Hajer and Faith

If you find yourself passing a tree painted red and gold. The one buried deep in the earth beside the Tigris River. Not the river we know today. But the one of old. In all its wonder and glory.

I can see it in your eyes. You are thinking of Sultans and cavalry.

Of Ottoman rule and Aladdin.

Harems and silk.

Stop.

Right.

There.

This tale comes from before then.

Before land was ruled by men.

This tale is of the Tigrisian women and their story of love.

~

In all its stature. A carved pine tree trunk was coloured by hands dipped in Mulberry sauce.

Pat.

Pat.

Pat, against the hard wood. Until the blood of their hands and the Mulberry sauce mixed together concocting a gluggy paint.

And so, they continued until the tree trunk was covered in red with not a sliver of brown to be seen. But as the sauce seeped to the bottom of the trunk it turned into a gold liquid.

The Tigrisian women were in awe.

All but one.

Jaana.

Jaana was so wrapped in the communal task of painting the tree that her body could not sustain the strength. Slowly, slowly as her ecstasy strengthened the paint blended from red into a gold.

The pat, pat, patting stopped. All the Tigrisian women stood up, looked at one another, and circled Jaana who was entranced in the ceremony. They tried pulling her out of it.

The first woman, Jeena, Jaana’s sister, held Jaana’s hands in hers and spoke to her.

‘Jaana, tsmeeni?’

No response.

The second woman, Beteen, pushed Jaana’s hair back, raised it up and spoke to her.

‘Jaana, ya Jaana, tsmeeni?’

Again, no response.

The third woman, Ghadeer, Jaana’s sweetheart and lover held Jaana’s face in her hands and whispered in her ear.

‘ya habibati, smeeni w taaly’

No response.

So, the Tigrisian women picked Jaana up and carried her to the Square. They laid their feather and fur coats in the shape of a bed and placed her on it.

The Council assembled to discuss what to do about Jaana. They called a tribe meeting and declared their decision.

‘The situation at hand bears too much closeness to forces beyond the limits of magic allowed within Tigress.’

‘As such, Jaana will be placed in isolation. All visits are banned for your own protection. If anyone approaches her the punishment will be banishment.’

Ghadeer, Jeena and Beteen were furious. They could not bear to abandon Jaana in such a way.

Ghadeer, Jeena and Beteen sat together that night devising a plan.

‘If Jaana’s collapse was a result of magic beyond that allowed in Tigress, then the antidote had to be beyond the knowledge of Tigris.’

Jeena and Beteen were hesitant. ‘We cannot be banished from our home.’

‘Banishment will only come if we let our secrets slip.’

And so, as darkness fell on Tigress, the three women got into their boat and made their way to the other side of the river. To the land of Dom.