Sema
Khalaf Haji Hamad
Braids in ancient Ezidi heritage are considered a symbol that reflects meanings of (survival, strength, love, nature, and pain). Ezidi women used to take great care to grow their hair long and keep it braided without changing it, because of the deep significance it carried.
Survival
In Ezidi mythology, braided hair is depicted as the roots of a tree stretching from the mountains and sinking deep into the earth on which they were born. This symbolizes their close bond with the land of their ancestors, where their earliest memories were formed, and their firm determination to protect its existence and dignity in the face of injustice and tyrants. Even today, many Ezidi tribal men in Mount Shingal, throughout the ages, continue to keep their braids as a symbol of their resilience and deep attachment to their land and mountain.
Strength
The woman in Ezidi history is regarded as a symbol of strength, endurance, and determination. She would not touch her braids in normal circumstances, nor cut them, except in cases where the lives of her children and family were in danger. Then she would cut her braids and show no tolerance for injustice until she reclaimed her rights. By doing so, she demonstrated to the aggressor her ability to influence society and to stop the oppression being practiced against her and her children, making everyone listen to the voice of truth she was defending.
Love
In Ezidi folkloric songs, poets express their admiration for beautiful braids. The girl with long black braided hair captures the hearts of young men. They portray her as the night that blankets the earth with its deep darkness, as ears of wheat gently swaying with the breeze, or as streams of rivers flowing full of feelings of love and hope.
Nature
During the festival of Khidr Elias, which Ezidis celebrate in the last days of February each year, when nature prepares to welcome spring and the return of life to the earth, Ezidi women would cut a small damaged part of the hair from their braids, just as dry branches are cut from trees. This was a way to express the renewal of nature and the continuity of the cycle of life.
Sadness and Pain
When an Ezidi woman loses one of her loved ones after their departure from this world, she expresses her grief by cutting her braids and placing these cut braids on their graves as a symbol of mourning and deep pain over their separation.
In the cemeteries of the Ezidis in Mount Shingal, there are hundreds of graves above which the cut braids sway, under the influence of the winds coming from the west, telling the stories of loved ones who have passed away.
And today in Western Kurdistan, the braids of female fighters and their locks of hair dance with the breezes of freedom, carrying within them the fragrance of hope and change. They are beginning the path toward life and hope; they are daughters of the sun and light, and their struggle and the beauty of their braids go beyond the sight of the sons of darkness and burrows.