The Setti Fatma moussem is held over four days in mid-August in the green Ourika valley, sixty kilometres south of Marrakech. The name celebrates Setti Fatma — a learned and mystic woman of the 18th century, venerated as a saint by the Berbers of the High Atlas.

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It is one of the rare moussems organised in Berber country in honour of a female figure. The saint is invoked for fertility, the healing of women's ailments, the protection of newborns.

I. The setting

The Ourika valley, hemmed in between High Atlas mountains that rise to 3,600 m, is itself an attraction. Seven successive waterfalls, century-old walnut trees, agricultural terraces, rammed-earth Berber villages. The moussem adds a market and continuous activity over four days.

II. The rite

Sacrifices of sheep for the poor, prayer at the zaouia, ahwach (a circle dance accompanied by songs and drums), tassoukin (women's songs), collective meals on the banks of the river.

III. Today

The moussem remains largely local and Berber, away from the great tourist circuits. It is a typical case of a living agricultural-mystic moussem, little staged for the visitor.

∗ Sources

1. Westermarck, E. — Ritual and belief in Morocco, Macmillan, 1926, vol. 2.
2. ONMT — visitmorocco.com