'LA FLAMA DEL CANIGÓ', FIRE THAT JOINS CATALAN LANDS

June 23. The Grandma is going to participate in one of her favourite traditions, La Flama del Canigó.

Every year, she participates in this traditional event, carrying the flame some kilometres. It is her way to collaborate in this tradition that evokes the common roots of the Catalan Countries.

Due to the current situation, The Grandma has taken all the possible precautions, but she has reached her goal. Today, she wants to talk about this tradition linked to the summer solstice and Sant Joan, the patron of the Catalan Countries.

La Flama del Canigó is a Catalan tradition linked to the summer solstice that takes place in various places in the Catalan Countries every year, between 22 and 23 June.

It begins with the renovation of the fire at the top of the Canigó and culminates with the lighting of the bonfires on the night of Sant Joan after the flame, carried by volunteers, spread throughout the country.

It is related to other summer solstice fire festivals in the Pyrenees, such as the Isil, Alins, Durro, Vilaller, Barruera, Pont de Suert and Andorra faults or the Haro burn of the Val d'Aran, where the fire coming down from the mountain is also the protagonist of the night. But beyond this festival, the Canigó Flame has a symbolism linked to the persistence and vitality of Catalan culture.

In 1955, Francesc Pujada, a villager from Arles de Tec (Vallespir, Northern Catalonia), driven by his enthusiasm for the Canigó massif and inspired by the epic poem by Jacint Verdaguer (Canigó, 1886) took the initiative, together with Esteve Albert and Josep Deloncle, to light the fires of the Night of Sant Joan at the top of this mountain and, from there, to spread the flame throughout all the regions of the Catalan Countries.

Thus began the tradition of the Canigó Flame, which connected with the millennial celebration of the summer solstice linked to fire and its collective significance.

The new tradition gained strength in a short time, so that, according to Òmnium Cultural, today it is practically impossible to find a single bonfire in Northern Catalonia that is not lit with the Canigó Flame.

In 1966 the fire crossed the border between the French and Spanish states for the first time and reached Vic. Despite the Franco dictatorship, the tradition spread throughout the Principality of Catalonia, often underground, as a symbol of the survival of Catalan culture.

Gradually the network spread, and the fire that descends from the Canigó also reached the Valencian Country and Balearic Islands.

 

More information: Omnium 

There are currently dozens of organizations that celebrate the festival by spreading the flame that is lit on the beautiful top of the Canigó and is preserved in the Castellet de Perpinyà. Barcelona receives the flame in Plaça de Sant Jaume with the cobla, the eagle and the giants of the city, and from there it goes to the neighbourhoods.

In Terres de l'Ebre and the Priorat, every year a different village welcomes it, and people from the neighbouring counties gather there, who go in a caravan of cars, with the heir and heiress of the major festival of each locality. Alacant has kept alive the tradition of the fires of Sant Joan in the Valencian Country. Other cities also have their tradition, such as Tarragona in the Serrallo.

Every June 22, a group of hikers from the Cercle de Joves de Perpinyà catch the fire that has been lit in the kitchen of the Casa Pairal Museum, in Castellet de Perpinyà, since 1965, and climb to the top of the Canigó, 2,784 metres, where they light a new bonfire, after reading a manifesto.

At dawn on June 23, they begin the descent with the renewed Flame. Together with the group of hikers of the Cercle Jove many other people gather at the top to catch the flame and thus begin the journey to different parts of the Catalan Countries doing relays on foot, by bike, by car and even in lute in the Ebre to make it possible for the Flame to spread through towns and cities and arrive in time to light the bonfires on the night of Sant Joan.

Every year, the Canigó Flame is received by the Parliament of Catalonia in an institutional event, as well as by town councils, county councils and cultural, social and sports organizations in more than 350 municipalities in the Catalan Countries.

In this way, and thanks to hundreds of volunteers, the fire coming from the mountain illuminates the popular festivals that take place around the fire. It is estimated that about 3,000 bonfires were lit that night with the fire coming from the top of the Canigó.

To make this ritual possible, on the weekend before Sant Joan, hundreds of people from all over the Catalan Countries and, especially, from Northern Catalonia, are in the Cortalets refuge, in the Cadí valley, at the foot of the Canigó. They arrive on Saturday night and stay at the shelter or camp with tents nearby.

The next morning they perform the first ritual of the Focs de Sant Joan: go up to the top of the Canigó and leave the small bundles of firewood that each one has brought from their city, town, village or orchard. The branches and twigs are tied with a ribbon that bears the name of the place where they come from, and some have drawings and writings with wishes to burn at the bonfire of Sant Joan. All these bundles of firewood are left stacked around the iron cross at the top of the mountain until the night the bonfire is lit.

