Since time began, legends, fairy tales and songs, which tell us about the ancient, pagan world of our ancestors in the territory we live in, have been passed down to us. Basque culture is full of rich myths and legends, which make up a cosmogony of magical gods and deities… Deities which are mainly related to the natural environment of our land: the forests where the Jentiles (the giant builders) live, the caves where Sugaar (the serpent-man from the depths) sleeps and the imposing mountains, home to the Goddess Mari, ultimate representative of Ama Lurra (Mother Earth) who, shrouded in fire, looks down on us and rewards the just and punishes the evil.
Our ancestors lived side by side with these mythological beliefs and used them as a way to answer existential questions. Every phenomenon, or element from their surroundings, was considered sacred and everything had a name. From here comes the expression that every Basque knows: “Izena duen guztia, bada” (Everything that has a name exists).
This also demonstrates the existence of a matriarchal religion, where the goddess mother is the highest authority and the mystery of giving life the biggest enigma. Earth and all of creation was made up of the same substance as the goddess mother: the original myth of all the world’s cultures, which was slowly replaced by the idea of masculine divinity, demystifying nature and the vision of life as one, whole entity.
We are lucky enough to be able to conserve small fragments of that belief in our mythology and through Irati ,my aim is to pay homage to it and to maintain the fascination and respect that the mother of all the world’s beliefs deserves.