Jakoba Errekondo talks about the relationship between the Basques and the moon: "I don't know where the devotion to the moon comes from, but it causes us a lot of headaches. We have long broken an important chain, not so much the present as the previous generations, but well before. That chain broke when it began to put on paper the knowledge of the culture of the moon, when they began to make calendars."

The Salsimalsa generated by the calendars of the Church

Errekondo asks a question: -In the 19th century. Who was making those early 20th century calendars? The Church, the Friars... for them it was important that the calendars remind the saints, as it was a religion that demanded total worship. The Moon was the other way around: an old knowledge that has passed from knees to knees, maintained by women, obeyed by other powers, that conditions the work systems...". According to Errekondo, "that could not be seen at all by the Church, that people look at the Moon instead of looking at God or the Virgin Mary. In the case of the Basque Country, its parishioners, bishops and priests were clothed away from the church, in Salamanca, in Toledo, in Alcalá... received other cultures, especially latinized cultures. And in Latinized cultures, you see the lunar cycle differently."

The Moon in Basque culture consists of two phases, four in Latin cultures

"If you know Spanish, you will know that in Spanish "fourth" is used, that is, the lunar cycle is reduced to four times: 'Fourth wandering, fourth growing...' and that is not in Euskera,' explains Errekondo: "But because they were copying the calendars in Spanish, they had to indicate that neglect in the calendars, and what did they do? collect and mix the names in Basque: Growing, wandering, moon, new moon, full moon, new moon -- all those things were mixed together to make up a quarter of the latinized." He deduced that that is where the present salsmalta comes from, and he stressed that in Basque culture the moon cycle is divided into two: the new moon and the old moon: "We look at whether it's shrinking or it's getting bigger and bigger. That's the cycle we see, the one we have totally mixed."

The Moon has two cycles: decrease or increase and rise or fall

Errekondo explained that the Moon has two cycles and that these two cycles are totally different: "When we see the moon divide or rise, it's a combination of which side the sunlight gets on that moon and where we look at it, it's a triangulation. This cycle is 29 days, 12 hours, 44 minutes and 2.9 seconds, from a full moon to the next full moon." The words corresponding to this cycle are "new moon" and "ilzahar": The word 'New Moon' indicates from the moment you see nothing until the moon is renewed, that it is created. And it's the "Old Moon" when it starts to diminish since we have the full moon, when it gets lost, when it gets older.

But the moon has another cycle: growing and waning. "In orbit, it indicates whether the moon goes up or down, and that's decided on a plane basis. It really affects plants and it's 27 days, 7 hours, 43 minutes and 11.5 seconds."

Looking at the Moon

"Almost everything was done before the moon," Errekondo said: "If you wanted to make a house, the wooden structure of the house referred to the moon. The structure of a bed, the tank of a trolley or the structure of a boat required wood in a quenching room. Hard, persistent, rigid ... They were ejected on the waning moon and in times with the least sweat possible. Because the lack of sweat makes these tubes that sweat in the wood structure closed, linified, hardened."

For other functions, it clarifies the desirability of the timber being deposited on the moon in a growing room: "The wood we want to be flexible, precisely. If we fill a trolley of grass, to bring it home you put a bunch of needles or holm oaks. It should be flexible so as not to break it. Usually the ally is used, which was thrown in May. He sweated copiously, the tubes were huge, and they were soaked with sweat -- soft. It will let it dry and it will become more flexible. It won't last hundreds of years, like the column of the house, but it's right for your job."

Two theories for the orchard

For the work of orchards there are two theories for the influence of the moon on plants. Errekondo has insisted on the need for research: "Let's see if attempts are ever made and what affects us in the Basque Country," he added.

It explains the first stream as follows: "There is a current that says that all sowing tasks have to be in growing room, which helps to cool or germinate the seed. On the contrary, planting tasks, that is, taking the plant from its site and pasting it elsewhere, must be carried out on the waning moon".

The second stream says that the work of the orchard must be carried out on the basis of the part to be taken advantage of from each plant. Errekondo explained that according to this current "plants that are consumed must be sown and planted on the Wandering Moon: roots (carrot, beet...), trunk, cortices, leaves (lettuce, escarole, spinach...) and reserves (potato, onion, leek...). Why on the waning moon? Maintain the development cycle of the plant that is generated. For example, we would plant the lettuce on the wandering moon, because we don't want it toned." On the contrary, he explained that the crescent moon fosters reproduction, so we should sow or plant on the crescent moon the flower (artichoke, zucchini...), the fruit (pumpkin, tomato, bell pepper...) or the seed (beans, corn...).

Between the two currents, the difference lies in the sowing: both currents coincide in the desirability of planting in the fourth dipping.

The video also explains when to perform the following tasks of the vegetable garden according to the moon: vaccinations, fertilizations, pruning... and when to collect fruits, medicinal herbs and aromatic herbs.

The lunar calendar also takes biodynamics into account

In the lunar calendar, in addition to the two lunar cycles we have described, the biodynamic calendar is indicated, as each day has a special color. Errekondo explained that "the moon has a physical effect on plants, which is the one that produces the total mass of the moon. But there are also many other masses in the universe. The biodynamic calendar, in addition to the moon, contemplates the nearest masses." For Biodynamics, in addition to the Wandering Moon, each day has a tendency for the plant, which is expressed in the lunar calendar through the colors: "The days are divided into four groups: some days are very good for the plants that have to bear fruit, others for the root, the leaves and the flowers."

Each year, the last page of the lunar calendar presents a proposal to measure the moon's impact. "Last year we proposed to do this test: to make a potato on very adequate, mediocre and very inadequate days so that everyone can measure whether or not the moon affects."

Errekondo has finished his speech with the following message: -Don't expect any miracle from the moon. But if we do the work well before, then we look at the moon, she will help us."