Why a thistle
became a substitute for the sun
The eguzkilore — literally “sun-flower” in Basque — is the dried head of the stemless carline thistle, Carlina acaulis. For centuries it has hung over the doorways of Basque farmhouses as a guard against night spirits, storms and the evil eye.
This site is my personal field notebook: notes on the plant itself, the legends wrapped around it, and photographs collected on walks through the Basque mountains — from Aralar to the slopes of Entzia.
