It’s raining, it’s raining Berber, get your sheep out … that’s probably what we’d be singing here!
It’s been raining regularly in Ouarzazate for about two weeks now, and it’s a real pleasure. As the rain falls, there’s a wonderful smell of wet earth, of dust-free air and of the freshness that is so precious here. If there are more than a few drops, then you know that the gardens of Tazzarine will turn green and that the harvests will be good.
Here, rain is a sign of good luck, and not just for weddings.
Because we’re in Africa, because part of the country is covered by desert sands, rain is precious.
There are several Berber words for rain.
In Tazzarine, in the heart of the desert, they even use Taggout, ⵜⴰⴳⴳⵓⵜ , when it rains just barely, not for long, it wets, but only on the surface. The original meaning is “cloud” or “fog” and, by extension, moisture. You have to be from the desert to call it “rain”. It’s the time of potential rain…
In any case, the people of Tazzarine are not the only ones to use Taggout to say that it’s raining:
https://twitter.com/Atikka_Tikkawah/status/1421393990482550787/
But above all Anzar, ⴰⵏⵥⴰⵕ , rainy weather, abundant water that falls for several days, for a long time, that becomes embedded in the earth, saturating it and even causing it to overflow.
When there is a drought among the Berbers, they perform the ceremony of the bride of the rain, Tislit n Unzar, which is also the name of the rainbow.
The legend of the rain god’s wife can be found on many websites.
But it was on this blog from the Dades region that I found the text that suited me best, as it describes the ritual quite precisely. The story is also beautiful and lyrical.
So there you have it… back home, rain means grey, cold, fog and winter.
Here, it’s the seven colours of the rainbow (which were the seven ribbons of the rain’s bride… and remember, in Greek mythology, the rainbow is the scarf of Iris, the messenger of the Gods and granddaughter of Gaia, the earth).
Despite the ochre mud that sticks so heavily to our shoes as soon as Anzar pays us a visit, the rain is bliss. When it arrives, we leave our PCs, open the window, take a break, congratulate each other and wish it would continue for a long time.
The sight of the fields completely flooded, the water overflowing the seguias, the irrigation channels to invade the plots is not a desolation.
I remember a wedding, this winter, near Zagora, with its muted colours and dark reds. There was no dancing outside, and it was already difficult not to slip in the sloping streets leading down to the palm grove, but everyone was happy about the good omen.
The bride “brought the rain” to her new home.
Anzar’s visit allows the groundwater to replenish itself.
They are mainly filled by snowmelt from the Atlas mountains, which plays a major role in irrigation in Morocco, where rainfall is capricious, irregular and generally insufficient.
After years of drought in the south, which saw many palm groves become desertified, it is now the turn of the north to suffer, both from drought and from sudden and torrential rainfall, which can cause landslides and floods, or paralyse an entire town, as happened for a few days in Casablanca this winter.
So it’s raining in Ouarzazate at the moment, in Tazzarine and throughout the Draa Valley.
And that’s great! In a very short time, Anzar will be back in the sky, with his wife.
It will remain a green landscape, welcoming tourists and all those who, strangely enough, seek the sun rather than flee from it.
Come and celebrate Anzar with us!
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