Dia de Espiga, Spike Day
Today is a holiday in some Portuguese cities, the Roman Catholic Church celebrates the Christ’s ascension to heaven.
The celebration is much older than Christ though, and it is a pagan celebration.
In this day people gather or buy a bunch of wheat spikes, stems and flowers (ramo de espiga), to celebrate the first crops.
Every piece of the arrangement has its own meaning:
wheat spikes – let there be bread to everybody
branch of olive tree – let there be peace
wild poppies – let there be fun and joy
daisies – let there be fertility and joy also
lavender and/or other scented herbs – let people be healthy and strong
Has the first fruits start to appear in the fields I send each and every one of you a virtual “ramo de espiga”.
Have a nice day everybody!
Tags:Portugal
The celebration is much older than Christ though, and it is a pagan celebration.
In this day people gather or buy a bunch of wheat spikes, stems and flowers (ramo de espiga), to celebrate the first crops.
Every piece of the arrangement has its own meaning:
wheat spikes – let there be bread to everybody
branch of olive tree – let there be peace
wild poppies – let there be fun and joy
daisies – let there be fertility and joy also
lavender and/or other scented herbs – let people be healthy and strong
Has the first fruits start to appear in the fields I send each and every one of you a virtual “ramo de espiga”.
Have a nice day everybody!
Tags:Portugal
posted by DCveR at 9:13 AM
9 Comments:
it is a holiday in Denmark as well and they celebrate the ascenscion, eventhough Denmark is a Lutheran country.
i am always learning something new about Portugal or its traditions when i check your blog. i have told you that before, but i will keep on telling :) Thank you teacher!
That's really beautiful. I wish there were more tradition, ritual and sumbolism like this left in the world.
lordi-lord (has that group done something to us all ?). a lovely celebration in portugal, but to an atheist (me) may i suggest alternatives ?
wheat - ummmmmm, an unpleasant complaint in the bladder.
wheat spikes - a cure for all. see your nearest doctor.
branch of olive trees - reika ?
wild poppies - opium, of course.
daisies - pretty little weeds that grow in your garden.
lavender - pongy stuff, dried and put in sachets to make your undies smell nice. also, a lovely colour if you find a field of the stuff.
if you find me offensive, delete this post - but as an atheist, i, ermmmm, uhhhhhhhh - prefer dr. who!
mind you, wild poppies are this: aces :)
coffee addict: No need to thank. I learn a lot from the blogs I read too, yours included. :) It has been a long time since I was called teacher though...
phoenix: It fading away with the grandmas and grandpas.
zoe: Not offensive at all. But the meanings were probably the same for the pagans, after all the celebration is by far older and more widespread than Catholicism. Ariadne would probably know the answer to whether the pagan meanings are the same...
you will find this funny: i called my parents this morning and they told me they had the day off and they mentioned the espiga. I proceeded to tell them the meaning of each as per your blog and my mom was compelled to take notes and asked: how do you know so much? Oh i read it on a blog. A WHAT? :)
wonderful, I didn't know this. another spring variation - all cultures celebrate spring/rebirth. I always feel bouncier myself.
Have a nice day AND a nice weekend :-)
coffee addict: If it weren't for my grandma I would probably had never learned it myself. Too bad she died long ago, for there were plenty more things she knew and I didn't care to learn back then.
hayden: And plenty of the festivities you find in England, France or Spain have a common background with the ones here.
NML: Thanks, same to you!
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