2023-04-18 18:40:32
Libya – Learn from the Sahara Desert, the greatest of its kind on Earth, the arts of living, and master them. They tamed the winds and the deadly drought, coexisted with mirages, and remained faithful to their traditions for thousands of years.
They are the Tuareg, who are called “the owners of the veil,” with their blue robes and distinctive appearance, and their long history with the desert, with its harsh conditions and endless extensions. They frequent it and roam its edges, from North Africa to the jungles, since Africa was a mysterious continent that no one knew.
The Tuareg in their traditional costumes and their imposing masked men are unmistakable. They are a landmark of the desert. A race that settled in the Sahara Desert, and its extensions are found in Morocco, Algeria, Libya, and in countries south of the Sahara, especially in Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso.
Although the Tuareg are not the only people in the Sahara region whose members wear the veil, because the neighboring Tabu tribes also wear it, but it is not binding on them, while for the Tuareg it is a well-established culture and way of life. The veil most likely moved to the Tabu race from the Tuareg.
The Tuareg not only cling to the veil to avoid desert dust and protect their faces from the stings of its protective atoms, but they frequent it even in the north, where there are no such harsh sandstorms.
It is noteworthy that the Tuareg women, while their men wear the veil all the time, walk with unveiled faces without it, and mostly cover only their hair.
Tuareg women enjoy great prestige and respect, and when a boy reaches the age of majority, he traditionally receives two gifts – a sword and a veil that wraps his head and covers his face. And the Tuareg boy is obligated from that moment to show only his eyes, even when he is in his tent, and among his family’s clubs.
There are many legends that explain the wearing of the veil by Tuareg men, unlike women.
One of their legends, which talks regarding the harsh conditions of life, and the continuous war and invasions in ancient times, says that the Tuareg men were defeated in one of the battles, and when they returned to their homes, the women met them saying: We are ashamed to see you, cover your faces from us!
Another narration of this legend says that the Tuareg were subjected to a raid by the enemies, and they failed to repel them, and at that time the women rose up and fought the invaders and managed to repel them, so the Tuareg men were ashamed and hid their faces behind the veil, forever.
Another legend, speaking of the Tuareg before converting to Islam. At that time, they believed in the existence of different spirits, some of them evil. After marriage, it was customary for the man to take his bride to live with her family, not the other way around.
It was believed that the spirits are different, and that the ones that live in the wives’ family bats are alien to the groom, and are capable of harming him by sneaking into his head through the nose or ear.
To guard once morest such evils, the men decided to cover their faces completely even when they lay down to sleep, thus cutting off the way for evil spirits to reach them.
The magical dimension of the customs and traditions of the Tuareg, due to their belief that the holes on the face, in the nose and ears, are potential doors for the entry of magic and spirits. If you leave these “ports” uncovered, your power may escape and be acquired by someone else, or an evil spirit may sneak up on you and possess you.
In addition to all this, the veil gives the Tuareg, who are always dignified and proud of their personality, an opportunity not to show their feelings, and also not to open their mouths and gossip, and to say what is not necessary.
Source: RT
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