Meskel Flower (The Cross of Christ Flower)
Friday, November 13th, 2009 | Uncategorized
Well, I should have posted this a few months ago, but alas, I have not had as much time to blog as I wanted to. This is a Meskel flower. Meskel in Amharic (the most commonly spoken language in Ethiopia which I’m learning) means cross as well as the verb “to hang.” This is because Jesus hung on a cross when He died for our sins. Hopefully you can see that on each one of the petals of this flower there are tiny orange marks. People in Ethiopia have decided that these marks look like the wounds that Jesus has from being crucified on a cross, hence the name Meskel flower. There is also a holiday in September that I wrote about previously called Meskel, which is a celebration of the cross of Christ. Meskel flowers are in bloom in Ethiopia around September/October. The name of the month that is at the same time as September is called Meskerem which is the first month of the year on the Ethiopian calendar since Ethiopian New Years Day is always on September 11th. I have a few friends here who are named Meskerem since that’s the month in which they were born.
So, there’s a little cultural/language information for you. I think it’s interesting. Some might think it’s boring. Hope you enjoyed it, nonetheless! : )
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