Шілдехана

The first celebration of a person’s life

Shildehana is the celebration of a child’s birth. Guests come to the house where the baby has appeared, congratulate the family and stay for a merry night of songs and games. The word “shilde” is linked to the Persian “chille” — “forty”, that is the forty days after birth, while “khana” means “house”. Literally it is “the house of forty days”. There is also a second name — “shildekuzet”, “the forty-day watch”, which conveys the essence well: the whole celebration is protection for mother and child.

The first forty days — a threshold between worlds

In folk belief, during the first forty days mother and baby are especially vulnerable: they seem to stand on the threshold between “that” and “this” world. During this time the new mother is not left alone, fire and light are kept in the house, the child is not shown to strangers, and hair and nails are not cut. Grandmothers and older women stay nearby, helping and protecting the mother.

Albasty — what was feared

The main danger was linked to albasty — an evil female spirit of Turkic mythology that attacks women in childbirth and newborns. It was imagined as a woman with long tangled hair, able to take the shape of acquaintances; it was believed to choke the new mother and try to steal her inner organs or carry the child off to water. The famous traveller and scholar Chokan Valikhanov described albasty as “a spirit that harms a woman in childbirth”.

The protection was simple and practical: the fire was not let out, the new mother was kept from being alone, an iron object (a knife) was placed at her head, and the cradle was cleansed with fire, iron or smoke (“alastau”).

The news and suyinshi

The celebration begins with a messenger: the person who first brings the relatives the joyful news of the birth “asks for suyinshi” — a reward for good news. He is given livestock, clothing or money, and refusing the messenger was bad manners. Suyinshi is a norm of Kazakh ethics in its own right: anyone who first reports good news can receive it, not only news of a birth.

Kindik shesh — the “second mother”

The kindik shesh is the woman who delivers the baby and cuts the umbilical cord. She was chosen for a “light hand, respected, calm”; it was believed the child would resemble the person who cut the cord. After that she became a kind of “second mother” to the baby and remained a close person for life. Today the kindik shesh is often the obstetrician or a close friend of the family who is called so symbolically.

The night watch: how the shildehana goes

The celebration proper is an evening and a night. The young people of the village gather to stay awake until morning: they sing, play the dombra, ask riddles, joke, compete in wit, sometimes hold an aitys. Staying awake until dawn is that very “shildekuzet”: by old belief, light and noise scare off the unclean force. Guests bring gifts not only for the baby but for the mother too — as a sign of care for her health — and “shashu” (scatter sweets and coins) with good wishes. The table is laid with meat, baursaks and sweets.

The adhan and the name

The child’s name is spoken aloud — usually in the first days. In the Islamic form the baby is turned toward the qibla, the adhan is recited in the right ear and the iqama in the left, and then the name is pronounced (in some descriptions three times); any Muslim who knows the adhan can do it, not necessarily a mullah. In the folk form an elder names the child aloud several times and gives a blessing. Names were chosen by the day or month of birth, and girls who had been very much awaited as a son were often given “calling” names — Ulbolsyn, Ultugan (“let it be a son”).

Kyrkynan shygharu — the end of the forty days

On the fortieth day the mother and child are “brought out” of seclusion for the first time. As described, the child is bathed in water into which relatives and guests take turns pouring forty spoonfuls of water with good wishes, and then the hair and nails are cut for the first time. The hair is wrapped in white cloth and kept as a charm, the nails are buried in a deserted place. Details differ between families, but the meaning is one: the dangerous period is behind, the child now belongs to the world.

What remains today

Shildehana survived both the Soviet years and the revival after 1991, but it has changed: the night gathering of young people is more often replaced by a family dinner for relatives, and the role of the kindik shesh is taken by the doctor. The main things remain — the news and suyinshi, shashu, gifts for mother and baby, the adhan and the name, and within the family the fortieth day is often marked too.

Interesting facts

Glossary

Шілде

The forty days after birth; from Persian “chille”, “forty”. Also the Kazakh name for July.

Шілдехана

The celebration of a child’s birth, “the house of forty days”.

Шілдекүзет

“The forty-day watch”: a night vigil to protect mother and child.

Сүйінші

A reward to the messenger for good news.

Кіндік шеше

The woman who cuts the umbilical cord; the child’s lifelong “second mother”.

Албасты

An evil female spirit that attacks women in childbirth and newborns.

Азан шақыру

Reciting the adhan over a newborn: the adhan in the right ear, the iqama in the left.

Ат қою

Naming the child.

Қырқынан шығару

The rite of the fortieth day: bathing, the first cutting of hair and nails.

Аластау

Cleansing from evil with fire, iron and smoke.

Шашу

Scattering sweets and coins with good wishes.