Tifsa, or the celebration of spring in Figuig
The agrarian festivities are organized according to the beginning of the year nnayer, its eve igzinen , the four seasons tajrest, tifsa, lexrif ( amwan, amwal or amenzu ) , anebdu, and other celebrations like ṭabaṛa , grraba , taqellalt-isufar . Like all these festivities, all agrarian work and all work in general is part of a ritual or they are themselves rituals: the beginning or end of rural work such as sowing, harvesting, threshing, constructions of rrkiz ponds … The festival is celebrated in the space-time of the myth and assumes the function of regenerating the real world. Rites of fertility or rebirth of nature accompany these festivities; they are mainly linked to fertility. These festivals and celebrations obey the principle of generosity and sharing. The vital substance, food, must circulate generously and any greed is judged negatively and considered harmful to the regeneration of nature and the life of the community. Nnayer is the occasion of absolute generosity for all foods and for all things.
For ceremonies celebrating the seasons or a cosmic event, we proceed by “ the manipulation of a symbol of vegetation . » During tifsa , we manipulate amellal “white” which is the color of flowers, milk, eggs, sperm and sap. During autumn , it is the red color linked to the fruits including dates that we handle. During rain prayers, flour and wheat are handled.
Tifsa (back to spring)
Organized on 14 fubṛayeṛ (February 28). It is also called Rrfis in particular in the Iẓnayen ksar in reference to the meal taken during this day. This is the strongest moment when we welcome or bring in the tifsa spring and expel the dreaded winter. It is celebrated by organizing a lunch made of Amazigh pancakes also called mille‑holes ḥeṛṭiṭa cut into small pieces and sprinkled with colostrum adexs , cooked or heated curds or miḥmiḥ (thin, unoiled pancakes) and hard-boiled eggs accompanied by milk or whey served in glasses or pots, preferably white. Other preparations are attested such as non-divided ḥeṛṭiṭa pancakes which are placed in such a way as to cover the entire dish. Then place on them in the center of the dish a bowl of butter oil and hard-boiled eggs cut into two or four pieces. Today's lunch must be all white so that, they say, the whole season is good. This is an auspicious sign asfalla ; white is the color of flowering trees, milk, eggs and semen or animal and human seminal fluid. It should be remembered that to celebrate the fall season, we prepare an all-red meal. Families who own a cow or any other animal that gives milk freely give this product to those who do not have one because hospitality is a highly demanded behavior. “ What characterizes the spring festival is the metaphysical-religious meaning of the rebirth of Nature and the renewal of Life and not the natural phenomenon of spring as such ” according to Mr. Eliade. The little boys catch swallows heralding the good season and considered as birds coming from paradise to announce the arrival of spring to humans, they coat their heads with butter oil and release them, telling them to say hello to the Holy Prophet “ siwḍ esslam i Sidi Ṛaṣul Ḷḷeh!” »
A couplet still known recalls the attitude of people with certain months of this much-desired season because we clearly differentiate between its months and we prefer, for example, Abril , the month of the wheat harvest to maṛeṣ where the plants which wake up from their lethargy are water hungry. It is this verse:
!A maṛeṣ jjebbad! To yuma, ḥawel xfi
!A yebril lḥeṣṣaḍ! A yuma, ɣaṛa dd ɣri
!O mars the gourmand! Brother, spare me
!O April the Harvester! Brother, run to me
Ref. Benamara Hassane, A Amazigh mythology, L'Harmattan, p. 173.
————————
[1] M. Eliade, Treatise on the history of religions , p. 321.
[2] M. Eliade, Treatise on the history of religions , p. 386.