In June there was also the rite known as
“u jovi i l’arteretti”, which was the eighth festivity
of the Corpus Domini. It happened near the summer, but its date
would change because, like other solemnities, it depended upon
the moon in March. From the first full moon following the spring
equinox, the Holy Friday, even today, is calculated and consequently
even Easter Sunday, the Ascension, Pentecost Sunday, the Thursday
of the Corpus Domini (nowadays substituted by a Sunday), thus
the entire octave. This recurrence was a particularly tumultuous
day for the faithful of Caulonia.
In the late afternoon the procession
left from the church of the S.S. Rosario.
Church
of S.S. Rosario
The brothers of the Arch-confraternity taking
part were many and to them “i virginedi” were added. The
virginedi were the young girls who only recently had come
in touch with the sacrament of Communion, therefor they were dressed
in their dresses of veils and organza.
The young adolescent girls held a pretty
basket containing lots of flower petals which they abundantly
spread all over the road. All the clergy, wearing their precious
copes woven with gold strings would take turns bearing the Monstrance
containing the Santissimo.
The bearer of the Monstrance would solemnly
proceed under the umbrella and the silk banner held by people
of so called high moral and social dignity; but the banners that
dominated the streets of the historical centre on this day were
the finest quality, the silks were of the most precious kinds
and the damasks were the most elaborate. Every wide open balcony
would sport the best fabrics in order to honour the passage of
the Consecrated Host
Tradition spurred all the people to set
up beautiful little open air altars in the various squares , in
each “ruga”, and in the most picturesque spots of Caulonia
culminating in Piazza Mese with the most beautiful quilts, the
best linen, and the most colourful bedspreads.
Arula
This
religious practice has analogies with the rites of our most ancient
civilisations.
It is common knowledge that the Arula (terracotta altars)
was widely used by the inhabitants of Greek Kaulonìa.
Our ancestors used the small altars for private, family, or group
ceremonies and upon them the cult rites were practised.
The altars had a parallelepiped shape and on their surface the
votive offers were placed or the libations were poured. They were
also decorated with stencils on the main facade, often of battling
animals.
In times closer to ours,
and for some, even today, the habit of setting up small altars
featuring the May Madonna, Saint Anthony or the Sacred Heart of
Jesus (for the duration of the month of June) is still ingrained
in the culture.
In the evening, in front of these small
altars, the members of a family, if not also all the neighbours,
would gather to recite the Saintly Rosary. It was during the Thursday
of the altars, however, that this both public and private tradition
found its maximum form of expression. From early afternoon onwards,
our women competed in producing the best woven bedspreads from
their chests or their heirlooms. Each woman would proudly show
off her own handiwork, it being a tradition even among the youngest
women of Caulonia to weave the most delicate linens, with the
most resistant cotton. Every marriageable young girl, more or
less capable, knew how to carry out this ancient art. Since adolescence
they had been taught by the best “majistra i tilaru”, and
would accompany their work with suggestive verses:
“Giuvani
bellu, galanti e cortisi
chi ti promisi ti vorrai dunari.
Eu ti promisi nu jancu muccaturi
e cu fili d’oru l’aju a riccamari.
Tuttu ‘ntornu ‘nci mentu l’amuri
E’ nta lu menzu l’aquila riali”
It seems that even among
our young women existed the tradition of receiving, from their
future husbands, a gift with high symbolic meaning: the “fuso”
(spindle) and the “navetta” (shuttle). It is probable that with
this gesture, the young man wanted to make clear the role of his
chosen girl, and it was tied to procreation and strictly feminine
jobs, such as weaving.
On the subject there is an eloquent expression:
“vaji comu na novetta” (go like a shuttle), and a saying:
“Donna
fila, fila la lana
e filala ‘bbona
e si ‘nno ogni gruppu
o pettinu arriva” (Woman
weave, weave the wool / weave well
/ end if you don’t, every knot /
comes to the comb)
With these verses, as well as the references
to the world of work, comes a warning for all wives to play their
role with care and diligence. The “fuso”, in the short tongue
twister repeated by the young men, was referred to often without
the knowledge of its most trivial meaning:
“quando
mammita cala u fusu
lavi apertu o lavi chjiusu ?
e ’ppe non perdiri l’usu
menzu apertu e menzu chjiusu!”
