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Report n°5 : "Water : symbolism and culture"

Water and imaginary

Man's imagination displays an extraordinary permanence in the way water is personified and made familiar in climates, cultures and beliefs that have nothing in common except their humanity and their reverence for this singular element so close to us all.

"Water is ever close to mankind, or rather to life, by the bonds of age-old familiarity and ever-present necessity so that its uniqueness is concealed under the guise of the habitual" writes Primo Levi in "The Periodic Table".

Jean Seran, an officer in the French camel corps, knew the Tunisian Sahara and the Merazigue tribe well. The tribe's witch doctor was particularly respected because he had planted his staff in the sand, in the middle of the desert, and a spring of clear water had immediately surged up (42). The officer relates (43) an astonishing fact for which he gives an exact date, May 13th, 1947:

"Two Merazigue shepherds (44) slowly made their way back from the south to the Garaa (45) of Bou Flidja.They were each driving a similar flock of ewes and travelled together. In a year of terrible drought, they had managed to save most of the animals in their care..."

A camel driver they had met earlier had told them that there was water at a spot called Rass el Hachi.

"This turned out to be true. There was water in the caves where the sun never shone; the two flocks, one after the other by half and half, were able to drink their fill. The two shepherds were pleased. But before the sun had set on this happy event, forty-two ewes died all at once... in just a few minutes. This mysterious and sudden hecatomb was divided into two very equal numbers in each flock" writes Seran.

What possible explanation for such a hecatomb?

Pollution of the water by dead animals, toxic algae (46)? Vengeance, jealousy or a vendetta?

Certainly not!

The narrator has the key to the mystery: "The waterhole at Rass el Hachi is a sacred place.The Merazigue believe that it is a domain belonging to the "djnouns" (spirits)... When a herd must drink at the el Hachi rhedir (47), before it enters into an intimate communion with the djnouns of the sacred water, the shepherd is absolutely required to... make a ritual sacrifice of one of the most handsome animals in the herd... so as to gain the protection of the djnouns... When news (of this disaster) was heard as far as Douz and in all the encampments, among all the people who had always believed in the manifestations of the supernatural because they had encountered them on several occasions during their nomadic wanderings, without exception they believed in the story absolutely and took it perfectly seriously."

In fact, behind these extraordinary events, unexplained by logic, it is possible to perceive a form of initiation and education about water, a way of teaching future generations to behave responsibly as regards this element without which nomads cannot say their prayers five times a day, satisfy their needs and keep a flock which is usually their entire worldly possession. Jean Seran writes: "Around the camp fires and far into the night, there are long palavers when questions related to waterholes, which are one of the constant concerns of nomads, are often discussed. They are the subject of legends teeming with wondrous events, to which the children listen tirelessly and learn without realising it to treatwater with the respect it merits, as the most precious of resources for a nomad."

Water, a nomad's most precious possession?

Certainly, but only as long as dignity and honour are safe. Sidi Merzoug, the ancestor from Tripolitania, wrote these verses which became a Commandment for his descendants:

"I will lead my Sons far from the humid lands;
Away from a Water that enslaves and brings indignity.
Better Honour and an empty belly,
Than satiation at the price of humiliation."

A thousand leagues from the Tunisian Sahara, in Maharashtra, India, a well is worshiped. It is the gift of a man to his fellow creatures in thanksgiving to the goddess of water, Avan of the Parsis, who do not bury their dead for fear of contaminating the earth and water, but expose their bodies to the vultures in "the towers of silence".

An urban legend about the well can be heard in the streets of Mumbai.

This most ancient well in Mumbai, and still in use, is probably the one on the Old Esplanade which is venerated by all Parsis. It was dug in 1725 and is the subject of a very moving legend. Itwas a gift from a poor man, Bhika Behramji, who became a philanthropist and, who wished to give thanks after a fearful misadventure. As he travelled in deepest poverty from Bombay to Bharuch in 1715 to find work, Bhika was captured by the Maratha who were at war with the sultan of Gujarat and believed him to be a Muslim. He managed to persuade them that he was really a Zoroastrian so that he was released from the sinister Pandegadh fortress. To thank the heavens for this miraculous escape and for the wealth which he later amassed, he constructed the well on the Old Esplanade. The water rapidly gained the reputation of curing a number of diseases and, as time went by, the Parsis turned the well into a place of pilgrimage all the more respected because although it is very close to the sea, its water always remains very sweet. The pilgrimage takes place in particular in the sacred month of Avan in the Zoroastrian calendar and this month is consecrated to the goddess of water who bears the same name (48).

