|
Unbeknownst to the teeming thousands of
tourists thronging the beaches, restaurants, bars and discotheques
of the island at this time, the height of the tourism season,
isolated and traditionally-orientated areas of Eivissa (the
real name of the island, ‘Ibiza' is a mainland Spanish
and English misnomer) have been and are going through their
annual period of important ancient ritual activities at isolated
water sources. Scattered throughout the island are natural
springs and wells that, from time immemorial, have provided
the source of life, Agua in Castellano, Aïgu in Eivissenc.
Eivissenc is a rare and early sub-dialect
of eastern Catalan language and is the real language of the
island. Even today many elderly Eivissencs (called ‘Ibicencos'
by Castellano-speakers from the mainland or by the English),
particularly those of Pagès (peasant) origin from the
interior, speak it as their main language and may not be able
to speak Castellano - isolated rural life has never really
made the learning of mainland Spanish (or the mainland form
of Catalan) a necessity. Linguistic terms used in this and
forthcoming articles will, as far as possible, be in Eivissenc
and written in italics. This does pose certain difficulties,
however, as Eivissenc has not traditionally been a written
language and even many younger Eivissencs today who are literate
in Castellano and Catalan may have certain difficulties in
deciding on correct spelling of Eivissenc terms. Moreover,
at the beginning of the 20th century, geographical isolation
and normal processes of linguistic change in a society that
was essentially an ancient pre-literate oral society had complicated
the situation to the extent that there were then thought to
be 16 or 17 regional variations of Eivissenc spoken on the
island. Compilers of dictionaries can, unfortunately, sometimes
be the destroyers of these myriad linguistic variations as
they have to somehow make a decision on which variant of a
term they will put in their work as the ‘official' form
of the word, thus possibly dooming different forms of a term
to disappear eventually forever. This has happened with many
European languages, including English and German.
Back to Aïgu. On a small, rather dry
(although it was not always so), island such as Eivissa and
to an even greater extent on its smaller sister island of
Formentera, fresh water, its sources, distribution and control
assumed much greater importance than in parts of Europe that
might have more plentiful resources of it. Water came to have
a spiritual force associated with it and the origin of the
present-day water rituals and ceremonies on Eivissa may go
back beyond Christian and Islamic times into the depths of
its Punic (Phoenician and Carthaginian) past - or possibly
even earlier. Although these water rituals on the island are
each now (and since many centuries) usually linked with a
Catholic Saint's day, it was common practice in the early
stages of Christianity throughout Europe to rather deftly
overlay a pre-Christian ritual with one blessed by the Church.
This procedure tended to minimize tensions during the conversion
process but also enabled ‘those converting' to essentially
continue their traditional rituals whilst letting the leaders
of the ‘new religion' think the old beliefs had been
forgotten.
The spiritual force behind water and its
sources traditionally needs to be thanked and thus persuaded
to continue providing its bounty. Eivissa's traditional water
source rituals and festivities can be seen anthropologically
as a local aspect of a ritual phenomenon found widely amongst
traditionally-oriented societies around the world.
Some of the most important fonts (springs
in Eivissenc) on the island are protected by ancient stonework
coverings that are almost shrine-like in nature, as are some
of the ancient wells (pou, singular). It is at and around
these sources and structures that the dances and rituals are
held, and there is no doubt that these sites have been of
ritual importance since ancient times. Up until at least the
late 1950s the Font de C'an Micalet near Sa Fruitera (Santa
Gertrudis, in the geographical centre of the island) contained
within its interior structure lime-painted walls covered in
ancient ochre designs. Some of the designs in ochre, which
had obviously been re-done over the centuries possibly up
until the 19th century, may provide links back to the times
of the ancient cult of the fertility goddess T'nit (known
as Tanit in the archaeological literature), a cult of which
the island was a focal point during Carthaginian times.
Most Fonts and Pous have their water at
a level some distance from the surface: one would have to
either bend down to fill up one's pottery water container
from a font or let down a bucket on a rope to fill it up from
a pou. All of this type of water collection still exists in
the most isolated areas of the island, or is within living
memory for the majority of the Eivissenc population. ‘On
tap' running water in houses is a relatively recent innovation
in many rural areas. Another type of water source is a broll,
essentially a font, spring, but from which the water springs
forth under pressure and in much greater volume. On the evening
of Sunday 29th July, a major traditional pagès (peasant)
harvest and water festival was held at Es Broll de Buscastell,
in its rather isolated valley - possibly the most beautiful
valley on the whole island - in the northwestern interior
of the island.
