Well, I sure opened up a can of worms with my question, didn't I?
Since asking, I've done a little research on the Queimada. Here is what I've found:
Aquarium Hostel in Santiago apparently doesn't feel the Queimada must be spontaneous. In fact, they say on their website:
Queimada (typical Galician drink)
We celebrate "La fiesta de la Queimada" (Queimada Party) twice a week. The Queimada Ritual is accompanied by an initiation ceremony for pilgrims to put the finishing touch to the end of their pilgrimage.
A translated history from their website:
Queimada
Healing powers attributed to (the Queimada) says that this drink taken after the pronunciation of spell functions like protection spells, also to keep evil spirits and other beings that away from the (person who has) drunk.
The origins of the drink are unknown.
Popularly, Celtic origins are attributed to the queimada, but in 1972 the professor of prehistory at the University of Santiago, Carlos Alonso del Real stated this would be impossible, as the distillation of aguardiente in Galicia cannot be dated prior to the introduction the alembic (the still - from Arabic origin) from the twelfth or thirteenth century, and in the Middle Ages. Moreover, according to Alonso del Real, sugar cane, one of its key ingredients, was introduced by the Arabs to the Iberian peninsula (the spread of beet equivalent is much later, corresponding to the Napoleonic Wars). This led the drinking of the queimada to be attributed to medieval origins.
Subsequently, the anthropologist Manuel Gonzalez Reboredo Xosé says that consumption of liquor, usually without burning, it was common in traditional rural Galicia, where it had a reputation as a medicine for colds and at one point, around 1950’s - Galicians living abroad began to make this drink at parties or after meals.
In meetings of this kind have arisen in the habit of accompanying the consumption of spells queimada purpose-made for the moment. This custom spread so rapidly that in 1955, the potter Freire Tito created the clay pot, and claw-shaped legs that are used.
From Wikipedia (which of course ANYONE can contribute to)
It seems I am much older than the Queimada spell!
Queimada is a punch made from Galician aguardente (Orujo Gallego) - a spirit distilled from wine and flavoured with special herbs or coffee, plus sugar, lemon peel, coffee beans and cinnamon. Typically, while preparing the punch a spell or incantation is recited, so that special powers are conferred to the queimada and those drinking it. Then the queimada is set alight, and slowly burns as more brandy is added.
Although sometimes believed to be an ancient Celtic tradition transmitted along generations, some claim that the Queimada was actually developed in the 1950s.
Queimada was initially prepared by groups of Galician emigrants in places like Madrid, typically after fellowship lunches and other group events. This was accompanied by theatrical revivals of old beliefs such as the reading of spells written ad-hoc to keep witches away.
This ritual was so successful that it quickly became very widespread.
Tito Freire designed in 1955 the clay pot in which Queimada is usually prepared. The spell that is recited nowadays was written by Mariano Marcos Abalo in the 1960s[2].
Queimada is now part of the Galician tradition and considered as a sign of Galician identity[3].
The goal of the preparation ritual is to distance the bad spirits that, according with the tradition, lie in wait for men and women to try to curse them.[citation needed] All occasions are good for a queimada: a party, familiar meetings or gatherings of friends. After dinner, in the darkness of night, is one of the best times for it. The tradition also says that one of the perfect days to make the "conxuro da queimada" (spell of queimada) is Samhain, the Celtic New Year's Eve. However, typically the Queimada ritual takes place during St. John's night or 'witches' night' on the 23rd of June. (Summer Solstice).
The people who take part in it gather around the container where it is prepared, ideally without lights, to cheer up the hearts and to be better friends. One of them ends the process of making the queimada while reciting the spell holding up the burning liquid in a ladle and pouring it slowly back into the container.
1. ^ González Reboredo, X.M. (April 17–19, 2000). "Simposio Internacional de Antropoloxía". Etnicidade e Nacionalismo. Santiago de Compostela: Consello da Cultura Galega. ISBN 84-95415-34-8.
2. ^ "El café en la queimada es una copia de los catalanes", La Voz de Galicia, 2005-08-09. Retrieved on 2010-01-01.
3. ^ "Desmontamos os mitos sobre a orixe ancestral da queimada", Consello da Cultura Galega, 2007-10-10. Retrieved on 2010-01-01.
From a Spanish website:
El conjuro o "esconxuro" tradicional de la queimada fue inventado en Vigo en 1967 por Mariano Marcos Abalo para una fiesta de juegos florales de las muchas que entonces tenían lugar en un barco decomisado amarrado en el puerto de la ciudad. En 1974 su creador le añadió las referencias a Satán y Belcebú y comenzó a representarlo en la discoteca Fausto de la Ciudad Olívica. (Vigo is called the City of Olives) Por esa misma época, una imprenta viguesa empezó a vender copias del conjuro, inicialmente sin su autorización y luego pagando una peseta por ejemplar vendido. El éxito hizo que otras empresas empezaran a vender copias por su cuenta, sin ninguna autorización y sin citar su nombre, lo que puede haber contribuido a la creencia de que el conjuro era de un autor anónimo. En 2001, Mariano Marcos Abalo decidió registrar la propiedad intelectual del conjuro.
