Notes on Fet-Fet
Or rather on Persian halvah. Halvah is a confection of Persian origin with an Arabic name (Arabic root ح ل و or ḥ-l-w, meaning “sweet”) with varieties that stretch from Northern and Eastern Africa up to Eastern Europe and the Balkans, down all the way through West, Central and South Asia. Persian halvah is a paste…
Fet-Fet
Salty Eye, Sweet Play. Written in Four Vignettes, No. 1. “That child has a salty eye, I’m telling you.” The two neighbours who wore too much makeup crossed their fat nylon calves and exchanged lipstick-smudged theories between bites of lipstick-smudged halvah. “Sameni women have always brought on bitter ends. It’s all the black they wear. …
The Rook
Divinities: Tishtrya, God of the Rains Month: Tir Zodiacal Constellation: Cancer Hero-work, a calling, card number seven is The Rook. Just like the chess piece, the word “rook” stems from the Persian, rokh meaning “chariot.” The card is ruled by the astrological sign Cancer, Latin for “the crab,” also popularly known in the West as…
al-majus 