On Thursday, it was the Celebration of Meskel. Meskel means, in Amharic, "cross".
The Meskel celebration is based around the belief that Queen Eleni, aka Saint Helena, had a revelation in a dream (4th Century AD). She was told that she should make a bonfire and that the smoke would show her where the true cross was buried. The true cross refers to The Cross that Jesus Christ was crucified on.
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. As you would imagine, part of the Meskel celebration, includes the burning of a large bonfire, or Demera.
I headed to Meskel Square in Addis for the celebration. It was an interesting event. Tons of Ethiopians and a handful of tourists filed into Meskel Square and took seats in the stands. Over the next two hours, tons of various Diocese members filed into the main square via a parade. The various Diocese members wore costumes and colours representing their area. Some sang, some danced and some chanted. They all made their way past a grandstand where guests of honour watched. There were also prayers given, mostly in Amharic, by various clergy.
Finally after a couple of honors, a float rode up with a red cross on it. That was the cue for all of the people around me to light candles. It was beautiful to see all the candles in the stands around me lit up. (Reminiscent of a memorial service but with joy rather than sadness.) The man next to me let me hold his candle, but when his daughter's candle
went out, I handed it back to her.
Finally, the Bishops blessed the Demera and set it on fire. We watched as it burned down until eventually tipping over and hitting the group. There was then a bit of a melee as people either jostled to get down to the bonfire to put ashes on their foreheads or to leave the arena. I was caught up in something resembling a moshpit. Luckily, people were nice and pushed me up with the other tourists so we could make our way out.
I have "borrowed" photos from the internet as my camera phone wasn't very good and didn't capture the images as they should be.
The Meskel celebration is based around the belief that Queen Eleni, aka Saint Helena, had a revelation in a dream (4th Century AD). She was told that she should make a bonfire and that the smoke would show her where the true cross was buried. The true cross refers to The Cross that Jesus Christ was crucified on.
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. As you would imagine, part of the Meskel celebration, includes the burning of a large bonfire, or Demera. I headed to Meskel Square in Addis for the celebration. It was an interesting event. Tons of Ethiopians and a handful of tourists filed into Meskel Square and took seats in the stands. Over the next two hours, tons of various Diocese members filed into the main square via a parade. The various Diocese members wore costumes and colours representing their area. Some sang, some danced and some chanted. They all made their way past a grandstand where guests of honour watched. There were also prayers given, mostly in Amharic, by various clergy.
Finally after a couple of honors, a float rode up with a red cross on it. That was the cue for all of the people around me to light candles. It was beautiful to see all the candles in the stands around me lit up. (Reminiscent of a memorial service but with joy rather than sadness.) The man next to me let me hold his candle, but when his daughter's candle went out, I handed it back to her.
Finally, the Bishops blessed the Demera and set it on fire. We watched as it burned down until eventually tipping over and hitting the group. There was then a bit of a melee as people either jostled to get down to the bonfire to put ashes on their foreheads or to leave the arena. I was caught up in something resembling a moshpit. Luckily, people were nice and pushed me up with the other tourists so we could make our way out.
I have "borrowed" photos from the internet as my camera phone wasn't very good and didn't capture the images as they should be.
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