More information: Ajuntament de Barcelona

Ja les podeu fer ben altes
les fogueres aquest any
cal que brillin lluny i es vegin
els focs d'aquest Sant Joan.
Cal que es vegin de València,
de Ponent i de Llevant...

I en fareu també en la Serra
perquè els vegin més enllà...
i el crit d'una sola llengua
s'alci dels llocs més distants
omplint els aires encesos
d'un clamor de Llibertat!

Joan Maragall

PAINT YOUR WAGON, A WANDERING & AMAZING STAR

New Year and some new resolutions and many to keep. Among the new resolutions, in terms of work, analyze how we implement AI in training and how it can be useful especially in groups such as employment or mental health. 

We will continue to train teachers and coaches with four fundamental axes: innovation, communication, personal skills and humanism. And continue to enjoy friends and loved ones and do everything that fills us and gives meaning to our existence: nature, culture and sport. We will continue to enjoy nature, a good read or a new language to learn and follow our Northern Star, which we now have a little further away, but whom we have not stopped following in each of her new sporting challenges, as we promised her.

We all have a star to follow, for us the Northern Star, for the Three Wise Men, the star of Bethlehem as remembered Jacint Verdaguer or Joana Raspall.

Now that the Christmas holidays are over, all that remains is to wish you a good year and enjoy every second it offers you.

Jo us mostro el camí.
Seguiu-me, Reis nobles;
sóc per reis i pobles
l'estel del matí.

Amb roba daurada
jo enfilo en l'atzur
el camí més pur
que hi ha a l'estrellada.

Ròssec de claror
vaig deixant per rastre
tinc corona d'astre
i aroma de flor.

Tres Reis tinc darrera
i un àngel davant
i a prop de l'Infant
un cel m'espera.

Gemadet i ros
vostre Fill, Maria.
A qui semblaria?
A qui, sinó a vós?

Cançó de l'Estrella, Jacint Verdaguer

Mud can make you prisoner and the plains can bake you dry
Snow can burn your eyes but only people make you cry
Home is made for comin' from, for dreams of goin' to
Which with any luck will never come true

I was born under a wanderin' star

James Barton

'ODA A BARCELONA' BY JACINT VERDAGUER I SANTALÓ

Quan á la falda't miro de Montjuich seguda,
m'apar vèuret als brassos d'Alcides gegantí,
que per guardar sa filla del seu costat nascuda
en serra transformantse s'hagués quedat aquí.

Y al veure que traus sempre rocam de ses entranyes
per tos casals, que creixen com arbres ab sahó,
apar que diga á l'ona y al cel y á les montanyes:
-Miraula; òs de mos òssos, s'es feta gran com jo!-

Perquè tes naus, que tornan ab ales d'oreneta,
vers Cap-del-Riu, en l'ombra no's vajan á estellar,
ell alsa tots los vespres un far ab sa má dreta
y per guiarles entra de peus dintre la mar.
 
La mar dorm á tes plantes besantles com vassalla
que ascolta de tos llabis lo còdich de ses lleys,
y si li dius ¡arrera! fa lloch á ta muralla
com si Marquets y Llansas encara'n fossen reys.
 
Al naixer amassona, de mur te coronares,
mes prompte ta creixensa rompé l'estret cordó;
tres voltes te'n cenyires, tres voltes lo trencares,
per sobre'l clos de pedra saltant com un lleó.
 
¿Perquè lligarte'ls brassos ab eix cinyell de torres?
no escáu á una matrona la faixa dels infants;
¿més val que l'enderroques d'un colp de má y esborres;
¿muralles vols ciclópees? Deu te les da més grans.
 
Deu te les da d'un rengle de cimes que't coronan,
gegants de la marina dels de montanya al peu,
que ferms de l'un á l'altre les aspres mans se donan,
formant á tes espatlles un altre Pyrineu.
 
Ab Montalegre encaixa Nou-pins; ab Finestrelles,
Olorde; ab Collserola, Carmel y Guinardons;
los llits dels rius que segan eix mur son les portelles;
Garraf, Sant Pere Martri y Montgat, los torreons.
 
L'alt Tibidabo, roure que sos plansons domina,
es la superba acròpolis que vetlla la Ciutat;
l'agut Moncada, un ferro de llansa gegantina
que una nissaga d'hèroes clavada allí ha deixat.
 
Ells sian, ells, los termes eterns de tos aixamples;
dels rònechs murs á trossos fésne present al mar,
ahont d'un port sens mida serán los brassos amples
que'l pugan ab sos boscos de naus empresonar.
 
Com tu devoran marges y camps, y's tornan pobles
los masos que't rodejan, ciutats los pagesius,
com nines vers sa mare corrent á passos dobles;
¿á quí durán llurs aygues sinó á la mar, los rius?
 
Y creixes y t'escampas: quan la planicie't manca,
t'enfilas á les costes doblante á llur jayent;
en totes les que't voltan un barri teu s'embranca,
que, onada sobre onada, tu amunt vas empenyent.
 
