Since the beginning of time, fire has been the main cultural characteristic of the human species, the element which brought individuals together, and united families and societies. That is why, during the thousands of years of coexistence between fire and people, we have given fire many symbolic connotations. Let us mention them, though only briefly:
Fire and tile. In Basque culture, a permanent fire turned any common building into what we call “home” — “home”, a place of fire — a clear feature that distinguished it from huts or other temporary shelters…
Everyone who lived under a roof and had a fire also got the status of “neighbour” in a village. Hence, in symbolic extrapolation, a piece of tile and a piece of coal (roof and fire) were placed under all the pillars, as an undeniable sign of legitimacy.
Fireplaces. That being the case, it is not surprising that the first population censuses were conducted according to domestic fires. Hence the name “fireplace” or “hearths”.
Supportive fire. In view of the importance of permanent fire, it is not surprising that the Fueros from Navarre itself took up in detail an obligation which was common in the traditional neighbourhood relationship: the duty to share the fire. This is how José Yanguas (Diccionario de los Fueros del Reino de Navarra, 1828) puts it:
“[Original in Spanish] FIRE: In the towns of Navarre, where firewood is scarce, neighbours must give each other firewood, leaving at least three embers in the hearth for this purpose after having cooked the food. He who needs fire will go to the neighbour’s house with a pot and a little fine straw in it; he will leave the pot outside the door of the house, go up to the hearth, stir the fire, take ashes in the palm of his hand, and on the same ashes he will put the embers that he wants to take to the pot, leaving the embers of the hearth so that they do not go out. The neighbour who refuses to give fire in this way will pay a fine of 60 sueldos (old coins).
We know that, on other occasions, the fire from the hearth was transported to other places where it was needed on a tinder tied to a rope while it was made to turn so that it would be revived by the air. This is how many lime kilns, tile makers, etc. were lit.
Fire restoration. The fire, which was kept alive all year round, was deliberately extinguished for some days of the year. One of them was Christmas Eve, imitating the solstitial decline of the sun, the precedent of his rebirth.
The new fire or suberri was taken from one of the bonfires lit in the village square, or was made directly at home, often burning large logs brought from the forest.
In some parts of the Basque Country there have also been new fires in Holy Week, taken from a fire that was brought out to the church porch, or with laborious rites consisting of rubbing the wood together. This is how the resurrection of Christ was remembered.
Nowadays everything seems forgotten, and fire has hardly any prominence in our lives. But we’ll have to start studying his replacement: the use of sacrosanct light screens that hypnotize us so much.
Felix Mugurutza – Researcher