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I was talking to my friend from Algerian descent about the rituals we go through or we have seen growing up as young Maghrebian women and have considered normal up until now and now I am totally fucked up.
Iâd like to talk about this in detail when I have done research probably but here are some examples for the curious:
- (personal experience) I was in Morocco when I got my first period. So this meant I got to experience the âfirst blood celebrationâ. The women of the family did my makeup and put me in a dress and made me eat date and drink milk and then out of nowhere I got slapped in the face
Apparently this ritual is common and and you get slapped because you are now entering adult age
- (personal experience) during Moroccan traditional weddings we do henna on the brideâs hands and feet. The person who mixes the henna must be a virgin for some reason so I remember being asked to do it several times during my teenage years
But the first time I did it I was behind the door when I hear the women say âwe need a virgin, call Kenzaâ and my dramatic ass thought they were gon sacrifice me lmaoooo I was like NOPE BYE
- (my friends experience) there is a tradition called tasfih that consists in cutting a young girls inside thigh while doing a ritual (too long to describe but she has to turn around seven times and the woman that does it says an incantation) and this is supposed to -
- âcloseâ the womanâs sexuality until they âopenâ her again right before he wedding (she goes through the same kind of ritual and the woman has to be the same OR a woman with the same name). Of course this is to protect the virginity of women until marriage.
We donât do this in Morocco but I did hear of sorcery that prevents women from getting sexual urges until they remove the spell, thus preventing from having a sexual life.
I donât have any other example in mind but Iâd love to do more research on the subject. Itâs crazy how none of those rituals are recognized by Islam (sorcery is one of the biggest sin in Islamic religion) and her these traditions have remained practically untouched
And sadly they almost exclusively concern women and their sexuality. Growing up as a woman from Moroccan descent has made it impossible for me not to believe in sorcery and spirits. Man the things Iâve heard. I know those energies are real.
I also just recalled. I would get KILLED if I ever combed my hair at someone elseâs house when I was little and I was never told the reason. Now I know. You need hair to perform sorcery. My family didnât want people to perform sorcery on me. 
Anyway thatâs all for tonight. If someone has read this thread and has similar experiences to share Iâd be happy to hear it. Iâm extremely curious about those subjects