Geganta que tos brassos abuy cap á les serres estens,
quan hi arribes demá, donchs, ¿què farás?
farás com èura inmensa que, ja abrigant les terres,
puja á cenyir un arbre del bosch ab cada brás.
 
¿Veus á ponent esténdres un prat com d'esmeralda?
un altre Nil lo forma de ses arenes d'or,
ahont, si t'estreteja de Montjuich la falda,
podrían aixamplarse tes tendes y ton cor.
 
Aquelles verdes ribes florides que'l sol daura,
Sant Just Desvern que ombrejan los tarongers y pins,
de Valldoreix los boscos, de Hebron y de Valldaura,
teixeixen ta futura corona de jardins.
 
¿Y aqueix esbart de pobles que riuhen en la costa?
son ninfes catalanes que't venen á abrassar,
gavines blanquinoses que'l vent del segle acosta
perquè ab tes ales d'áliga les portes á volar.
 
La Murta, un jorn, la Verge del Port, la Bona- nova
serán tos temples, si ara lo niu de tos amors:
los Agudells, en blanca mudant sa verda roba,
abaixarán ses testes per ser tos miradors.
 
Junyits besar voldrían tos peus ab ses onades,
esclaus de ta grandesa, Besòs y Llobregat,
y ser de tos reductes troneres avansades
los pits de Catalunya, Montseny y Montserrat.
 
Llavors, llavors al témer que'l vols per capsalera,
girant los ulls als Alpes lo Pyrineu vehí
demanará, aixugantse la blanca cabellera,
si la París del Sena s'es trasplantada aquí.
 
-Nó, -respondrá ma pátria, -de mi y la mar es filla;
d'un bes de ses onades, com Venus, m'ha nascut;
persò totes les aygues diguérenli pubilla,
persò totes les terres pagárenli tribut.
 
 Sos peus dintre l'escuma, son front en ple mitx dia,
miráula allá jayenta si n'es d'hermosa y gran;
apar, oh Catalunya, ton geni que somía
les glories que passaren, les glories que vindrán.

La mar no te l'han presa, ni'l pla, ni la montanya
que s'alsa á tes espatlles per ferte de mantell,
ni eix cel que fora un dia ma tenda de campanya,
ni eix sol que fora un dia faró del meu vaixell;
 
 Lo teu present esplèndit es de nous temps aurora;
tot somiant fulleja lo llibre del passat;
treballa, pensa, lluyta, mes creu, espera y ora.
Qui enfonza ò alsa'ls pobles es Deu, que'ls ha creat.

Jacint Verdaguer

'LA FLAMA DEL CANIGÓ', FIRE THAT JOINS CATALAN LANDS

June 23. The Grandma is going to participate in one of her favourite traditions, La Flama del Canigó.

 

Every year, she participates in this traditional event, carrying the flame some kilometres. It is her way to collaborate in this tradition that evokes the common roots of the Catalan Countries.

Due to the current situation, The Grandma has taken all the possible precautions, but she has reached her goal. Today, she wants to talk about this tradition linked to the summer solstice and Sant Joan, the patron of the Catalan Countries.

La Flama del Canigó is a Catalan tradition linked to the summer solstice that takes place in various places in the Catalan Countries every year, between 22 and 23 June.

It begins with the renovation of the fire at the top of the Canigó and culminates with the lighting of the bonfires on the night of Sant Joan after the flame, carried by volunteers, spread throughout the country.

It is related to other summer solstice fire festivals in the Pyrenees, such as the Isil, Alins, Durro, Vilaller, Barruera, Pont de Suert and Andorra faults or the Haro burn of the Val d'Aran, where the fire coming down from the mountain is also the protagonist of the night. But beyond this festival, the Canigó Flame has a symbolism linked to the persistence and vitality of Catalan culture.

More information: Omnium

In 1955, Francesc Pujada, a villager from Arles de Tec (Vallespir, Northern Catalonia), driven by his enthusiasm for the Canigó massif and inspired by the epic poem by Jacint Verdaguer (Canigó, 1886) took the initiative, together with Esteve Albert and Josep Deloncle, to light the fires of the Night of Sant Joan at the top of this mountain and, from there, to spread the flame throughout all the regions of the Catalan Countries.

Thus began the tradition of the Canigó Flame, which connected with the millennial celebration of the summer solstice linked to fire and its collective significance.

The new tradition gained strength in a short time, so that, according to Òmnium Cultural, today it is practically impossible to find a single bonfire in Northern Catalonia that is not lit with the Canigó Flame.

La Flama del Canigó

In 1966 the fire crossed the border between the French and Spanish states for the first time and reached Vic. Despite the Franco dictatorship, the tradition spread throughout the Principality of Catalonia, often underground, as a symbol of the survival of Catalan culture.

