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Scent
of the Holidays:
The Science Behind `Eid in The Western World
By
Karima Burns, MH, ND
Muslims
in America and the Western World all know the scent of Christmas. As
they walk through the malls, streets and stores each December, the scent
of gingerbread, pine needles and cinnamon waft through the air. Even
Muslims who don't live in America probably gaze at the news coverage and
wonder - why is everyone so excited? And as Muslims we wonder - how can
I get my children to be that excited about `Eid? Christmas is a
"hard act to follow". However, Muslims can create an
atmosphere of `Eid that will capture the hearts and joy of the children
- even in the midst of Christmas trees and Santa's sleigh. It's all a
matter of science.
Studies show that using all our senses is the best way to absorb
information and become completely involved in an event. A holiday must
embrace all the senses of a person - heart, imagination, soul, sight,
hearing, taste, the sense of smell and the sense of touch. Children are
conditioned to find joy and excitement every Christmas because they are
conditioned to love the holiday with all their senses. They sing
Christmas songs with their voices, they listen to stories of Santa with
their imagination, they pray with their hearts, they taste cookies with
their mouths, they hear carols with their ears, they feel pine needles
with their hands and they smell gingerbread and cinnamon with their
noses and they see houses decorated with lights on every street corner.
Using science you can create that same feeling in your children during
`Eid.
The sense of smell is the most important sense to consider when
celebrating. There is a very strong connection between smell and memory.
Aroma processing is wired directly into the limbic system where memory
is stored and emotion resides. In fact the sense of smell is so powerful
that it is being employed to speed learning in some schools (Aoyama p.
2). Looking back in history, we can see the sense of smell being used in
almost every culture and in different religions as well. The Greek
Orthodox Church has a philosophy of incorporating all five senses into
their service. Incense is burned to appeal to the sense of smell. In
Judaism, a spice box is used in the Havdalah service, which is held at
the end of the Sabbath, to start the new week afresh. Pungent and
pleasant spices such as cinnamon, cloves, and cardamom are usually used
(Ayoma, p. 3).
The Boston Globe reported that within the same culture, people of
different generations experience nostalgic feelings triggered by
different odors. Those people born in the 1920's, 30's, and 40's have
these feelings when smelling flowers, sea air, cut grass and burning
leaves, but those born in the 50's, 60's and 70's became nostalgic when
smelling Play-Doh, window cleaner, hair spray, suntan lotion and
felt-tip pens (Klein, 1995). In the same way, Muslims want their
children to feel more nostalgic about the smells of `Eid than they do
about the smells of Christmas or other Western holidays.
One thing that already smells wonderful during `Eid is the `Eid
Breakfast. However, when creating a strong event oriented memory one
needs to create a regular sensation of smell related to that event. For
this reason Muslims should try to prepare very savory and pungent dishes
during `Eid which use a variety of aromatic spices such as cinnamon,
cloves, cardamom, curry or cumin.
The smells of cooking should also be supplemented with pleasant smells
in the atmosphere. One can chose to use essential oils or incense, but
the smell should be special and associated with `Eid time. A person can
use essential oils typically used in spiritual celebrations of the
Muslim world such as rose oil or sandalwood. Alternatively, one can mix
a personal oil combination to create a personal perfume for `Eid time or
to create a special room scent for the `Eid Holiday. One such
combination could be that of sandalwood, neroli and patchouli. Another
idea is to combine geranium and rose or to combine rose and ylang ylang.
Bergamot with a touch of lemon or tangerine is perfect to create a
celebratory mood. These scent combinations could be used as incense or
as perfume.
Of course the sense of smell often goes hand in hand with the sense of
taste. In fact, the sense of taste is one that the `Eid Breakfast is
famous for. However, taste buds wear out every week to ten days and we
replace them, although not as frequently over the age of forty-five. Our
sense of taste is not as sharp as we get older (USOE, p. 3). So most of
the memories of taste will probably still be retained in the sense of
smell category. However, one can still capitalize on this sensation by
creating some special "`Eid Dishes" such as `Eid cookies or
`Eid cakes.
The sense of sight is another important sense. Seventy percent of the
body's sense receptors cluster in the eyes, and it is mainly through
seeing the world that we appraise and understand it (USOE, p.1). Seeing
everyone dressed in new clothes is a pleasure for the sight. However, as
Muslims living in the casually-dressed West the community sometimes
downplays the significance of fancy `Eid clothes and buy the kids some
new jeans for `Eid or a new T-shirt. Instead, Western Muslims should buy
their children something rich and colorful and joyful to look and not
something casual.
The sense of hearing is one that is taken for granted in many Middle
Eastern countries but is often forgotten in Europe and America. In
Egypt, as well as other Arab countries the streets are filled with
drums, dancing and radios blasting during `Eid. However, in the West,
where loud music is condemned, Muslims often forsake the sounds of `Eid.
Muslims who do not already have a musical tradition for `Eid, should
create one now. Of course the first "music" to consider is the
music of the Qur'an. However, since we hear the Qur'an every day, one
should chose certain verses to be recited every `Eid. One can also chose
from the growing market of Islamic music available for children as well
as adults from companies like Astrolabe, Sound Vision and Iqra. There
are many beautiful CD's by Youssef Islam such as "A is for
Allah" that make wonderful holiday music. Muslims should encourage
their children to enjoy the music by giving them drums, whistles,
maracas or tambourines. They can even make their own tambourines from
two plates glued together with beans in the middle, which is a much
quieter option for people who live in an apartment.
The sense of touch is a hard one to capture. However, it is perhaps the
second most important after the sense of smell. This is because the skin
is the largest organ of the body and weighs about six to ten pounds.
Furthermore, studies have shown that touch plays a crucial role in child
development. Touch is the key to our survival and perhaps the survival
of `Eid in the west. (Akerman) Muslims can encourage their children to
experience the sense of touch during `Eid by buying them `Eid clothes
made of soft velvet or silky material or `Eid gifts they can hug such as
a stuffed animal or soft doll. Children should be given extra hugs on
`Eid and encouraged to enjoy the sensation of the soft prayer mats as
they pray and the carpet on the floor of the mosque. Creating `Eid
traditions can encourage other memories of touch. A "Celebration
Table" for `Eid can be made by setting selected objects on a table
covered with silk or cloth. Included on the table can be cool and
metallic coins, soft plush animals, crispy rice, and cottony tufts of
"snow" or crackly bits of fall leaves according to which
season `Eid has fallen in. Children should be encouraged to feel the
objects they have chosen and add as many objects as they wish to the
table.
Last, but not least are the senses of the heart and the sense of
imagination. Children should be told many stories during `Eid. Stories
about what `Eid was like for their parents or what `Eid is like in other
countries can be part of their `Eid day. There are some storybooks about
`Eid, however, the best stories will be created on an individual basis.
Stories can come in the form of puppet shows, felt-board stories, plays,
songs or tales about `Eid. Children should be told `Eid stories every
night and encouraged to create plays and puppet shows about `Eid during
the day.
Sources:
Ackermann Aoyam, Sara. "The Role of the Sense of Smell in Language
Learning." School for International Training. 1999.
Ackerman, D. (1991). "A Natural History of the Senses." NY:
Random House.
Klein, Richard. "Get a Whiff of This: Breaking the Smell
Barrier" The New Republic, February 1995. 18-23
USOE. "The Five Senses Lesson." Utah State Office of
Education. 1997.
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