Basque ethnography at a glance
Holy Cross of Bizkargi, 2019. Leire Zaldibar.
Along with traditional weekend dancing, celebrations held at hermitages were hugely popular in times gone by. Such occasions were for the vast majority a great escape from daily routine, a longed-for chance to move away from everyday life, and of course, a once-in-the-year opportunity to meet with friends from the surrounding villages which you would hardly see otherwise. (more…)
By Vincent van Zalinge on Unsplash.
Peoples have forever, since prehistoric times, searched for means to guarantee their protection, from dances to human sacrifices and all sorts of rituals. Without looking further back into history, the need to protect ourselves, our family, our house, our properties… is as vital at this moment of pandemic as ever before, always bearing in mind a logical evolution. (more…)
Amagoia Gezuraga.
The local parish would, in former times, be a common and reliable channel for folks to keep abreast of significant social life events in villages, towns and cities, far more than rumours and hearsay. Church attendance being a fundamental religious practice for the vast majority, especially on Sundays, due announcement would be made of impending marriages, the so-called banns, making the most of the occasion; the names of recently departed parishioners were likewise announced, and the day and time when masses were to be offered for them; and believe it or not, moral assessment of all films screened in community venues and cinemas was posted on the church door. (more…)
Paschal full moon. Josu Larrinaga Zugadi.
Holy Week remains undoubtedly the festive cycle lived with deepest religiosity by Catholic and other Christian communities, rituals and processional imagery with a strong medieval flavour serving as visual methodology to emphasize, in a pedagogical manner, basic concepts and precepts of the aforementioned creed or cult.
The celebration of Ash Wednesday and the ‘strewing of ashes’ marked the end of Carnival merrymaking and the beginning of Lent: a period for reflection and fasting. Such religious quarantine commences on Palm Sunday, preluding the penitent character of Holy Week, determined, in turn, by the paschal full moon of Resurrection Sunday. (more…)
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