Gradually the network spread, and the fire that descends from the Canigó also reached the Valencian Country and Balearic Islands.

There are currently dozens of organizations that celebrate the festival by spreading the flame that is lit on the beautiful top of the Canigó and is preserved in the Castellet de Perpinyà. Barcelona receives the flame in Plaça de Sant Jaume with the cobla, the eagle and the giants of the city, and from there it goes to the neighbourhoods.

In Terres de l'Ebre and the Priorat, every year a different village welcomes it, and people from the neighbouring counties gather there, who go in a caravan of cars, with the heir and heiress of the major festival of each locality. Alacant has kept alive the tradition of the fires of Sant Joan in the Valencian Country. Other cities also have their tradition, such as Tarragona in the Serrallo.

Every June 22, a group of hikers from the Cercle de Joves de Perpinyà catch the fire that has been lit in the kitchen of the Casa Pairal Museum, in Castellet de Perpinyà, since 1965, and climb to the top of the Canigó, 2,784 metres, where they light a new bonfire, after reading a manifesto.

At dawn on June 23, they begin the descent with the renewed Flame. Together with the group of hikers of the Cercle Jove many other people gather at the top to catch the flame and thus begin the journey to different parts of the Catalan Countries doing relays on foot, by bike, by car and even in lute in the Ebre to make it possible for the Flame to spread through towns and cities and arrive in time to light the bonfires on the night of Sant Joan.

Every year, the Canigó Flame is received by the Parliament of Catalonia in an institutional event, as well as by town councils, county councils and cultural, social and sports organizations in more than 350 municipalities in the Catalan Countries.

In this way, and thanks to hundreds of volunteers, the fire coming from the mountain illuminates the popular festivals that take place around the fire. It is estimated that about 3,000 bonfires were lit that night with the fire coming from the top of the Canigó.

To make this ritual possible, on the weekend before Sant Joan, hundreds of people from all over the Catalan Countries and, especially, from Northern Catalonia, are in the Cortalets refuge, in the Cadí valley, at the foot of the Canigó. They arrive on Saturday night and stay at the shelter or camp with tents nearby.

The next morning they perform the first ritual of the Focs de Sant Joan: go up to the top of the Canigó and leave the small bundles of firewood that each one has brought from their city, town, village or orchard. The branches and twigs are tied with a ribbon that bears the name of the place where they come from, and some have drawings and writings with wishes to burn at the bonfire of Sant Joan. All these bundles of firewood are left stacked around the iron cross at the top of the mountain until the night the bonfire is lit.

More information: Ajuntament de Barcelona

 

 

 Ja les podeu fer ben altes
les fogueres aquest any
cal que brillin lluny i es vegin
els focs d'aquest Sant Joan.
Cal que es vegin de València,
de Ponent i de Llevant...

I en fareu també en la Serra
perquè els vegin més enllà...
i el crit d'una sola llengua
s'alci dels llocs més distants
omplint els aires encesos
d'un clamor de Llibertat!

Joan Maragall

'CANIGÓ', THE POEM ABOUT THE CATALAN MOUNTAIN

Today, The Grandma has received wonderful news about one of her closest friends, Merche Addams.

 

They have been talking about cinema and literature, and especially about Canigó, the epic poem written by Jacint Verdaguer, the author known as The prince of Catalan poets.

 

The Canigó is a mountain located in the Pyrenees of Northern Catalonia.

The Canigó is located less than 50 kilometres from the sea and has an elevation of 2,784.66 metres. Due to its sharp flanks and its dramatic location near the coast, until the 18th century the Canigó was believed to be the highest mountain in the Pyrenees.

Being between south and Northern Catalonia, the mountain has a historical symbolical significance for Catalan people.

The Canigó is located in Pyrénées-Orientales, south of Prades and north of Prats de Molló. Its summit lies on the border between two communes: Vernet and Taurinyà (although the territories of two other communes -Castell de Vermet and Vallmanya- approach quite closely to the summit).

Its location makes it visible from the plains of Rosselló and from Conflent in Northern Catalonia, and as well from Empordà in Southern Catalonia.

Twice a year, in early February and at the end of October, with good weather, the Canigó can be seen at sunset from as far as Marseille, 250 km away, by refraction of light. This phenomenon was observed in 1808 by baron Franz Xaver von Zach from the Notre-Dame de la Garde basilica in Marseille. All year long, it can also be seen, with good weather, from Agde, Port-Camargue and the Montagne Noire.

Jeep tracks on the north side of the massif lead to the Chalet des Cortalets (at 2150 m) which is a popular outpost with walkers.

There are two ancient monasteries at the foot of the mountain, Sant Martí del Canigó and Sant Miquel de Cuixà.

The mountain has symbolical significance for Catalan people. On its summit stands a cross that is often decorated with the Catalan flag.

