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medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture Nice hit on white. Yes, white is the color worn by widows in India. They are not allowed to have any ornaments and they subsist on a very plain diet. Very devout will do penances for their husband's death. In "old" india, widows would throw them selves into their husband's funeral pyre. This was called "suttee" (u as in "but"), Black is also worn by Muslims in India. It appears to be a Muslim import. The color scheme described by Christopher is close to the Indian scheme: Red=brides, White=widdows, Saffron=priests and holy men saffron equals fire equals purity), green=Islam. yrs, tom ault On Wed, 28 Feb 2007 11:31:02 -0500 "V. Kerry Inman" <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and >culture > > Quoting Christopher Crockett <[log in to unmask]>: > >>> yet the Islamic Suiciders of our own Enlightened Era wear white for >>>their >> final home movies --there seems to be a tradition of white being >>associated >> with death in at least part of the Islamic world. > > Moroccan practice includes: red for the bride on her wedding, green >for the > covers of the Koran, and white for many religious things, but >particularly for > going to the Mosque on Friday. Black is a holy and distinguished >color as the > Ayatolah Komeni--Persian not Moroccan--showed us, and black is worn >by > religiously serious wives. Wives, by the way, are often considered >things, but > holy things. These practices are general, I would say, across the >Islamic > world, but not really social norms. The use of white by those >committing > suicide has been construded by some as blasphemy because suicide as >well as > murder is prohibited in the Qu'ran. White is also the color worn in >the > Emirates by the airport police. >> >> quite a gal, Kali. >> >> >She is still worshipped in north east India. >> >> and, ocassionally, in Southern Indiana. > > I encountered a image of Kali in rural, mostly Muslim, Bangladesh >last year--it > was not surprising since there are many worshippers in the Indian >city across > the border which was named after her--Calcutta, and where human >sacrifice is > alleged to be often passed of as just another murder. The Muslims of >Bangladesh > and the Hindus of the Calcutta region are of the same ethnic stock >and speak the > same language. I know this has something to do with the middle ages. >> >> >> >> but, all that being said, it still doesn't explain *why* black has >>such >> associations, in so many cultures. >> >> the Undertakers' Mythology offers an explanation. >> >> whether that explanation is true or not is another issue. >> > Agreed! > > V. Kerry Inman > > ********************************************************************** > To join the list, send the message: join medieval-religion YOUR NAME > to: [log in to unmask] > To send a message to the list, address it to: > [log in to unmask] > To leave the list, send the message: leave medieval-religion > to: [log in to unmask] > In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write >to: > [log in to unmask] >For further information, visit our web site: > http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/medieval-religion.html ********************************************************************** To join the list, send the message: join medieval-religion YOUR NAME to: [log in to unmask] To send a message to the list, address it to: [log in to unmask] To leave the list, send the message: leave medieval-religion to: [log in to unmask] In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to: [log in to unmask] For further information, visit our web site: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/medieval-religion.html