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.
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