Read Online The Moon Worshippers by Aitor Echevarria - Free Book Online
Authors: Aitor Echevarria
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Government was by assembly to which every man of fighting age had a right of membership. If a man did a wrong he would be judged by the assembly under the Sacred Oak tree, and if found guilty would pay compensation for his crime. Blood crimes were paid for with blood, but these were very rare amongst the Basques. In times of war, a chieftain would be elected with powers of life or death. Once the crisis was over he would revert to a common man, with the same rights and duties as the rest.
The union of the seven clans formed the Basque nation, and in times of war a council of seven chieftains led them. In their religion, every clan worshipped its own Gods, but they all shared a common central deity; the moon. To some the Basques were known as the Moon Worshippers. The sacred oak was their ancestral father. They were the children of the Gods, the First Race. Marriage was monogamous and the wedding ceremonies followed pagan marriage rites. At them a single male dancer would perform a tribute to the bride; acknowledging her position as the direct descendant of the Earth Mother and her unquestionable position at the centre of the family.
As the weeks grew into months, Inaki and his uncle formed a close bond for the first time. It was based on the further instruction that the uncle now began. He had recognised the potential of the boy at an early age, but had not found the means to motivate him. Now he found that the young man was more than willing to learn and he, for his part, changed his approach. He started by explaining the functions of a Nagusi.
“We are not born, we are chosen.” This he had said one day to Inaki.
“If we accept the calling, we take on the responsibility that comes with the great gifts that we are given. We have the power of life and death in our hands.”
He explained that the responsibilities of a Nagusi were essentially to heal and to find out the position of an enemy and to safeguard plants and animals.
“Because most men are ignorant, we have given the plants and animals divine status. There are reasons for this: first, because they are a gift from the Gods and carry the spirits of our ancestors, and secondly, to protect them through fear.”
“Is that honest and right?” Inaki asked. Like most young Basque men he had a deep sense of justice.
“Probably not, but what is in this life?” said his uncle with a smile, “and it works,” he added.
To carry out his calling, his uncle explained, he would learn more about the efficacious and therapeutic properties of the plants that they collected and he must learn about the workings of men’s minds. It was not enough to cleanse the body; the mind had to be expunged as well. For if the spirit and the mind of a man could not be harnessed in the healing process, then he would not get well. What was more; the spirit could overcome what medicine could not. He had to know more about the two great religions that threatened their culture and their beliefs. These were Islam and the Holy Roman Church. For without this knowledge he would be powerless to refute their poisonous teachings.
“Always remember,” he had said to Inaki, in a very serious tone, “knowledge is power and ideas transform men.”
Inaki never forgot those words. They had the ring of truth. Over the months that followed Inaki received further instruction into the secret arts. He learnt of the plants that could heal and those that were deadly to man and animals. The antidotes were few. Inaki soon realised that man led a precarious existence in a hostile world to which his contribution was, in many cases, to make things worse. It seemed to him that man was his own worst enemy. Occasionally, Inaki would express his thoughts in words.
“Uncle,” he would begin, “don’t you think that we should destroy all the plants that are deadly?”
“Why?”
“So that we might have a safer world,” replied Inaki.
His uncle took a stick and from the iron nails that were driven into the
The union of the seven clans formed the Basque nation, and in times of war a council of seven chieftains led them. In their religion, every clan worshipped its own Gods, but they all shared a common central deity; the moon. To some the Basques were known as the Moon Worshippers. The sacred oak was their ancestral father. They were the children of the Gods, the First Race. Marriage was monogamous and the wedding ceremonies followed pagan marriage rites. At them a single male dancer would perform a tribute to the bride; acknowledging her position as the direct descendant of the Earth Mother and her unquestionable position at the centre of the family.
As the weeks grew into months, Inaki and his uncle formed a close bond for the first time. It was based on the further instruction that the uncle now began. He had recognised the potential of the boy at an early age, but had not found the means to motivate him. Now he found that the young man was more than willing to learn and he, for his part, changed his approach. He started by explaining the functions of a Nagusi.
“We are not born, we are chosen.” This he had said one day to Inaki.
“If we accept the calling, we take on the responsibility that comes with the great gifts that we are given. We have the power of life and death in our hands.”
He explained that the responsibilities of a Nagusi were essentially to heal and to find out the position of an enemy and to safeguard plants and animals.
“Because most men are ignorant, we have given the plants and animals divine status. There are reasons for this: first, because they are a gift from the Gods and carry the spirits of our ancestors, and secondly, to protect them through fear.”
“Is that honest and right?” Inaki asked. Like most young Basque men he had a deep sense of justice.
“Probably not, but what is in this life?” said his uncle with a smile, “and it works,” he added.
To carry out his calling, his uncle explained, he would learn more about the efficacious and therapeutic properties of the plants that they collected and he must learn about the workings of men’s minds. It was not enough to cleanse the body; the mind had to be expunged as well. For if the spirit and the mind of a man could not be harnessed in the healing process, then he would not get well. What was more; the spirit could overcome what medicine could not. He had to know more about the two great religions that threatened their culture and their beliefs. These were Islam and the Holy Roman Church. For without this knowledge he would be powerless to refute their poisonous teachings.
“Always remember,” he had said to Inaki, in a very serious tone, “knowledge is power and ideas transform men.”
Inaki never forgot those words. They had the ring of truth. Over the months that followed Inaki received further instruction into the secret arts. He learnt of the plants that could heal and those that were deadly to man and animals. The antidotes were few. Inaki soon realised that man led a precarious existence in a hostile world to which his contribution was, in many cases, to make things worse. It seemed to him that man was his own worst enemy. Occasionally, Inaki would express his thoughts in words.
“Uncle,” he would begin, “don’t you think that we should destroy all the plants that are deadly?”
“Why?”
“So that we might have a safer world,” replied Inaki.
His uncle took a stick and from the iron nails that were driven into the
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