Every year on 23 June, the night before St. John's day (nit de Sant Joan), there is a ceremony called Flama del Canigó.

French Catalans carry a flaming torch from Perpinyà to the cross and the Catalonian flag on top of the mountain, and people light bonfires throughout the area.

The Canigó inspired the epic poem Canigó by Catalan poet Jacint Verdaguer i Santaló.

Més informació: Canigó

 Lo Canigó és una magnòlia immensa
que en un rebrot del Pirineu se bada;
per abelles té fades que la volten,
per papallons los cisnes i les àligues.
Formen son càlzer escarides serres
que plateja l’hivern i l’estiu daura,
grandiós beire on beu olors l’estrella,
los aires rellentor, los núvols aigua.
Les boscúries de pins són sos bardissos,
los Estanyols ses gotes de rosada,
i és son pistil aqueix palau aurífic,
somni d’aloja que del cel davalla.

The Canigó is an immense magnolia
that blooms in an offshoot of the Pyrenees;
its bees are the fairies that surround it,
and its butterflies the swans and the eagles.
Its cup are jagged mountain chains,
colored in silver by the winter and in gold by the summer,
huge cup where the star drinks fragrances,
the airs freshness and the clouds water.
The pine forests are its hedges
and the ponds its dew drops,
and its pistil is that golden palace,
seen by the nymph in her dreams descending from heaven.

Jacint Verdaguer

'LA FLAMA DEL CANIGÓ', FIRE THAT JOINS CATALAN LANDS

June 23. The Grandma is going to participate in one of her favourite traditions, La Flama del Canigó. It is always a special day for The Grandma, but this 2021 is even more special and The Grandma wants to think of all people who have suffered the COVID pandemic directly and all people who are suffering injustices, prosecutions and are deprived of liberty unfairly. We will run thinking of you.

Every year, she participates in this traditional event, carrying the flame some kilometres. It is her way to collaborate in this tradition that evokes the common roots of the Catalan Countries.

Due to the current situation, The Grandma has taken all the possible precautions, but she has reached her goal. Today, she wants to talk about this tradition linked to the summer solstice and Sant Joan, the patron of the Catalan Countries.

La Flama del Canigó is a Catalan tradition linked to the summer solstice that takes place in various places in the Catalan Countries every year, between 22 and 23 June.

It begins with the renovation of the fire at the top of the Canigó and culminates with the lighting of the bonfires on the night of Sant Joan after the flame, carried by volunteers, spread throughout the country.

It is related to other summer solstice fire festivals in the Pyrenees, such as the Isil, Alins, Durro, Vilaller, Barruera, Pont de Suert and Andorra faults or the Haro burn of the Val d'Aran, where the fire coming down from the mountain is also the protagonist of the night. But beyond this festival, the Canigó Flame has a symbolism linked to the persistence and vitality of Catalan culture.

More information: Omnium

In 1955, Francesc Pujada, a villager from Arles de Tec (Vallespir, Northern Catalonia), driven by his enthusiasm for the Canigó massif and inspired by the epic poem by Jacint Verdaguer (Canigó, 1886) took the initiative, together with Esteve Albert and Josep Deloncle, to light the fires of the Night of Sant Joan at the top of this mountain and, from there, to spread the flame throughout all the regions of the Catalan Countries.

Thus began the tradition of the Canigó Flame, which connected with the millennial celebration of the summer solstice linked to fire and its collective significance.

The new tradition gained strength in a short time, so that, according to Òmnium Cultural, today it is practically impossible to find a single bonfire in Northern Catalonia that is not lit with the Canigó Flame.

La Flama del Canigó

In 1966 the fire crossed the border between the French and Spanish states for the first time and reached Vic. Despite the Franco dictatorship, the tradition spread throughout the Principality of Catalonia, often underground, as a symbol of the survival of Catalan culture.

Gradually the network spread, and the fire that descends from the Canigó also reached the Valencian Country and Balearic Islands.

There are currently dozens of organizations that celebrate the festival by spreading the flame that is lit on the beautiful top of the Canigó and is preserved in the Castellet de Perpinyà. Barcelona receives the flame in Plaça de Sant Jaume with the cobla, the eagle and the giants of the city, and from there it goes to the neighborhoods.

In Terres de l'Ebre and the Priorat, every year a different village welcomes it, and people from the neighbouring counties gather there, who go in a caravan of cars, with the heir and heiress of the major festival of each locality. Alacant has kept alive the tradition of the fires of Sant Joan in the Valencian Country. Other cities also have their tradition, such as Tarragona in the Serrallo.

Every June 22, a group of hikers from the Cercle de Joves de Perpinyà catch the fire that has been lit in the kitchen of the Casa Pairal Museum, in Castellet de Perpinyà, since 1965, and climb to the top of the Canigó, 2,784 metres, where they light a new bonfire, after reading a manifesto.

