The strangest customs and traditions in Algerian weddings
As soon as the summer comes, Algerian families race to hold their weddings, as summer is the preferred season for Algerians to celebrate this occasion, which is dominated by customs and traditions, and increases its beauty and distinction, and also its strangeness sometimes.
And because Algeria, is a country with a vast area, and a multiplicity of cultures, acquired through many civilizations that have passed on this land, the customs and traditions that characterize weddings in it may seem strange to some, and even funny, but they carry beautiful meanings.
Kabylia area
The Kabylie region is rich with customs and traditions that have succeeded in resisting time since it is still the master of weddings in this region, so no tribal family can abandon some customs and traditions, without which the wedding ceremony loses its value and flavour. Among these customs and traditions, the bride breaks an egg when she arrives in front of the door of her husband’s house, the egg of the hen egg, from the groom’s house, and people should think that it refers to the omen of offspring.
The bride, after spending her first night in her husband’s house, gets up early, wears the tribal robe, and goes out of her husband’s house barefoot, heading to the nearest spring to fill her jar, while a procession of women follows her, who chant songs from the the tribal heritage.
High plateaus and Chaouia region
As for the area of the high hills and the Chaouia, the younger brother of the bride resorts to hiding her shoe moments before the arrival of the groom’s procession, to obstruct his sister from going out until she fulfils some of his demands.
The Algerian West is also replete with many customs and traditions, perhaps the most prominent of which is the so-called custom of Sidi Muammar, which are customs and norms that no one can transcend, at the risk of being cursed and calamities, as the owners of Sidi Muammar say. Sidi Muammar was originally and Wali Saleh attributed to him these customs, the most important of which is the symbolism of the dowry given to the bride, which should not exceed a few dirhams, and the bride of Sidi Muammar is different from other brides, as she does not go out with the traditional burnous and the Hayek, which is a luxurious white piece of cloth from a special type that covers the whole body of a woman, rather the bride comes out wearing a dress of two colours, red and white, which is gathered with a woollen thread, and her waist is tightened with a belt on which she read some incantations to protect the eyes, as they think, while a small mirror is placed on her forehead, and it is tightened with a red handkerchief, and she comes out of the house Her father is barefoot.
Funniest Habits
Perhaps one of the funniest customs in Algerian society is that one of the women of the groom’s family steals a cup from the house of the bride who has been engaged without anyone noticing it, and this custom translates to the fact that the girl’s share has ended in her family’s house.
While some brides extinguish the match in front of the threshold of the groom’s house, which is her home, to avoid igniting problems between the spouses in the future.
Bridal reception
There is also a special ritual for receiving the bride. While the mother-in-law receives her daughter-in-law with milk and dates, others choose to put mint in the right hand, believing that this plant is a symbol of goodness. She also sprinkles the bride with salt to ward off the eye, and to prevent damage and envy.
The promotion bride of the Tuareg residing in the far south may be the most pampered bride, as she and her husband remain in her father’s house until she gives birth to her first child.
It is nice to gather one custom in all the regions of the Algerian country so that the bride does not leave her family’s house except under her father’s wings, (meaning under his hand that he puts at the door of the house), and the brother, uncle or uncle can replace the father’s place, in a beautiful symbolism of her transition from the protection of her father to the protection of her husband.
Regardless of their strangeness and containing heresies and myths forbidden by our true religion, these customs and traditions remain for societies a second identity that distinguishes them from other societies and gives their members a sense of pride in the legacy they have passed on from generation to generation.
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