THE INFLUENCE OF THE MARI GODDESS
Our vineyards, winery and distillery are located very close to Mari’s home, located in a cave on Mount Anboto and under her influence. Mari protects our vineyards and influences our liquors as the water of life.
Mari, the Lady of Anboto, is the female personification of the earth, she resembles the chthonic (earth) myths that the ancient matriarchal peoples worshipped before the celestial gods arrived.
She is the queen of Nature and all its components. It is clear that this character is prior to the arrival of Christianity, and that for the ancient Vascons she must have had the status of a goddess. Observing the qualities and characteristics of Mari, we can find a certain resemblance to the goddesses of ancient Europe.
She personifies the forces of nature, and with her power, gives balance to these forces. In the past, people would come to Mari to ask her to keep the hail far from their villages, and there is evidence that even the village priest would go to celebrate mass at the entrance to the cave where she lived. This indicates that after Christianization, people still believed in her power.
One of the aspects Mari is described is that of the serpent; a symbol originally of a matriarchal character, an inhabitant of the underworld through the cave of Anboto.
Frequently, in popular stories, Mari is described as a burning snake that, on occasion, carries a fiery firing sickle, showing all her feminine power.
