Olcu Biendi - The Rainbow 0 Comments

It rained this afternoon, the typical  summer rain, the one that usually leaves you with a wonderful rainbow to watch. And in fact, from the balcony of the Gabbiano Azzurro Hotel & Suites room I can admire it. It unites, with its marvellous rainbow arch suspended in the air, almost as bridge, Capo Figari & Figarolo to Tavolara island.

Its appearance always provokes a strong emotion of amazement and so it has been since the beginning of time. After flashes of lightning and roaring thunder, here is the rainbow’ seraphic nature. He doesn't speak, but lets himself be admired in all his beauty. And sometimes, in a generous mood, two arches appear, as if to duplicate the gift of his show.

In legends, the rainbow is a sacred entity, interpreted  or as a ladder to the gods or as a thousand colours serpent divinity. How could it be otherwise when witnessing the enchanting manifestation of rain meeting the rays of the sun? Genesis Chapter 9, concluding the flood narration, where God stipulates the covenant with Noah, reads: “And the bow shall be in the cloud, and I will look upon it, that I remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth.”

In Gallura the rainbow is Olcu Biendi, the drinking ogre, a large colourful snake that drinks from the sea to bring water back to the clouds. 

Also, in other civilizations the rainbow is considered a thousand colours snake, which descends from the sky where it lives, and drinks in the sea, lakes, rivers, ponds to bring back to the sky the water that poured down with the rain. 

A magical vision to which the ancient Greeks gave the name of Iris, daughter of Thaumas (marvel) and Electra (splendour), a beautiful girl with a fluttering dress made of all colours, messenger of the gods between heaven and the earth, handmaid of Hera, divinity of the air.

And all the people always imagined reaching this door of Paradise, mostly with the intention of getting rich with the treasures that have always been associated with the rainbow. It is said that the bow draws water from the lakes with buckets of gold... as a child I was told that at the base of the rainbow there were pots full of gold coins but that only gnomes knew how to collect them.

But the wicked scientists stepped in countering this wonderful imagination  with their calculations and have established that no one will ever be able to reach the rainbow. Sigh!

From Aristotle, to Descartes, to Newton, to Spinoza everyone has studied the mystery of the rainbow in an attempt to discover its nature, to determine its essence. It was Newton who fixed at seven the number of colours: Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet. It was he who revealed the secret of the rainbow with his studies on light and colours, with his chromatic circle with which, by rapid rotation, white is obtained.

But we look up to the sky where Olcu Biendi paints our thoughts with beauty. Because “You will never find a rainbow if you’re looking down.” wisely suggests Sir Charlie Chaplin.

Written by Daniela Toti