Tasset El Khada or a remedy to anxiety
A little bowl with chimes to banish panic
Do you know anyone who isn’t, to some degree, afflicted by anxiety? I don’t. Auntie Anxiety pays us all impromptu visits and the moment she arrives, she makes herself at home just like any self respecting Middle Eastern ‘tante’. She might decide to sit on your chest, or, make herself a little nest in the pit of your stomach, she can also simply roam around your brain and criticize all her surroundings. Whatever you say or do, Auntie Anxiety is here to stay.
Of course, Auntie Anxiety is a metaphor and even calling her Auntie Anxiety is a testimony to our increased interest in psychology and mental health. This leads people to say that interest in psychology is new and is something exclusive to younger generations in the Arab world. We are often told by our Middle Eastern parents that all this modern psycho-nonsense didn’t exist at their time. Who hasn’t also heard that psychology is “only for crazy people”? These are the same parents who, of course, check if the water heater has been turned off over twenty times, and believe that everyone from the vegetable vendor to their doctor is trying to rip them off. However, it seems to be that Auntie Anxiety has been an unwanted visitor for quite some time and we are not the first generation to try to get rid of her.
Indeed, during a visit to Coptic Cairo, I stumbled upon an object that intrigued me to no end. Tasset El Khada, which can be translated to ‘the bowl of shock’ or the ‘bowl of fear’. What is it? a simple copper bowl, topped with a little platform from which are suspended little chimes. Its sides are inscribed with the verse of the Throne, a Quranic verse often invoked as a form of protection from the Evil Eye or in order calm one’s state of mind. Of course, as the name would suggest, this bowl is to be used for shock or extreme fright, but anxiety can also give rise to panic attacks and intense fear, so I think this contraption is still relevant in the context of anxiety.
What does it do? well, according to Egyptian folkoric medecine, this bowl is supposed to take away one’s shock or one’s anxiety. However, this little object poses a bit of a challenge to our modern conception of things. Indeed, it is not concerned by the cause of your anxiety, or fear. Why? because fear in and of itself is affliction and this bowl cures you of it, no more, no less. How does this bowl do this ? well, it’s simple. You fill it with water, and the water becomes infused with the calming properties of the verse of the Throne. The little chimes scare away the malevolent spirits and as you drink the water, you are able to find peace. This isn’t a religious ritual. It’s purely folkloric. Don’t go thinking that this is a ritual prescribed by Islam.
This idea of fear being in and of itself an affliction that must be cured intrigued me. The more I thought about it, the more it made sense in its context. Indeed, we may not know the cause of our anxieties or of our sufferings, however, this doesn’t mean we don’t have to address them as soon as possible. I stumbled actually upon a passage of Naguib Mahfouz in the Palace Walk Trilogy where he explains how fear or shock was perceived and I found it rather compelling:
“She did not think of fright merely as a transitory sensation. Certainly not… It was an abnormal state with a mysterious, invisible halo around it. The Jinns saught refuge there like bats in darkness. A frightened person, particularly someone young, would be harmed. There would be bad consequences. In her opinion, fear required special care and precautions, whether recitation of verses from the Quran, incense or amulets.”
In a world where constant anxiety seems to be woven into the very fabric of modern life, I find it consoling to know that not so long ago, fear and what I consider panic were considered abnormal states, states that required attention and a cure, even if that cure were to come from a ritual that isn’t supported by any scientific backing.
The Tassa, before being polished, with all of its patina.
The Story of how I bought this little bowl
This bowl was sold to me by a kind and gentle person. Uncle Y. I was asking him the way to the Greek Orthdox Graveyards because I wanted to visit my grandmother’s tomb. Uncle Y. was standing in his shop in very bad shape. His voice was broken and he looked very fragile.
- The Greek Orthodox Graveyards are right accross the street and through that gate. I’m burried there too.
- No you aren’t, you are right here, alive and well and you will be that way for many years to come. Can I get you a chair or something? what is wrong?
- No, I am no longer really here. It doesn’t matter, I don’t really want to be.
He gave me a paper, a medical certificate which explained that he had suffered a storke. He told me it was easier for him to show me the paper than to explain. He then said he had something I would like, and gave me this bowl. When I asked him what it was he told me:
-I don’t remember, I don’t remember much. I think it’s beautiful. Maybe you can put sweetened chickpeas or chocolate in it. I remember people used to use it many years before. But now I can’t remember. You can ask next door, the shopkeeper will remember.
I paid for the bowl even if he didn’t want to accept any money and couldn’t really remember its price. Next door I was just informed of the name of the object, and I went on to do my own research. Of course, the neighboring shopkeeper gave me the usual Egyptian gossip:
- Uncle Y. is a kind and respectable man, but don’t be fooled, HE IS A MILLIONAIRE! However, he never got married and animals are his only love. He feeds over 50 dogs. A bit of a waste if you ask me.
8 months later, so this winter, I returned to find a perfectly healthy and lucid Uncle Y. He had fully recovered, he was smilling, full of life, and had opened a new store in addition to his old one. His grave will have to wait a bit longer, just as I said.
