âBuergbrennenâ, in the luxembourgish Language means literally Fort burning. It is an ancient tradition, going back since the beginning of the 4 seasons, that is still practiced to this day each year in the little village I grew up in.
As a child, I remember we visited the event a couple of times, but I never learnt about the background story of it all. It was just a traditional event, where the entire community gathered and lit a huge cross on fire to say goodbye to the cold winter, and we saw our school friends and had a chat.
Although my father was a desert native, I wonder if he ever recognized the symbolism in it, or if the fire in the cold european context had a different meaning than that he was used to in the hot arid desert he was born in.
Buergbrennen is maybe the most powerful ceremony still practiced today in the 21st Century in Europe, and Luxembourg is one of the only countries in Central Europe still honoring that auspicious time of transition.
However, not every commune invests in this celebration, so I am very blessed that the commune I live in, is one of the few that still honors this magical night.
In the Christian analogical Calendar it is paired with âLentâ, and takes place on the first Sunday after Carnival, Mardi Gras and Ash Wednesday.
Carnival was originally the day where people had practically used up their entire winter stocks and the meat and fat were no longer that fresh, especially with the temperatures rising at that time of the year, when the fridges were the outdoors.
So they made a huge feast with all that was left as an ultimate way to enjoy all the precious meats and fats for the last time, that could otherwise not be saved and preserved longer.
That is also the meaning of Mardi Gras.
Ash Wednesday is a bit more cryptic, but it feels like it was a ritualized discarding of the more or less âlast ashesâ from the hearth that was burning all winter. When you rely on a fireplace to heat your home all winter, there is massive amount of ashes that accumulate, which have to be discarded regularly. So when the temperatures are rising, and the Fireplace needs to be less and less burning to keep the heat, the quantity of ashes reduces, and there comes a day where it is the âlastâ time you clean out those ashes from your fireplace.
An analogy of that transition of temperature is for us in modern times; the radiators were turned on all winter, and when the weather outside starts getting hotter and less cold, we need less radiators and we turn them down, and ultimately off when the inside heat is no longer needed to balance the outside cold.
So back to the crowning celebration of these steps of transition.
The Spring equinox is on the horizon, with it the New Natural Year, and yet the Spring is already manifesting itself, peaking behind the curtain of the last cold breezes before they open the Gate to Ostaraâs Entrance.
Buergbrennen is that Gate that is being opened by incinerating the Winter and all thatâs to stay behind from that season of hardships.
It is very interesting to note, that even Norse and Irish Mythology associate the Fires with a Lady of Hope and Fertility, Freya and Brigid. It gives me the impression that those are the Forces that are being celebrated as Allies in the Buergbrennen Ceremony to drive away the worries of the winter and invite the Lady of all Ladies, the Mother of Esperance, Spring, Ostara to bless the Lands.
In our times, the ceremony is mainly taken care of by the Scouts in tandem with the Commune, whom I am very grateful for perpetuating that sacred tradition, especially that our commune holds only 2 small villages with 4â500 inhabitants in total. Itâs a strong and beautiful manifesto of the power of that ritual and proves its importance for the land, and still establishing a sacred connection to the ancestors walking and working the same land for millenia.
The borders of our village to neighbouring communes are made of Forests and Fields. The forests of our commune count amidst the biggest of the country making the bridge between our village and the Capital, and the fields are like a fortress wall around the small agglomeration of houses nested in its crate.
Nowadays, my village and the ones bordering it from the next commune are the closest agricultural sites before the Capital in which the only thing that springs forth from the soil is a dead conrete jungle with almost no space to breathe anymore. One could say those few little towns on our side are the last lands still standing, living and breathing, before the huge wall of concrete and its globalismal hunger.
Itâs exactly in one of those fields that this ceremony is held, every year since my childhood, and presumably before. I could not tell how long exactly it is held on that exact same spot, but it is probable to be a power spot, as it is near a very mystical lone tree standing tall since generations, and behind an old wooden cross, honoring St. John, planted between lone beeches.
In the previous days, the people of the commune have erected a 15-meter tall structure to wrap the burning matter around securely and tightly into the shape of a cross. One may confuse the installation with a burning of a cross, and why not, it could allude to that in a deeper symbolic way, however I think in this case, it is a matter of practicality and gives the fire a structure. It is powerful indeed, the winter is a time of constraint, meticulous structure in which you have to be proficient in organizing your resources, reinforced by the constellation of Capricorn, ruled by Saturn, the Royal Gatekeeper of the compound, the enclosure, who reigns the boundaries that, after all, keep us safe during that time, just like the gated womb in which we have to grow before becoming expulsed into the Unknown.
