Seny

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title: "Seny" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["catalan-symbols", "concepts-in-ethics", "virtue", "oral-tradition", "catalan-words-and-phrases"] description: "Form of wisdom in Catalan culture" topic_path: "philosophy" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seny" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Form of wisdom in Catalan culture ::

Seny (; from Proto-Germanic gem) is a form of ancestral Catalan wisdom or sensibleness. It involves well-pondered perception of situations, level-headedness, awareness, integrity, and right action: "a kind of refined good sense and self-realisation."

The opposite of seny is known as rauxa (), "impetuosity or capriciousness".

Cultural significance

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f9/Asetmallorquí.JPG" caption="The [[Catalan donkey]] is one of the animals that appear in the moral stories of Catalan ''seny''."] ::

Many Catalans consider seny as something unique to their culture, a true Catalan symbol. Seny, as a distinctive feature of Catalan society, is grounded in a set of ancestral local customs that reflect the value system and social norms of traditional rural Catalonia. The values of seny were transmitted from generation to generation without much change by the exemplary behaviour of the elder members of the family, as well as in the form of aphorisms and moral stories. The latter were largely based on Christian values, and their examples and illustrations often included animals and plants that were common in rural Catalonia.

This oral lore caught the attention of Josep Torras i Bages, bishop of Vic, at the end of the 19th century. He became interested in how seny was transmitted from one generation to the next as an oral tradition. He encouraged the writer Josep Abril i Virgili (1869–1918) to gather the moral stories and illustrate them in a book that was published as Bon seny ("Good sense"). This more-or-less representative compilation of moral lessons regarding seny was illustrated by artist Joan Junceda (1881–1948). Published in the Catalan language before the Spanish Civil War, Bon seny became rare under General Francisco Franco, when so much Catalan printed material had been burned and printing in Catalan was severely restricted.

Many of the seny proverbs that defined traditional Catalan values have lost most of their meaning. The reason is the erosion of Christian values as fundamental in today's post-Christian Catalan society, which now sees itself as based largely on secular principles.

Seny is mentioned in the motto of castells, the Catalan tradition of building human towers, as one of the values of that endeavour: Força, equilibri, valor, i seny (strength, balance, courage, and seny).

Examples

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/21/Inula_viscosa_flowers.jpg" caption="[[False yellowhead]] ''(Dittrichia viscosa)'' flowers."] ::

Many of the seny aphorisms are short:

bona entrada i mala eixida.|The pleasures of life have, a good entrance and a bad exit.}}

no aprofita fins que és mort.|The tight-fisted man is like a pig, he is only useful after death.}}

de cap fadrina gallarda que és com la flor d'olivarda molt guapa, i dolenta d'olor|My dear one, don't fall in love with any woman who only has good looks, she is like a false yellowhead flower: beautiful, but full of stench (unpleasantness).}}

o és molt savi o és molt ruc.|A hairy man, is either very wise or (brutish) like a donkey.}}

The following story, La rata magra or La rata engarjolada, illustrates the dangers of greed: ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/df/Ruskea_rotta.png" caption="La rata engarjolada}} story, the [[rat]] illustrates the dangers of greed."] ::

tranquil a dintre sa gàbia, i, amb tota la seva ràbia, s'hi fica; i el passarell té un surt fort, i es mort.

Rata magra s'el cruspeix, mes s'ha tant ben atipada, que, de cop, no té passada.

Moral: Quan t'atii la maldat, pensa aixó que es veritat: Panxa prim hi passaràs, massa fart t'hi quedaràs.|The lean rat sees the bird sitting quietly in its cage, and full of anger she enters it and the bird dies startled.

The lean rat eats it, but she has filled her belly so much that, suddenly, she is not able to leave (the cage).

Moral: When evil tempts you, think about the following truth: With a lean belly you will escape Too full, you will be trapped.}}

Bibliography

• Ausiàs March, Plena de Seny.
• Cerverí de Girona, Obra moral; Oració de tot dia; Mal dit ben dit; Testament; La faula del rossinyol; sermó; proverbis.
• Jaume Raventós, Proses de bon seny, morals i socials. "Foment de pietat catalana". Barcelona 1923 (4 volumes)
• Josep Maria Folch i Torres, Historietes exemplars, Barcelona 1938 (10 volumes). Reed. Editorial Balmes, 1984.
• Gaziel, Seny, treball i llibertat. 1963

References

References

1. Kostyal, K.M.. (2001). "National Geographic People of the World". [[National Geographic Society.
2. "rauxa".
3. Torras i Bages, Josep. (1892). "La tradició catalana".
4. "Joan Junceda".

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