands. The early center of the use of mehndi / henna as a woman's adornment seems to have been the eastern Mediterranean, where it grows wild. It is mentioned in the Bible as "Camphire" in the Song of Solomon, and was used by the Canaanite women in pre-biblical times. A Roman wall fresco, "The Aldobrandini Wedding" from 30 BCE, shows a scene identical with a "Night of the Henna" celebration, in which the Mother has henna patterns on her hand. The Canaanites spread their traditions, including the use of the mehndi / henna, across North Africa between 1700 BCE and 600 BCE, specifically establishing the Berber traditions of mehndi / henna in Morocco.

Mehndi / henna was used in Palestine from the earliest historical period, and there are Roman records of mehndi / henna being used by Jewish people living in Jerusalem during the historical period of the birth of Christ.

When Islam religion began in the 6-7^th centuries AD, the mehndi / henna was incorporated into the customs of Muslims from the western Middle Eastern women's mehndi / henna traditions that were widespread and long established.As Islam expanded quickly into other countries, use of mehndi / henna went with it.

Henna was grown and used in Spain, by Christians and Moors from the 9^th century AD to 1567 when the Spanish Inquisition outlawed it. All of the countries that were part of the Islamic world have used mehndi / henna at some time, most frequently as part of wedding celebrations. Most of them continued to celebrate the "Night of the Henna" and regard mehndi / henna as a beautiful and suitable ornament for women until the present.

The most complex and elegant mehndi / henna patterning in the Islamic world was 900 to 1550 AD in Persia, turkey and Iraq. There are many miniatures and pottery pieces showing elegantly patterned black henna from this period. Such delicate and expensive patterning did not reappear in mehndi / henna until late in this century.

Mehndi / henna use in all the Middle Eastern and North African countries continued, though it fell out of favor early in the 20 th century as women sought to emulate European and American fashions.

The earliest artifacts showing mehndi / henna in India, are form about 400 AD, in the Ajanta caves. Though there are several figures in the Ajanta caves that have mehndi / henna, they are only a very small percentage of all the people depicted. Therefore, though mehndi / henna certainly was used from an early period in India, it was not widespread. Also, the mehndi / henna appearing in Ajanta appears equally on men, women and servants, and was done as dip henna, without patterning. Bright red dip henna, made from a paste of fresh leaves was used, not the orange / brown / black / patterned henna made from dried and powdered leaves as appears in the Mediterranean and Middle East.

From 600 AD to 1300 AD, bright red dip henna appears frequently on Boddhisattvas and Buddhist clerics depicted in sculpture and wall paintings in Northern India, Nepal, Tibet, Ceylon, and Burma.

After 1500 AD, mehndi / henna is seen frequently on women in miniature paintings in India, though patterning is very rare until after 1700 AD. In Hindu India during this period, mehndi / henna certainly is part of the cosmetic routine used by wives and concubines to look their best. In India, the mehndi / henna is also depicted on Kali and other deities during this period, and up to the present day. By 1700, the bridal celebration of the Night of the mehndi / henna was a well-established part of Muslim India's traditions, and married Muslim women in India frequently used mehndi / henna to ornament themselves. A portrait of Mumtaz Mahal has one of the earliest patterned hennaes on her hands.

During the 1800s patterned mehndi / henna is seen frequently in Indian artifacts, though the mehndi / henna is always represented as red and never black. Dip henna and simple patterns adorn most women portrayed in Indian art since 1800, as well as many Hindu deities. Mehndi / henna patterning in India has become very complex and beautiful in the 20^th century and is used as part of the celebrations of almost all holidays.

In recent popular culture, mehndi / henna has enjoyed a renewal. Western musicians and Hollywood personalities have adopted and altered the tradition so that mehndi / henna, as a temporary, pain-free body decoration alternative to tattooing is now the hottest new trend among women and men. As the trend grows in popularity, so grows the list of personalities that have been seen sporting mehndi / henna patterns: actress Demi Moore, and the band 'No Doubt's' Gwen Stefani were among the first celebrities to been seen wearing mehndi / henna; mehndi / henna has been featured in countless magazines including Vanity Fair, Harper's Bazaar, Wedding Bells, People, and Cosmopolitan. The album No Quarter by Plant and Page features a picture of hands with mehndi / henna in the inner CD jacket. Mehndi / henna can be seen in the film Kama Sutra. The ever-growing list of famous names of famous people who have been seen with mehndi / henna includes: Madonna, Naomi Campbell, Nell McAndrew, Liv Taylor, "The Artist formerly known as Prince", Drew Barrymore, Mira Sorvino, Daryl Hannah, Kathleen Roberson, Laura Dern, Laurence Fishburne, and Angela Bassett.

BLACK HENNA : -

In Africa and in Medieval Persia, black henna is considered the most beautiful. In India, red henna is more auspicious. Both come from the same plant, but are obtained in slightly different ways.

If you have absolutely fresh henna powder, and apply it in very hot weather, with an overnight wrap, to your palms and soles, the color may go nearly black with no extra effort. The perspiration and heat will darken the mehndi / henna, to deep burgundy or near black in many people, especially if they have callused skin, and have skin that is very warm to the touch.

There are many products on the market that are labeled black henna, and some products labeled as Black Henna are very hazardous to your health!!! Natural mehndi / henna is safe.