So the cross is a great analogy to that in some sorts, and pragmatically illustrates it, by being the most safe and efficient structure to hold all that burning matter together without risking a field burn or forest fire.
Also with its shape the fire points to the sky, and presents an energetic flow going upwards, through the torus between the land and the skyâŠ
I visited the site the day before with Anubis, my dear dog, and there was a palpable air of anticipation in the air, it was hard to ignore. The cross, all ready was standing there, as if asleep, waiting for its grand moment and eluding a feeling of faith and purpose.
So what is the burning matter? Mostly pine trees, for the most part christmas trees from this season, which fits perfectly the symbolism again. The christmas tree, is the ultimate symbol of Winter, and I love how this ritual is giving the perfect purpose to these trees that otherwise are being thrown away or discarded profanly in most other places, after the Christmas celebrations are over.
Sometime after the new year, while walking with Anubis on our daily evening walks, I noticed the sidewalks full of christmas trees waiting to be picked up by the commune service, and to this effect; they have been collected all over the area to garner this massive cross for a last majestic celebration and consummation.
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The evening of the ceremony, after a long and joyous promenade through our mystical Forest, Anubis and I went to the fields just a few minutes before sunset, and it was quite special to witness the small shadows of people and families pilgrim from every direction to the gigantic cross.
The ceremony had started with 4 directional tree stomps lit on fire and burning from within, with the cross still untouched in the middle. I was moved to witness the people attracted by the fire even if they did not fully consciously realize why that is so. Especially children played with it in their own way, challenging the fire by trying to tease it into a state of pure relation and experimenting in their communication with it.
Then the âFakelzuchâ, the torchlight procession, arrived in the distance, like a wave of burning lights coming towards our dry shore. The sun was slowly setting, and then everything happened quickly.
The procession was immense, mainly children and teenagers holding torches and circling around the cross. My heart is pounding as I write this, in remembrance of the witnessing of this moment. There was a magical texture in the air, as if for one brief moment, so elusive to everyone present if they were not conscious about it, everyone knew exactly what this all was. As if an ancestral vein was manifesting itself for a split second, remembering the power of this communal act, all filled up with joy, awe and love for standing there together; deep deep down they KNEW how powerful their torch in the sea of torches around them wasâŠ
Everyone seemed to hold their breath; then, the signal fell; the torches flew into the pyre, it was an incredible sight; like fireballs jumping into the foundation of the cross. Shooting stars encapsulating wishes for the upcoming year, slamming into the central stem and blazing it on fire. In one second, the entire cross lit up, just like a magical switch turned up the majestic lightbulb crafted with the natural leftovers of the wintertime.
I sincerely cannot put in words to the sight of it; it was incredible, as if a different dimension had been opened through that quick second of a switch. The smoke glittered, and millions of sparks flew out of the central pillar into the sky; it was like an extraordinary portal to another word had been turned on.
We were all standing there and watching with awe and deep respect. It was a tremendously sacred sight to behold. Although I was alone with Anubis, I felt connected to everyone around me, in a way that needed no form, no formalities, and no familiarities. We just were.
Anubisâ witnessing was powerful too. He was a bit nervous when the torchlight circle stood around the cross, not really understanding whatâs going on and whatâs going to happen next. But when the cross lit on fire, he went into a sit and like a graceful statue observed the pyre blazing up into the air. I feel like he was experiencing a deep moment for himself too; like an intitiation himself. It was, he hasnât been in such a social setting in a long time, and lately his social skills have exponantially grown and I felt after one year of struggle with and between the both of us, he finally got into a place of sovereignty facing the world, so it was in a way a beautiful ceremony marking that transition for him tooâŠ
It is very interesting too that the pine tree is used as a christmas tree to represent the standing light and force that does not wilt and does not lose its foliageâŠ
⊠And Buergbrennen is the one who will.
Watching that cross come out of the fire, having burnt up all those « immortal trees », suggesting that even under that eternity lies another more essential immortality that we otherwise pain to see, was impressive to witness.
The past year was one of the loneliest for myself. I barely saw people and spent an entire year with no other relationship to nurture, other than the one with myself and with Anubis. Treading a path for the past 4 seasons with a constant feeling of alienation and separation from the rest of the world also took its burn in this fire.
It may be time now for a slow opening, just like the buds peaking out here and there, after a long journey in solitude, the sunrays and the light of the fire are inspiring new life in my being and my relationships to the One, and all those found in it.
Thank you for reading,
I hope you had a pleasant journey,
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