The award given to Dr. Pim van Lommel for his contributions to consciousness research and humanity has a very special meaning. There are some books and on them the figure of a little girl raising her arm.
It is based on Catalan folklore: “the human towers“, which dates back to 1712 and on November 16, 2010 was declared Intangible Heritage of Humanity by Unesco.
O “castells” (castles) are human towers of six to ten stories erected in the Town Hall square of the city or town, formed by men and women of any age and complexion, who are called “castellers“.
O “tronc” (trunk) of the tower, formed by the floors that rise from the second level, is held at the bottom by up to five extremely robust men on which rest slender young girls or boys. Finalmente, o “pom de dalt“, (the upper branch), is the section formed by the last three floors of the tower that is made up of boys and girls. O “pinya”, (pine cone, due to its closed structure), is the human conglomerate that forms the base of the tower, and in which, in principle, any of the people present can participate.
Before and after the “castell” is formed, the musicians play various popular melodies with a dulzaina called “gralla“, which also accompanies the rhythm of the construction of the tower as it rises.
The castle is crowned with a boy or girl between five and ten years old “enxaneta” that goes up to the top and for the coronation to be proclaimed the enxaneta has to have put both feet on the shoulders of a casteller and release a hand (alita).
The castellers and castells are a reflection of society, as they encompass diverse people, as well as a school of values of diversity, teamwork, solidarity, belonging and the search for the common good.
The enxaneta means confidence, security, illusion, the culmination of a challenge through the joint effort of people of different ages, complexions, sex, studies, all united with a project and a common illusion.
I invite you to learn more about this tradition in the following video.
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