About Blessings

ምርቅት noun \ mirik’at \ Definition of ምርቅት

1: An Ethiopian verbal art, call-and-response ceremony, both deeply spiritual and poetic, in which elders express personalized intentions, and the recipients receive the gifts of well-wishes with open palms and responses of አሜን (amen) and ይሁን (yihun), which translates to “May it be so.”

a: blessing
b: favor and protection asked to the universe on your behalf
2: lucky thing
3: compliment
4: recognition for an accomplishment.

Yihun, yihun, yihun. Amen 🙏

As Habesha Ethiopians, we all three grew up with mirik’at, as an integral part of our lives. We were showered with this verbal art of personalized blessings, both deeply spiritual and poetic by our parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, or other elders in our communities. We believe that this established a blessing bank inside of each of us, sustaining us to survive and eventually live and thrive in the diaspora.

This work is an attempt to cultivate new daily patterns of collective care-taking—by creating new habits to practice conscious well-wishing, giving one another mirik’at and actively receiving it.

Wishing each other well is a win-win. It can powerfully decrease feelings of anxiety and isolation, and increases a sense of wellbeing, shared success and interconnectedness, in general. This is an invitation to intentionally root for each other, fully realizing that we are all interdependent.

We wish you surprising moments of deep joy and relief from pains and burdens you are carrying in your bodies.
Amen, Yihun, May it be so 🙏