No. 12 - Its Gran Canaria Magazine

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GET TO KNOW GRAN CANARIA I CONOCE GRAN CANARIA Nº 12
Rock love triangles
Montaña de Artenara
There is a noticeable gap in the cliff that surrounds
Tejeda, in the Montaña de Artenara, marking out a
smooth wall in the shape of a square with straight
lines at the top. It is a flat cyclopean block, surrounded
by tortuous cliffs over the precipice of the
Caldera de Tejeda. At the centre of its base, there is
a cave hewn out by Canarians, with a rectangular
room 28 metres square by three metres high. Inside,
hundreds of figures bear witness to a history
that makes this cave a special, unique place.
Access to the cave is along a single path that is not
suitable for vertigo sufferers. The path does not entice
you to go along it because it is a steep ridge, in
a very difficult location and hard to access, and is
deliberately hidden away. Was it also once a secret
place for the ancient Canarians?
The construction is set up at such an angle to be
able to see (or be seen by) the Bentayga rock. Its silhouette
is the luminous image that penetrates the
cave. Light floods into the room, making it possible
to distinguish the shapes that decorate the walls.
It is home to more than 300 triangular figures, engraved
or in bas-relief of different sizes, all inverted
and in many cases featuring a dot or stripe, symbolising
fertility through the female vulva. The light
modulates the view inside the earth. Sound is muffled
as well, while the outside provides crystal clear
views, and enables visitors to hear or be heard in
La Caldera.
What rituals would have been held in that spot?
Who chose the place, and why precisely there?
It is a hole dug in an almost inaccessible, solitary
place, like a hiding place for a select few people.
There are no dwelling caves anywhere near this
sanctuary, making it a virtually secret place, on
its own in the centre of the island.
But there they are... the cave and its inexplicable
interplay of triangles. Ordered, disordered, superimposed,
with less defined shapes... a labyrinth
in the eyes of researchers and a source that
floods visitors' imagination, of long gone and
unknown religious beliefs related to the sexual
act. It is a telluric and natural religion, in which
the Roque Bentayga is an omnipresent feminine
form bathed by the sun (Magec) after it rises
every morning behind the Roque Nublo. These
people used to unite their bodies to these powerful
natural symbols. Nature was their reality, their
destiny and survival as a species on an island that
is forever looking up to the sky.
The name given to the cave is quite striking: Los
Candiles, meaning lamps or candles, a very unreal
interpretation of the figures found inside, if
that is the reason for the name. As it is a site for
rituals, and as the women - possibly 'harimaguadas',
similar to nuns - were in charge of the religious
or fertilisation rituals, it could have been
named after young women or educators.
The celebration of sexuality rituals, rain and the
harvest were all reasons for protecting the girls
at the beginning of their puberty. European
chroniclers of the conquest therefore likened
them to nuns who remained virgins during early
youth or maintained lifelong chastity, in robes
befitting their position. This description may
have been affected by the mentality of the Castilian
or French colonisers. Let us not forget the
primacy of Catholic morality, as it was the Pope
in Rome who authorised the conquest of territories
to evangelise. And, what is more, how could
they explain this unknown and strange religion
to their countrymen? Was it in their interest to
acknowledge a religion that was going to be
banned and embrace rituals that they considered
immoral?
Entering ancient Canarian caves or places of worship
has an emotional impact and is a source of
curiosity. Los Candiles features a room containing
sexual rock art that is shrouded in mystery.