them with the absurdity and inconvenience of a
purely lunar calendar.[557] Be that as it may, it is notable that some
Mohammedan people of North Africa kindle fires and bathe in water at the
movable New Year of their lunar calendar instead of at the fixed
Midsummer of the solar year; while others again practise these
observances at both seasons. New Year's Day, on which the rites are
celebrated, is called _Ashur_; it is the tenth day of Moharram, the
first month of the Mohammedan calendar. On that day bonfires are kindled
in Tunis and also at Merrakech and among some tribes of the
neighbourhood.[558] At Demnat, in the Great Atlas mountains, people
kindle a large bonfire on New Year's Eve and leap to and fro over the
flames, uttering words which imply that by these leaps they think to
purify themselves from all kinds of evil. At Aglu, in the province of
Sus, the fire is lighted at three different points by an unmarried girl,
and when it has died down the young men leap over the glowing embers,
saying, "We shook on you, O Lady Ashur, fleas, and lice, and the
illnesses of the heart, as also those of the bones; we shall pass
through you again next year and the following years with safety and
health." Both at Aglu and Glawi, in the Great Atlas, smaller fires are
also kindled, over which the animals are driven. At Demnat girls who
wish to marry wash themselves in water which has been boiled over the
New Year fire; and in Dukkala people use the ashes of that fire to rub
sore eyes with. New Year fires appear to be commonly kindled among the
Berbers who inhabit the western portion of the Great Atlas, and also
among the Arabic-speaking tribes of the plains; but Dr. Westermarck
found no traces of such fires among the Arabic-speaking mountaineers of
Northern Morocco and the Berbers of the Rif province. Further, it should
be observed that water ceremonies like those which are practised at
Midsummer are very commonly observed in Morocco at the New Year, that
is, on the tenth day of the first month. On the morning of that day
(_Ashur_) all water or, according to some people, only spring water is
endowed with a magical virtue (_baraka_), especially before sunrise.
Hence at that time the people bathe and pour water over each other; in
some places they also sprinkle their animals, tents, or rooms. In
Dukkala some of the New Year water is preserved at home till New Year's
Day (_Ashur_) of next year; some of it is kept to be used as medicine