At dawn on June 23, they begin the descent with the renewed Flame. Together with the group of hikers of the Cercle Jove many other people gather at the top to catch the flame and thus begin the journey to different parts of the Catalan Countries doing relays on foot, by bike, by car and even in lute in the Ebre to make it possible for the Flame to spread through towns and cities and arrive in time to light the bonfires on the night of Sant Joan.

Every year, the Canigó Flame is received by the Parliament of Catalonia in an institutional event, as well as by town councils, county councils and cultural, social and sports organizations in more than 350 municipalities in the Catalan Countries.

In this way, and thanks to hundreds of volunteers, the fire coming from the mountain illuminates the popular festivals that take place around the fire. It is estimated that about 3,000 bonfires were lit that night, with the fire coming from the top of the Canigó.

To make this ritual possible, on the weekend before Sant Joan, hundreds of people from all over the Catalan Countries and, especially, from Northern Catalonia, are in the Cortalets refuge, in the Cadí valley, at the foot of the Canigó. They arrive on Saturday night and stay at the shelter or camp with tents nearby.

The next morning they perform the first ritual of the Focs de Sant Joan: go up to the top of the Canigó and leave the small bundles of firewood that each one has brought from their city, town, village or orchard. The branches and twigs are tied with a ribbon that bears the name of the place where they come from, and some have drawings and writings with wishes to burn at the bonfire of Sant Joan. All these bundles of firewood are left stacked around the iron cross at the top of the mountain until the night the bonfire is lit.

More information: Ajuntament de Barcelona

 

Ja les podeu fer ben altes
les fogueres aquest any
cal que brillin lluny i es vegin
els focs d'aquest Sant Joan.
Cal que es vegin de València,
de Ponent i de Llevant...

I en fareu també en la Serra
perquè els vegin més enllà...
i el crit d'una sola llengua
s'alci dels llocs més distants
omplint els aires encesos
d'un clamor de Llibertat!

Joan Maragall

'LA FLAMA DEL CANIGÓ', FIRE THAT JOINS CATALAN LANDS

La Flama del Canigó

June 23. The Grandma is going to participate in one of her favourite traditions, La Flama del Canigó.

Every year, she participates in this traditional event, carrying the flame some kilometres. It is her way to collaborate in this tradition that evokes the common roots of the Catalan Countries.

Due to the current situation, The Grandma has taken all the possible precautions, but she has reached her goal. Today, she wants to talk about this tradition linked to the summer solstice and Sant Joan, the patron of the Catalan Countries.

La Flama del Canigó is a Catalan tradition linked to the summer solstice that takes place in various places in the Catalan Countries every year, between 22 and 23 June.

It begins with the renovation of the fire at the top of the Canigó and culminates with the lighting of the bonfires on the night of Sant Joan after the flame, carried by volunteers, spread throughout the country.

It is related to other summer solstice fire festivals in the Pyrenees, such as the Isil, Alins, Durro, Vilaller, Barruera, Pont de Suert and Andorra faults or the Haro burn of the Val d'Aran, where the fire coming down from the mountain is also the protagonist of the night. But beyond this festival, the Canigó Flame has a symbolism linked to the persistence and vitality of Catalan culture.

More information: Omnium

In 1955, Francesc Pujada, a villager from Arles de Tec (Vallespir, Northern Catalonia), driven by his enthusiasm for the Canigó massif and inspired by the epic poem by Jacint Verdaguer (Canigó, 1886) took the initiative, together with Esteve Albert and Josep Deloncle, to light the fires of the Night of Sant Joan at the top of this mountain and, from there, to spread the flame throughout all the regions of the Catalan Countries.

Thus began the tradition of the Canigó Flame, which connected with the millennial celebration of the summer solstice linked to fire and its collective significance.

The new tradition gained strength in a short time, so that, according to Òmnium Cultural, today it is practically impossible to find a single bonfire in Northern Catalonia that is not lit with the Canigó Flame.

La Flama del Canigó

In 1966 the fire crossed the border between the French and Spanish states for the first time and reached Vic. Despite the Franco dictatorship, the tradition spread throughout the Principality of Catalonia, often underground, as a symbol of the survival of Catalan culture.

Gradually the network spread, and the fire that descends from the Canigó also reached the Valencian Country and Balearic Islands.

There are currently dozens of organizations that celebrate the festival by spreading the flame that is lit on the beautiful top of the Canigó and is preserved in the Castellet de Perpinyà. Barcelona receives the flame in Plaça de Sant Jaume with the cobla, the eagle and the giants of the city, and from there it goes to the neighbourhoods.