If your Spanish is rusty, what this basically says is that the Queimada “spell” was written in 1967
(I was in HIGH SCHOOL then) by Mariano Marcos for a party.
In 1974, he added the references to Satan and Beelzebub for drama effect and began performing the Queimada at a discotec in Vigo called FAUST.
This makes a lot of sense. Gerald Gardner came “out of the closet” in 1952 and the laws against witchcraft were repealed in Britain. Whether or not his coven was real remains to be proven, but his step forward made it possible for other traditions and revivalist religions to be brought into the light or created.
In 1979 you could find 3 or 4 books on the Craft to purchase. There was no “online” back then. You walked into your local bookstore or took a trip to Los Angeles if you wanted even more information. Books about Witchcraft began being sold (Starhawk’s Spiral Dance, for instance). Books that had before been found only in collector’s libraries. Books by Ray Buckland, The Farrars, Aleister Crowley, which bookstores refused to carry suddenly flooded the shelves, and being a witch quickly became a “fad.” “Ancient family traditions” sprang up out of every corner. Llewellyn publishing got on the bandwagon and now you can’t walk into a bookstore without seeing 50 books on Wicca, all the same boring pre-initiate material, all with different covers. This is something that would last up until about 2 years ago, when the witchcraft/Wicca frenzy finally began to wear off.
In the case of the Queimada, around this same time, after the discotec performances, people began to reprint their versions of this “spell” without the author’s name, eventually leading to the belief that it was of “ancient” origins. This is not an uncommon occurrence in revivalist circles.
As per the Spanish article, again, the origins of the drink itself are unknown. What we do know:
1) In 1972, Professor of prehistory of the University of Santiago, Carlos Alonso del Real stated this idea of "ancient Celtic tradition" would be impossible, as the distillation of brandy in Galicia cannot be dated prior to the introduction of the still (of Arabic origin) coinciding to the time of the construction of the Cathedral.
2) According to Alonso del Real, sugar cane, one of its key ingredients, was also introduced by the Arabs into the Iberian Peninsula (the spread of beet equivalent is much later, corresponding to the Napoleonic wars).
3)The anthropologist Xosé Manuel González Reboredo says brandy (without being set alight) was habitual in the traditional rural Galicia, where it took reputation as a medicine against the cold,
(Well, I know this is true. My mom makes a “hot toddy” with brandy for colds!) and in the 1950’s resident began drinking it at holidays or after meals.
4) The custom took hold and spread so quickly that in the year 1955 the potter of Mondoñedo, Tito Freire, created the terracotta receptacle, in the form of the bowl with paws that you see today.
So there you have it! From everything that I have been able to find, this custom's wild dramatic spell is at the most, 50 years old.
There is no doubt the Queimada has become a tradition and a fun one!
And it appears by all accounts to be a tradition which is to be shared with friends and family, and in the spirit of the Camino, with guests.
To lament the commercial nature of the Camino is normal. I've lamented it myself more than once. However, the fact is pilgrimage is now and always has been commercial as well as spiritual. The Cathedrals of the world could never have been built if it had not been for pilgrims coming with their money to give to local merchants and priests. Villages would not have been built. The great Cathedral cities would not have succeeded. Fairs, events, and commerce were all built around pilgrimage. And pilgrimage meant you needed to attract pilgrims in one way or another. The remains of some villages have come back to life in my lifetime because of the popularity of the Camino.
Oh, I do understand how the pilgrims and walkers can be looked at as “locusts” by some. I get frustrated myself when I see California license plates in my beautiful Oregon, and when I lament the “good old days” when I could drive for miles without seeing another car. But the fact is, those people bring in money to the Oregon economy along with the disadvantages of raising rents and traffic problems.
There is an old (notice I say "old" not "ancient") divining rite I am personally acquainted with where liquor is burned during ritual and the burning causes a bright blue flame which dances and “speaks” to the group. I suspect the Queimada is related to this rite, although I have no proof. However, it’s so similar, I’d be surprised if they don’t have the same roots. It is done at initiations, elevations, and after the long winter to burn the remaining vestiges of the death and disease that accompanies the cold season and to welcome the strengthening sun.
The name specific liquor used is kept sacred amongst the priesthood of these people, and the affect is meant to dramatize and enforce the meaning of the rite itself. Good ritual is always dramatic!
At any rate, nothing I have discovered would prove the Queimada concoction to be older than the 11th or 12th Century, and absolutely nothing suggests the words to the ritual itself are older than the 1970’s.
I feel it should be enjoyed as it was meant to be enjoyed… as a fun and dramatic ending to a wonderful night of friendship, laughter, and sharing.
And I plan to book one for my group!
And for the record, I am making absolutely no money on the tour I am leading.
Zero.
Zip.
My own costs are just barely covered.
And if you count the hundreds of hours I have spent in the planning, the making of reservations, and the corresponding with the future pilgrims, I’m very deeply in the red.
I am taking a group of people who have a deep desire to walk the Camino, but who aren’t ready, for whatever their personal reasons may be, to travel to Spain alone. I am taking them out of my love for the Camino, my appreciation for their need, and my own desire to walk.
Let's all do our best not to judge each other, in the spirit of the Camino.
How's that, Carli? :lol: