The Role of Children in the Traditional Religious House-blessing Rite of Salpassa in North-eastern Spain

Abstract

Salpassa denotes the blessing of houses, land, and other belongings, carried out during Easter week and Resurrection (Easter) Sunday in the Valencia–Catalonia linguistic region of north-eastern Spain. Although it is now remembered mostly as a consecrating ceremony or a religious rite, recent field research has shown that a playful element, carried out by children through their songs and other activities, was also an important aspect of the traditional Salpassa.

Notes

[1] In order to determine the date on which Easter Sunday will fall, the following conditions must be fulfilled: “… the 14th day of the moon falls on the same day or after the 21st of March, but not before, and Easter Sunday does not coincide with a full moon. In conclusion, the moons that are not Easter, cannot have their neomenia (new moon) before the 8th of March, nor after the 5th of April, and Easter Sunday can occur between the 22nd of March and the 25th of April” (Palau 1973, 159).

[2] On the other hand, Caro Baroja, who holds a contrary view on the origin of Salpassa, states: “Once again I must insist that my point of view is hostile to any interpretation based on the theory of ’survival and vegetable spirits’” (1965, 151).

[3] The material resulting from this field research is preserved in the archive of José María Esteve-Faubel.