In Terres de l'Ebre and the Priorat, every year a different village welcomes it, and people from the neighbouring counties gather there, who go in a caravan of cars, with the heir and heiress of the major festival of each locality. Alacant has kept alive the tradition of the fires of Sant Joan in the Valencian Country. Other cities also have their tradition, such as Tarragona in the Serrallo.

Every June 22, a group of hikers from the Cercle de Joves de Perpinyà catch the fire that has been lit in the kitchen of the Casa Pairal Museum, in Castellet de Perpinyà, since 1965, and climb to the top of the Canigó, 2,784 metres, where they light a new bonfire, after reading a manifesto.

At dawn on June 23, they begin the descent with the renewed Flame. Together with the group of hikers of the Cercle Jove many other people gather at the top to catch the flame and thus begin the journey to different parts of the Catalan Countries doing relays on foot, by bike, by car and even in lute in the Ebre to make it possible for the Flame to spread through towns and cities and arrive in time to light the bonfires on the night of Sant Joan.

Every year, the Canigó Flame is received by the Parliament of Catalonia in an institutional event, as well as by town councils, county councils and cultural, social and sports organizations in more than 350 municipalities in the Catalan Countries.

In this way, and thanks to hundreds of volunteers, the fire coming from the mountain illuminates the popular festivals that take place around the fire. It is estimated that about 3,000 bonfires were lit that night with the fire coming from the top of the Canigó.

To make this ritual possible, on the weekend before Sant Joan, hundreds of people from all over the Catalan Countries and, especially, from Northern Catalonia, are in the Cortalets refuge, in the Cadí valley, at the foot of the Canigó. They arrive on Saturday night and stay at the shelter or camp with tents nearby.

The next morning they perform the first ritual of the Focs de Sant Joan: go up to the top of the Canigó and leave the small bundles of firewood that each one has brought from their city, town, village or orchard. The branches and twigs are tied with a ribbon that bears the name of the place where they come from, and some have drawings and writings with wishes to burn at the bonfire of Sant Joan. All these bundles of firewood are left stacked around the iron cross at the top of the mountain until the night the bonfire is lit.

More information: Ajuntament de Barcelona

Ja les podeu fer ben altes
les fogueres aquest any
cal que brillin lluny i es vegin
els focs d'aquest Sant Joan.
Cal que es vegin de València,
de Ponent i de Llevant...

I en fareu també en la Serra
perquè els vegin més enllà...
i el crit d'una sola llengua
s'alci dels llocs més distants
omplint els aires encesos
d'un clamor de Llibertat!

Joan Maragall

JACINT VERDAGUER: "A BARCELONA" (1883)

Today is a difficult day to write. After the terrible news in Barcelona and Cambrils, The Grandma decided to respect the three days of mourning decreted by the Catalan Government and she hasn't posted or twitted anything.

It's impossible to understand these events because they're consequence of terror and terror is insane in itself: no reason, no excuse. 

Although The Grandma was born in Andorra, she has lived in  Barcelona the most part of her life and she feels the city as her hometown. It's the same case for Claire Fontaine, Tina Picotes and Joseph de Ca'th Lon. All of them want to pay tribute to "their" city giving voice to its poets, who wrote some homages to the city in the recent past, some poems which are little pearls to be read.

Jacint Verdaguer

A Barcelona is a poem by Jacint Verdaguer, published in 1883. It is a triumphant song of the transformation undergone by Barcelona since the mid-19th century.

Consisting of 46 quatrains of Alexandrine verses, and a re-editing process started in 1874 and completed in 1875, it is the fruit of a labour started in 1883. The author then lengthened and amended it three times, the last two shortly before its publication.

The first three stanzas present the city protected by the mountain of Montjuïc, identified with Alcides, Hercules, the mythic founder of Barcino according to a legend that Verdaguer had already picked up on in The Atlàntida (1878).

Next are sixteen quatrains, in which the poet celebrates the demolition of the walls and the extension of the city (1859), with a prophecy of bursting growth, beyond the Collserola mountain range and the Besos and Llobregat rivers, as if Paris of the Seine had been transplanted to Catalonia.

 More information: UOC

However, the three following stanzas, in the name of the homeland, reject any awe of the French capital, affirming instead the personality of Barcelona, which had been the Catalan center of a medieval Mediterranean empire and She shone on Spanish lands as eastern star.

The Grandma & The Cathedral of Barcelona

In the 23rd to 40th stanzas, the poet evokes the historical characters and the monuments that distinguish the city.

The six final stanzas, written from the perspective of the Cathedral, imaginatively transfigured into King Jaume I, formulate the ideological conclusion, the providential perspective, in which Barcelona and Catalonia are exhorted to promote economic progress, based on their industries, but without ever renouncing the Catholic tradition, since in the end God alone brings down or lifts up peoples.

