Basque ethnography at a glance

Halo around the Moon. José Ignacio García. Labayru Fundazioa Photographic Archive.

Legend has it that on her way down from the mountain, a woman set fire to a load of gorse and became the Moon.

The lunar phases and their impact on terrestrial life cycles have long been considered a prominent factor for sowing, planting and harvesting. As it happens, tides are mainly caused by the pull of the Moon on Earth.

Onions, leaks, tomatoes and peppers need to be sown, transplanted and harvested with a waning moon (ilbeherea). If not, scapes appear. Grass to feed the animals is also best harvested when the moon is waning, then stored in the loft. If there is no other alternative, for inclement weather might not allow it, care should be taken to cut the grass preferably on a Friday. There is, according to popular belief, a magical quality to this day of the week, and some farm chores are best done then.

Trees should be pruned with a waning moon, sometime between the months of December and February; and that is so despite the gravitational pull being far less in the winter season during the waning moon (neguko ilbeherea). Vineyards, in particular, bleed more sap if not pruned with a waning moon.

Among tree species the alder (haltza) does not conform to the guidelines. Its pruning is performed in the crescent moon (ilgora), more specifically during May’s waxing moon (maiatzeko uretan), when the sap is high, which ensures longer durability of the wood, as well as no insect infestation.

Livestock manure should likewise be removed from pens and sheds in the waning moon; otherwise, mould grows in it.

Away from the farm too there are certain tasks that are traditionally undertaken while the moon is waning, such as cutting one’s hair, nails… And supposedly, the full moon affects our mood and might even cause us to go mentally insane, or lunatic (txairo), one might say, and quite appropriately so.

Segundo Oar-Arteta – Etniker Bizkaia – Etniker Euskalerria Groups

Translated by Jaione Bilbao – Ethnography Department – Labayru Fundazioa

Reference for further information: Agriculture, the eighth volume of the Ethnographic Atlas of the Basque Country.