Eid el Kbir (continued)

In the days following the Eid, all over the city you will see skins hanging over the balcony. In most localities an enterprising local will gather them, have them treated and then sell them back to you for a reasonable fee.

In some areas on the second and third day of the Eid they have another use for the skins. These days are marked by the appearance of the Boujeloud – the goat men. This tradition has a lot of different stories behind it, but all involve men dressed up in goat skins. I expect that the tradition can be traced back to before the time when Islam came to Morocco, possibly to the ancient god Pan.

The traditions vary. The Boujeloud I met expect to be given money in return for hitting you with the goat’s feet. Being hit by the Boujeloud is great good luck, unless you don’t have any money on you. If you don’t pay up - you have bad luck for a year. As well as four Boujeloud, the entourage included other local lads dressed up as policemen and a “woman”. The whole gang tour round the village, the Boujeloud and the “woman” dancing together whenever they stop outside a house and the “policeman” deciding when it is time to move on. On the evening of the third day all the money collected is spent on a big party.

Some stories tell that if a man gets hit by the Boujeloud his fertility is assured, similarly any woman hit by the Boujeloud is guaranteed to get pregnant in the following year. I have also read that in some villages the Boujeloud has to mark other boys in the village – these days by throwing flour at them. If hit they have to take their turn at being the Boujeloud next year, but if the Boujeloud is not successful he has to appear again the next year.

Another story I have heard is that the Boujeloud was a man who while dressed in goat skin chased a young, pregnant woman into a mosque. She was so frightened that she miscarried her baby and the young man was doomed to wander Morocco stuck in the goat skins for the rest of eternity as a sort of hairy Flying Dutchman (… until redeemed by the love of a good woman I want to add). But then it doesn’t ring true as he must have had a reason to be dressed as the Boujeloud in the first place. I think that this is possibly an attempt to attach a proper Islamic moral to a pagan custom.

Probably the most celebrated Boujeloud is the Jejouka Boujeloud made famous by the likes of Brian Jones (Rolling Stones) and William Burroughs. In this version of the story the Boujeloud is “married” to one of the local women and in return gives the gift of music to the local villagers. In return for granting authentic psychedelic experiences to visitors, Jejouka has been made famous on the world music scene. Thirty years on the Jejouka musicians still carry on their traditions and produce their music and musical tourists are still beating a track to sit at the feet of the Jejouka master musicians (and yes if there are any Stones fans out there - Pipes of Pan was from Jejouka).