3) Hawaiians in the Maghreb

Let's resume our journey through the islands – this time not in the Pacific but in the Atlantic, to the Canary Islands. Like Hawaii, the Canary Islands are volcanic islands. And before being colonized by the Spanish, turns out that their first inhabitants were... Berbers – just like me – on my father's side, from Morocco. So yes, I know that not everyone likes the term Berber. Some prefer Amazigh. Others prefer Kabyles. Or Chaouia. Or Chleuh. Anyway, these are just words – and you know that the Paraklet unencumbered by words and languages.

In any case, in the Canary Islands, they are called Guanches. Do you remember the « biblical » rituals of the Hawaiians, involving animal sacrifice and pouring fatty liquids on standing stones, which we saw in my last video? Well, believe it or not it's the same among Guanches. As René Basset tells us in his book entitled « La Religion des Berbères », published in 1910 (p. 5):

Near the crater of the Caldera, in Palma, there was a rock in the shape of an obelisk, which was called ldafe. To prevent it from falling, the people of the Tanansu tribe, who lived in the surrounding area, would offer it the entrails of the animals they ate in a procession accompanied by songs, and sometimes entire victims were thrown from the top of the nearby mountains. In Gran Canaria there were two rocks: one called Tismar, in the district of Galdar, and the other Vimenya, in the district of Telde. In times of distress, the inhabitants, accompanied by religious women, called Magadas [...], made pilgrimages to these two rocks, holding palm branches and vases filled with milk and butter, which they poured onto the rocks.

Here we find the same type of ritual as in Hawaii, involving animal sacrifice and pouring fatty liquids on standing stones—the biblical and Quranic parallels of which I have already mentioned.

A little further on, René Basset quotes La Blanchère, in his « Voyage d’études dans une partie de la Maurétanie Césarienne », published in 1883, who had observed:

...a huge stone [four meters thick at its thickest point] [...] When one climbs onto this perfectly irregular rock, [...] one notices three holes [...] in which it is easy to see that masses of liquid have flowed. [...] There is no doubt that this is a primitive altar, a sacrificial table. The sacrifice was performed in front of an immense horizon: all the peoples of the plain could see it, and the fire that was lit could undoubtedly be seen from the distant peaks of Lalla from the mountain of Lalla Krua."

In the Bible, we also find this practice of sacrificial platforms established at the top of mountains—the famous « high places » BaMah so criticized by the Bible, whether in Leviticus 26:30 or Numbers 33:52. It was on the BaMoT of Ba'aL that Bil'am, the prophet of Moab, climbed to observe and curse the people of Israel – but it was also on a BaMah that Samuel (I 9.13), the last judge of Israel, climbed to perform sacrifices.

Of course, the practice of sacrifice is quite widespread – though not « universal », far from it. The same is true of the practice of anointing standing stones. Let us continue our exploration of Berber rites in North Africa – which, as you will see, are also very « Hawaiian ». The most important ritual, in my opinion, is the one called iFeR-GaNe—no, sorry, Terghenja, or Ghondja, or Tlgonja—from the root GaNa. Tighnouth meaning Cloud (NuaGe in French), Igenni, the Sky. Remember also the special place that the root QaNa has in Hawaii—the KaHuNa, the priest, KaNe, the Supreme God.

In short, it is a ritual to invoke rain – the importance of which we have also seen in Hawaii. Remember: the women there sang a prayer to LoNo, the god of fertility: « Bring the beneficial rains, O Lono, the rain of life, precious gift ». LoNo is also associated with the rising of the Pleiades, which « marked the beginning of the winter season with its southerly winds and torrential rains. Once the earth was saturated with water thanks to the invocations of Lono, planting could begin », as written by Serge Dunis on page 221.

Well, among the Berbers, it's quite similar. René Basset tells us how:

...in Aïn Sefra, Tlemcen, and Mazouna, we take a wooden spoon (called aghendja in Kabyle) and dress it with rags to make a kind of doll representing a fiancée or bride, called Ghondja, which we carry solemnly to the tombs of local marabouts, singing verses that vary depending on the locality. Here is one example: Ghondja! Ghondja has uncovered her head. O my God, you will water her earrings; The ear is parched; Give her something to drink, O our Master. In Tit, in the oases of Touat, during the drought, people come out of the qçar, men, women, boys, and girls. They take a wooden spoon and dress it in women's clothes. A young girl carries it and the people repeat: « O spoon! O meadow! Lord, improve the hot weather! O Lord! »

Another observer, Léonce Joleaud, in his book entitled « Gravures rupestres et rites de l'eau en Afrique du Nord  », published in 1933, also noted on page 211 that « the ancient Berber rain rites have been particularly well preserved in Morocco, especially in the Atlas Mountains and in the south ». He also noted the presence of:

...traditional large wooden spoon (tljonja) dressed as a bride (taslit). The crowd sings: « Belghonja! Who believes in God who can help us with rain through the Lamb and the Ram united! »

And the practice of a « procession of two dolls, a bride tlgonja and her husband covered in black rags » – which was organized even in Tunis, where children also carried a tangui or tanguo doll in times of drought, or in Djerba, where « a small spoon decorated with a bride's head and given to children on religious holidays is called tongo, while in Tunis it is called gonjaia ».

This spoon can also be a shovel that « the Rifains and other Berbers of northern Morocco call tasrit ounzar, bride of the rain » (P244). It is also:

covered with women's clothing and carried solemnly during times of drought around their local marabouts: the shovel, displayed triumphantly, is a wooden instrument reserved for handling grain on threshing floors.

You will also find a beautiful illustrated article on the subject on Paraklist – and you will see that this figurine, with its vertical torso and horizontal arms, looks strikingly like a Cross.

And, incredibly, very similar practices can be found in Hawaii – on the other side of the world – where a cross is also draped. Serge Dunis, again in his « Ethnologie d'Hawai », describes in detail (P208), the ritual of:

...the construction of Lono makua, a pole 3.6 meters long and 8 cm in diameter, with carved bulges at regular intervals and a figurine at the top. A 5-meter-long crosspiece, ke‘a, was fastened to the figurine’s neck. Strips of edible fern were hung from it. […] Lono’s cross was then adorned with a large sheet of white tapa cloth — as wide as the crosspiece to which it was tied, and longer than the vertical shaft. The god of Makahiki — akua Makahiki, or Lono makua, Father Lono — was thus dressed in what resembled a true sail. People and chiefs carried him with great ceremony at night, before anointing him with coconut oil.

Here, as among the Berbers, we find the creation of an oblong-shaped figurine, draped in cloth, associated with a fertility deity — and always, the anointing with oil. This « cross of Lono », a true incarnate god, was carried around the island, and P210 « the chiefs gave food to the god, or rather to his bearer, when he arrived at their homes » —directly into his mouth (P221) « so that he would not touch the food [...] After the welcome exchanges, the bearer would advance towards the entrance of the house where he was given an ointment made from chewed coconut flesh. A member of the household would then anoint the god Lono. The following words were spoken: « This is for your anointing, O Lono. Be responsive to our call. » If it was a married woman who had not yet borne children, « this call could express a desire for pregnancy ».

Finally, for several days, bonfires were lit throughout the island—a practice well known in the Atlas Mountains, to which we will return— , and banquets were held, the remains of which were carefully removed P211 — just as sacrifices had to be consumed in their entirety after three days in Leviticus, or on the same night in the case of the Passover sacrifice...