More information: Música de Poetes

In spite of the rhetorical flourishes denounced by some critics, the poem, rewarded with an extraordinary prize in the Jocs Florals (Floral Games) of 1883, expresses faithfully the expectations of the élite of the period. This is confirmed by the fact that the Ajuntament, city council, published a popular edition of the poem, with a print run of 100,000 copies.

On the other hand, the poem has also provoked numerous imitations and responses, noteworthy of which are the New Ode to Barcelona by Joan Maragall and the Ode to Barcelona by Pere Quart.

Quan a la falda et miro de Montjuïc seguda,
m'apar veure't als braços d'Alcides gegantí
que per guardar sa filla del seu costat nascuda
en serra transformant-se s'hagués quedat aquí.

I en veure que treus sempre rocam de ses entranyes
Per’ tos casals, que creixen com arbres en saó,
apar que diga a l'ona y al cel y a les muntanyes:
- Mireu-la: òs de mos òssos, s'es feta gran com jo!

Per’ que tes naus, que tornen ab ales d'aureneta,
vers Cap-del-Riu, a l'ombra no es vagin a estellar
ell alça tots los vespres un far ab sa mà dreta
i per’ guiar-les entra de peus dintre la mar.

La mar dorm a tes plantes besant-les com vassalla
que escolta de tos llavis el còdic de ses lleis;
y, si li dius "Arrera!" fa lloc a ta muralla
com si Marquets i Llances encara’n fossin reis.

En nàixer amaçona, de mur te coronares,
més prompte ta creixença rompé l'estret cordó;
tres voltes te’n cenyires, tres voltes el trencares,
per sobre’l clos de pedra saltant com un lleó.

Per què lligar-te’ls braços ab eix cinyell de torres?
No escau a una matrona la faixa dels infants;
més val que l'enderroquis d'un cop de mà, i esborris.
Muralles vols ciclòpees? Déu te les da més grans.

Déu te les da d'un rengle de cimes que’t coronen,
gegants de la marina dels de muntanya al peu,
que ferms de l'un a l'altre les aspres mans se donen,
formant a tes espatlles un altre Pirineu.

Ab Montalegre encaixa Nou-pins; ab Finestrelles,
Olorde; ab Collcerola, Carmel y Guinardons;
els llits dels rius que seguen eix mur són les portelles;
Garraf, Sant Pere Martir y Montgat, els torreons.

L'alt Tibidabo, roure que sos plançons domina,
és la soperba acròpolis que vetlla la ciutat;
l'agut Montcada, un ferro de llança gegantina
que una niçaga d'hèroes plantada allí ha deixat.

Ells sien, ells, els termes eterns de tos eixamples;
dels rònecs murs a trossos fes-ne present al mar,
aon d'un port sens mida seran els braços amples
que’l puguen ab sos boscos de naus empresonar.

Com tu devoren marges y camps, y es tornen pobles,
els masos que’t rodegen, ciutats els pagesius,
com nines vers sa mare corrent a passos dobles;
a qui duran llurs aigues sinó a la mar, els rius?

Y creixes y t'escampes; quan la planicie’t manca
t'enfiles a les costes doblant-se a llur jaient;
en totes les que’t volten un barri teu s'embranca,
que, onada sobre onada, tu amunt vas empenyent.

Geganta que tos braços avui cap a les serres
extens, quan hi arribis demà, doncs, què faràs?
Faràs com eura immensa que, ja abrigant les terres,
puja a cenyir un arbre del bosc ab cada braç.

Veus a ponent estendre's un prat com d'esmeralda?
Un altre Nil el forma de ses arenes d'or,
aon, si t'estreteja de Montjuïc la falda,
podrien eixamplar-se tes tendes y ton cor.

Aquelles verdes ribes florides que’l sol daura,
Sant Just Desvern que ombregen els tarongers y pins,
De Valldoreix els boscos, d’Hebron y de Valldaura,
Teixeixen ta futura corona de jardins.

Y aqueix esbart de pobles que viuen en la costa?
Són nimfes catalanes que’t venen a abraçar,
gavines blanquinoses que’l vent del segle acosta,
perquè ab tes ales d’àliga les portis a volar.

 
La Murta, un jorn, la Verge del Port, la Bonanova,
seran tots temples, si ara lo niu de tots amors;
els Agudells, en blanca mudant sa verda roba,
abaixaran ses testes per’ser tos miradors.

Junyits besar voldrien tos peus ab llurs onades,
esclaus de ta grandesa, Besòs y Llobregat,
y ser de tos reductes troneres avançades
els pits de Catalunya, Montseny y Montserrat.

Llavors, llavors al témer que’ls vols per capsalera,
girant els ulls als Alpes el Pirineu vehí,
demanarà, aixugant-se la blanca cabellera,
si la París del Sena s’es trasplantada aquí.

Crazy me don't think there's pain in Barcelona.
They dance you round a waltz confound
but i fear it's a long way down this road.

Rufus Wainwright