Enjoying Mallorca: The Mallorcan weirdness of John the Baptist

The village is filled with colour and tradition with the dances of Sant Joan Pelos. | GORI VICENS

Andrew EdePalma23/06/2023 10:29

There is no hard-and-fast evidence that John the Baptist was actually born on June 24, but the late-fourth-century Christian church needed to assign him a birthdate, and so June 24 it was. The reasoning behind this was principally because it was three months after the Annunciation, i.e. when the Archangel Gabriel informed Mary that she would conceive and bear a son through virgin birth and which was when her cousin, Elizabeth, was in the sixth month of her pregnancy; Elizabeth was John the Baptist’s mother. And Gabriel was instrumental in the naming; he told Elizabeth’s husband, Zechariah, that the boy should be called John.

His birthday secured for all time, John thus became inextricably linked to the Summer Solstice and all the weirdness that surrounds this - pagan weirdness and rituals. The ancients celebrated the shortest night, June 21, by having their versions of fiestas, a night of magic to scare away evil spirits, to enhance fertility and so on. Bonfires on the night of the shortest night honoured the sun as the source of light and life.

The Bible tells us that Zechariah, having followed Gabriel’s instruction, organised a massive bonfire to announce the birth of John. As the church was wise enough to maintain some pagan rituals by integrating them into Christianity, it determined that the pagan bonfires should coincide with the birth of John. Which posed a slight problem in that the pagans had celebrated the night of June 21 and John had been born on June 24. The conundrum was resolved by establishing the celebration of the eve of John’s birth, June 23.

This is therefore how we’ve ended up with contemporary re-enactments of pagan weirdness on Sant Joan Eve, June 23, with fire very much to the fore. As noted, fire represented the sun where the pagans were concerned, but the discrepancy with the solstice caused by John’s birth has given rise to traditions which are, strictly speaking, a bit late.

In the village of Sant Joan, they have ‘Sol que Balla’, the dancing sun. On 24 June, the villagers watch the sun rise and have a dance. This doesn’t have anything to do with John the Baptist as such, but when your village is named after the Baptist, it’s a bit difficult to convince non-villagers that it doesn’t. It’s equally difficult to explain why the dance isn’t on the day of the solstice, especially as the sun dance owes nothing to the Baptist and therefore his birthdate.

In the evening of the 24th, though, there is an acknowledgement of the Baptist. Accompanied by the great crow, Corb de Nofre, Sant Joan Pelós takes to the streets of the village. The Hairy Saint John of Sant Joan is one of four, only three of whom are genuinely hairy, while one of them makes his appearance for Corpus Christi instead.

Once upon a time, there were more Hairy Johns. Alcudia had one, as did Arta, Manacor and Son Servera. The John of Son Carrió was to give way to the John of Sant Llorenç, one of the four survivors and distinctive because he’s the one who isn’t hairy and, just to confuse matters, is known as Sant Joan Pelut instead. The Pollensa John dances for Corpus Christi and can claim to be the most traditional in terms of the roots of a tradition which is shrouded in some mystery.

It’s said that there is some pagan element to the Johns. If there is, then the evidence is slim, a claim perhaps being what can be interpreted as a sun on the mask worn by the Pollensa John. But then this character appears for Corpus Christi and not for Sant Joan. This said, it has been argued that the Corpus Christi procession in Palma, which in mediaeval times was one of the most important religious celebrations, had integrated some old traditions of Romans, Celts and the Germanic peoples.
Maybe, but another argument goes that the figure of Sant Joan Pelós in the mediaeval procession was an amalgam of John the Baptist and John the Evangelist and who was originally seen on the day of Saint Stephen (Boxing Day). The John the Baptist garb - a mask, hairy cape and sandals - plus the carrying of a lamb and a cross with the Latin words “Ecce Agnus Dei” (Behold! The Lamb of God) - came to prevail.

While the Johns died out in several villages, the tradition for the fiestas of Sant Joan remained strong in Felanitx - the strongest in that the dance on June 24 has been declared a fiesta in the cultural interest. Sant Joan Pelós is unquestionably a representation of John the Baptist and one who came about in order to popularise his celebration. A peculiarly pagan appearance would have appealed to the common folk, and the church would have been content because he helped to bring in the faithful.
Weird he certainly is, but the figure of Sant Joan Pelut in Sant Llorenç is arguably weirder. He is believed to have been based on the John of Manacor, who disappeared around the turn of the last century. The first documentary evidence wasn’t until 1945. He was a character, as one writer on folklore has put it, whose mission was “the maximum possible humour; the more laughter, the better”. He has no mask, he sports a short back and sides. Weird.