Meskel - The Finding of the True Cross - Sept 28th
Meskel (the finding of the true cross) falls on 28th September each year and has been celebrated in Ethiopia for over 1,600 years. The word Meskel means “Cross” and the feast commemorates the discovery of the cross (upon which Jesus was crucified).
Meskel
In my country, Ethiopia, there is a big holiday celebrated every year which is called Meskel. Meskel is celebrated very much by the Gurage people (a tribe in Ethiopia). Gurage people are very hard working people who are involved in trading and low income self employment jobs. Meskel is a good holiday in that everybody in the family has to get together and celebrate for three to five days every year. The bad side of this holiday is that people spend a lot of money buying cattle, clothes and drinks. Every family member come to their parents’ houses and prepare different types of traditional food such as Kitfo, Kocho, Gomen kitfo and raw meat. Everybody enjoys eating the cultural foods. Kitfo is minced beef mixed with a lot of melted and salted butter and ground red pepper. Kitfo is one of the most traditional Ethiopian cuisines. Kocho is bread made of false banana. Gomen kitfo is minced cabbage with butter and ground red pepper. For this holiday every family member comes to their parent’s home five to three days earlier.
. According to the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, the discovery of the True Cross is traditionally believed to have been in March, but Meskel was moved to September 27 (መስከረም 17) to avoid the two fasting months before Eastern. This imply that Meskel holiday should have been celebrated around “የካቲት” and “መጋቢት”.
ReplyDeleteIn Gurageland, for instance, the Meskel festivities last for eight days. Each day is given a separate name and it is distinguished by eating a special part of a sacrificial ox. The custom is supposed to renew and reassert the fertility of women and crops. Each man brings a long eucalyptus sapling to the ceremony, virgin girls from each homestead spread freshly collected Meskel flowers by the shrine while chanting praises to the Gurage deities. Also in this traditional religious practices they participate in giving out offerings to a deity called “Waq” and hanging of fetishes in their houses to ward off evil spirits. There is more on a book called “Gods and Heroes: Oral Traditions of the Gurage of Ethiopia” by William A. Shack, Habte-Mariam Marcos. The following morning each household sacrifices a bull. An elder recites a prayer as he stroke the bull’s back, and the wife collects the blood with which family members anoint their foreheads. The wife also smears the doorframe and center posts of all the houses in the compound. The bull’s stomach lining is divided between the sons, the father taking the largest portion and placing it on the upper section of the main house. In the past years, the lining was fashioned in to an amulet, worn around the neck to ward off illness and evil spirits or simply as a sign of good luck.
ReplyDelete. In Gurageland, in the weeks preceding Meskel, mounds of sticks will pop up outside of compounds. At the top of each mound stands a cross. These cross-studded mounds signify that a holy day is coming. The night before Meskel begins (September 26 - መስከረም 16), families will gather, bringing their cross-studded mounds with them to a central location and lighting them on fire in one large Demera (bonfire). Lighting the fire ignites the (technical) start of the holiday.
ReplyDelete. In Ethiopian oral legend, it is said that after the True Cross discovery on 324 A.D., a famous council was held on 325 A.D. for a month & this council had a secret agenda which was “Who would get the True Cross?” So from 1,800 invited (about 1,000 in the east and 800 in the west), but a smaller and unknown number attended. After a long argument and discussion, it was decided that the cross should be divided into four and eight special candidate countries where to take their chances in some form of a lottery to get part of the True Cross.
ReplyDeleteTHE 8 CANDIDATE 8 COUNTRIES: THOSE COUNTRIES TODAY:
1. Romania (ሮማንያ) -------------------------- Romania OR Vatican, Rome, Italy
2. Constantinya (ኮንስታንጢንያ) ------------ Istanbul, Turkey
3. Antsoqeya (አንፆኪያ) ----------------------- Antioch, Southern borders Turkey [DISTROYED CITY]
4. Eskindria (እስክንድርያ) --------------------- Alexandria, Egypt [DISTROYED CITY]
5. Greek (ግሪክ) --------------------------------- Greece
6. Armenia (አርሜንያ) ------------------------- Armenia
7. Eyerusalem (እየሩሳሌም) ------------------- Jerusalem, Israel
8. Efeyson (ኤፌሲዮን) -------------------------- Ephesus, Turkey OR??? [DISTROYED CITY]
REMINDER: I WANT TO HIGHLIGHT THAT I SAID "ORAL TRADITION"
DeleteThe True Cross was being brought to Ethiopia from Egypt by Emperor Dawit II but died on return. His son, Emperor Zara Yaqob was given the honor to bring it the rest of the way. It is said to be kept at Geshen-Mariam gedam found at the top of Amba-Assele Mountain, which itself has a cross-shaped plan.
Delete- The festival in other countries is also known as “Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross”.
ReplyDelete- Some believe that the meaning of “Demera”, marks the ultimate act in the cancellation of sins.
- Others believe that the direction of the smoke and the final collapse of the heap indicate the course of future events.
- The Meskel celebration includes the burning of a large bonfire, or Demera, based on the belief that Queen Eleni (Saint/Empress Helena), as she is known, had a revelation in a dream. She was told that she should make a bonfire and that the smoke would show her where the true cross was buried. So she ordered the people of Jerusalem to bring wood and make a huge pile. After adding frankincense to it the bonfire was lit and the smoke rose high up to the sky and returned to the ground, exactly to the spot where the Cross had been buried.