Most remarkable is that all the communities in the town have free access to the well, without any form of discrimination, men and women of all castes. Again water is seen to be also a factor for coming together and a catalyst for mutual understanding.

As we have already noted in the case of Japan, myths still live on in our hypermodern societies. They are still the faithful companions and the guide of man's mental projections and fantasies.

One of the most flourishing trades in Hawaii right now is the sale of desalinated water taken from the depths of the ocean. The Japanese delight in this water which is sold as a healthy dietary delicacy. They endow it with all kinds of virtues, such as reducing stress, promoting weight loss, improving digestion and the texture and freshness of the complexion (49).

Myths, beliefs and symbols linked to water are evidence that it is the vector of cultures rooted in the perceptions and imagination of men the world over.A single symbolism would be difficult to prove but there is no denying that there are certain striking convergences. There is frequently ambivalence: the archetype of all rivers, the Nile, was associated with myths of death, resurrection and fertility.

This culture of water is also a vector of Universality, even though each culture has its own specific relationship with water, embedded in its particular history.

The symbolism of water has frequently been the basis for primitive social structuring.

Myths and symbols are an overriding necessity for the human soul, confronted for example with transcendence. They express man's imagination, dreams, fantasies and thoughts. Even in western societies, "the anthropological dimension of the imagination, the need for myths are regaining ground (50)" say the psychologists. Some go so far as to state that modern attitudes to water in some societies are linked to "a deficit of symbolic investment."

But although "life is perpetuated by instinct, inheritance requires design", states Régis Debray, who adds in conclusion: "Transmission is a duty, a mission, an obligation, in fact a culture. It passes on the corpus of knowledge from our yesterdays to the present time; it conveys values and skills that set the identity of a group after a multiplicity of successive exchanges". Debray adds: "To transmit successfully, transformation, or perhaps conversion, is needed."

We believe these reflections apply to water and its symbolism, to its culture, and can help to show the way forward in improving mankind's use of this unique and essential element, with respect for the history and identity of all, as it faces the threat of pollution and global scarcity.

(42) Similarly, the witch doctor Sidi El Hraoui is said to have made the Ras El Aïn spring, which brings water to Oran, in Algeria, come out of the ground.

(43) Jean Seran, "Parcours Marazig", Editions La Rapide, Tunis, 1948.

(44) Tribe of the Tunisian Sahara, south of Douz. "Isolated at the time, the tribe was faithful to its traditions and ancient customs", says Jean Seran.

(45) "Garaa", marshland or swamp, in Tunisian dialectal Arabic.

(46) German researchers suspect that this kind of algae could be responsible for the death of a large number of fossilised mammals - dating back to 47 million years - discovered in the sediment of Lake Messel (Science, vol.306, 26 November 2004)

(47) This is an incorrect pronunciation of the word "ghedir" which means in the Sahara a natural or man-made basin which collects rain or run-off water generally in hollows surrounded by rocks or in the bed of the oueds. Maps mention the larger ones, but most are known only to shepherds travelling through the region. There are wells, but there are also "tsmeds", a kind of rough well dug out by hand and supplied by water filtering down in varying quantities depending on the rainy seasons. As they have no permanent source, some tsmeds remain dry for several years, writes Jean Seran.

(48) Meher Marfatia, "Water way to say thank you", The Times of India, 16/01/2004.

(49) Chemical and Engineering News, (Publication of the American Society of Chemists), September 20, 2004, p.88.

(50) See on this subject, for example, an article by Jean-Claude Vernex, "Géographies imaginaires du Léman" in Lémaniques, n° 55, March 2005, p. 1-3 where in particular we can read: "Sweet waters, dead waters peopled with marsh and water sprites, treacherous and tempestuous, mirrors where the imagination of man is reflected, the Leman country is a multiple changing world expressing as many visions inducing the creation of a true symbolic heritage, both material and immaterial."