The unripe mango (keri) is a symbol of virginity, often used in mehndi painted on new brides. It also symbolizes the coming of summer. Vines are symbols of devotion. You can draw vines around the wrists or on the legs, creeping around as vines do on the sides of homes. Roses, sunflowers, lilies, daisies, and irises are commonly used mehndi images.

Birds are the most commonly used animal motif in the henna art of India. The peacock is the national bird of India. When women are separated from their husbands, the peacock painted in henna symbolizes companionship. Fish symbolize the eyes of women. Scorpions are thought to be like Cupid’s arrow; they are romantic images in Hindu mythology.

The symbols of astrology can also be used in mehndi. What sign are you? This is one of the ways that mehndi opens doors to new worlds for the artists that create it. Ideas and images will occur to you intuitively, and then you might want to go back and study them. Artists of all mediums find that they do not always know what they are going to create beforehand. Often they draw, paint or write a poem and later realize that their work relates to concepts or ideas that were somehow stored in their unconscious. Jung believed that there is a storehouse of archetypes in the collective unconscious. An archetype is an important idea, concept or image that reoccurs in our minds (and our various cultures) and helps us to better understand ourselves. Jung also believed that archetypes are shared by people across cultures and through generations. The collective unconscious is a board term that describes the “place” where the archetypes that we share are stored. It is not really a place, of course, but if you think of it that way it might be easier to understand.

Water is another common symbol in mehndi. Some people believe that water symbolizes the unconscious itself. It also can represent women, the moon, and our emotions. You can paint waves on the skin (lahariya designs) or small clusters of dots called bundakis, which represent falling rain. They symbolize the love a woman expresses for her husband and in-laws. Lahariya designs represent deep emotion and ecstasy. These designs were often painted on windows who jumped on funeral pyres to die with their husbands. As you create your own designs, you can learn about these images and make them your own. This process of appropriation is used by artists to make new meaning from ancient symbols. Appropriating the lahariya symbol would mean using it symbolize something positive and something meaningful to you. Perhaps you are mourning a relationship but know you would never give up your life for a boyfriend or girlfriend. Painting waves on the skin, for you, would mean the opposite of jumping on the funeral pyre of your lost loved one. Instead, it would symbolize the new enriched life you will lead without him or he.