Such a traditional festa pagesa (peasant
fiesta) involves dance (ball pagès, possibly western
Europe's most ancient surviving dance form), food and vi pagès
(peasant wine, rather stronger than the wine available in
shops, and an acquired taste!). These festes are a form of
community thanks for the agricultural harvest and water and
a type of ritualized request for future good harvests and
abundant water. Each ceremony is organized by the local community
and/or a traditional dance group. That at Es Broll de Buscatell
on 29th July was organized by the dance group Sa Colla de
C'an Bonet who had also invited the group Sa Colla de Sant
Mateu to participate. The female participants are stunning
in their ancient costumes, their chests bedecked with the
heirloom massive gold necklaces, ses emprendades, and their
fingers adorned with numerous gold decorative rings. The ceremonies
at Es Broll also involved ancient shouted ritual challenges
(Ucs) and the playing of shell trumpets (brulades de corn).
This is the real Eivissa/Ibiza - nothing
to do with tourism, most tourists coming to the island have
no idea that these ceremonies exist, nor do most of the tour
guides. As such ceremonies are organized by and for the rural
communities, planned dates for the festivities are sometimes
rather flexible within certain limits, depending upon the
often complex problems of organizing food, wine and transport
in areas where many inhabitants may still lack telephones
(or, in the case of having recently introduced telephones,
messages regarding traditional activities are still preferably
often passed by word of mouth). The festivities at Es Broll,
for example were originally planned for 22nd July.
A number of these annual activities have
already taken place this year: that at Pou d'en Benet in the
area of Sa Talaia (Sant Josep) (organized by the group Sa
Colla de Sant Josep de Sa Talaia); that at Pou de Labritja
near Sant Joan (organized by Sa Colla de Labritja); that at
Pou d'Albarqueta near Sant Llorenc; that at Font des Verger
near Sa Talaia (Sant Josep) and that at Pou Roig near Sant
Jordi (organized by Sa Colla de Sant Jordi), to name a few.
Those still to come include ceremonies at the Pou des Rafal
near Sant Agusti (organized by Sa Colla d'es Vedrà)
and hopefully planned for 2nd September, and those at Pou
d'en Micolau near Sant Rafel (organized by Sa Colla de Sant
Rafel), planned for the same day.
These ballades (a general term covering
festivities including traditional Eivissenc dances) are, because
of their nature, usually held in areas that are relatively
or extremely difficult of access. Unfortunately, most tourists
visiting this island are not at all interested in culture
(and numerous rather seedy recent television documentaries
- such as the infamous "Ibiza Uncovered" series
- tend to indicate the island has no culture: not of course
the case, but more truthfully indicating that possibly many
of those coming to visit the island have no culture !), but
I address the following words to that microscopic percentage
of the two million outsiders who will visit this island during
this year's tourism `season' who might possibly be interested
in the real culture of Eivissa.
If you are interested in seeing certain
real traditional activities, your tour guide might not necessarily
be the best advisor (unless he/she is real Eivissenc), but
the small town halls in most villages should have a list of
such activities as should a local tourism office (although
they may have to hurriedly search amongst their files to dig
up the relevant information). The best bet is the Conselleria
de Cultura in Vila (Ciutat d'Eivissa, Ibiza town). Remember
that dates can change at the last minute. If you do manage
to pinpoint one of these ceremonies and want to go, try and,
if possible, find a way to ask permission beforehand. Bear
in mind that these ceremonies are part of the real life of
the island, mostly hidden to outsiders, and are not organized
for tourists. If it looks as if you may be successful in attending
one of these harvest/water ballades, don't take along a large
group of friends with you, too many outsiders could spoil
the atmosphere. Go with respect and politeness. Ask permission
to take photos. To show that you want to share in the community's
thanks for harvest and water and hopes for more next year,
take along a bottle of wine and some local produce to present
to the organizers of the activities. Don't expect to hear
English, German, French or even Castellano (Spanish) or mainland
Catalan spoken, Eivissenc will be the language used (but there
will usually be those who might translate for you). An evening
spent at one of these ceremonies, their origins lost in the
depths of time, will give you more satisfaction and spiritual
rewards than any amount of time spent in the islands discotheques
or other peripheral entertainment centres. You will then be
able to go back overseas and truthfully say, "Yes, I
have seen the real Eivissa/Ibiza".
But this short article is just an introduction
to water: in Part Two, next week, we will see why these rituals
have recently become more important, what water problems the
island faces, and what is in store worldwide for this most
precious liquid commodity.
With gratitude to many Eivissenc friends,
including Joan de Ca Na Joana, Ritu i Ana de C'an Joanot,
Turbo i Neus de C'an Partit, Mariano Ribas and Marià
Torres i Torres and many more.
Kirk W Huffman
| |