“A
donna tessi, tessi
mina na ‘bbotta e ‘ssi ‘nda nesci
e ‘ssi a tila ‘on vaji ‘bbona
è mancanza da pedalora!”
The loom was both a simple and a complex
tool, it was mostly made of wood, preferably walnut, and to make
it work well, maximum precision was needed because “u tilari
‘ndavi u vaji a filu i capidu”.
Tilaru
It was a kind of big cage made up by different
wooden axis, stamigni and sdanghe. The stamigni
were laid horizontally and were held up by the sdanghe
which were the vertical axis. The former, which were high up,
held a cassita, on which the comb and axis would lie, held
up by tumbaredi and canne, i lizzi, bits
used to alternately raise and lower the warp yarn. The other elements
of this fantastic machine were: a sedalora, a chair, and
if truth be told, not a very comfortable one partly because the
upright position of the legs of the loom were favoured; the cogwheel
which turned the subiello, the cylindrical axis on which
the cloth was wound and the pedalora, set of pedals worked
by the feet and connected to the lizzi.
The entire weaving phase was complex and
tiresome, it was divided into two parts: the first saw the preparation
of the warp yarn and, providing the most salient moments, deciding
the pattern via the cannarola, u matassaru, a
lurditura, and u manganedu. The second part’s protagonist
was the loom. The cannoli (twenty-five centimetre long
cane reels) were filled with cotton or linen, then they were placed
in the various iron axis of the cannalora, a tool made
to both hold the reels and spin them at the same time. The majistra
i lurditura (a real expert in all the phases of the noble
art), would take the beginning of each spun yarn, then, having
knotted each one, would slide them, thus beginning the lurditura
phase. This phase consisted in passing all the spun yarn strings
through obligatory paths, indicated by symmetrical series of huge
nails driven into the wall. Once all the yarn had been set out,
the majistra would gather it up and turn it into a huge
ball of thread. At last work moved to the loom with the phase
known as a sugghjitura (the placing of the warp yarn on
the loom). The yarn was very carefully unrolled from the huge
ball and was wound onto the sugghjiu (warp beam); once
it was well stretched, passing through the lizzi and the
teeth of the comb of the cassita, it joined the lower sugghjiu.
This last tool was used to wind the cloth (produced by the weaving
of the yarn according to the pattern). The pattern was the yarn
which passed through the warp horizontally thanks to the novetta
(shuttle) bearing the gathered yarn. Less tiresome and not very
difficult was the method used to produce the yarn for the pattern,
which could be linnen, cotton and even silk. The spun yarn with
the matassaro (seventy centimetre long cane with two pins
sticking out) was turned into a ball of yarn which was placed
on the nimuledu (reel winder).
Tilaru
The
tip of its yarn was wrapped in a ten centimetre long reel, called
canneda because it was made from thin short canes. Our
reel was then inserted on a pin of the manganedu (reel,
tool made up of a big wooden wheel used to spool the yarn above
the quills). By now all was ready to begin the oscillating movement
which made the comb resound on one of the lease bars and the yarn
wrapped round the cylindrical axis, thus beginning the weaving
process. Much care was used to ensure that the hit on lease and
axis was short and sharp, so as to avoid imperfections in the
cloth, known as corno. To avoid this it was customary to
place weights on either side of the comb which helped keep the
cloth well stretched. From the beginning, the work of our busy
weavers was extraordinary. Usually, March was the month in which
the weaving season started because with spring came longer days
which consented work until the end of June when the heat made
the job too difficult to carry out.
By June the new cloths were ready
to be shown off during the procession of the Corpus Domini.
There were different patterns produced by
the weaving of the yarns and each design had its own name: spina
i pisci, a kind of broken line; principessina, which
alternated a part of the cloth uniformly woven with another part
woven with a chessboard pattern; occhi i granunchjiu, two
diamond shapes one inside the other worked in relief; schjioccheri,
a pattern used for table cloths; quadruni and a stella,
both used for blankets; u piparedu, an alternate used for
any kind of tablecloth; a rrajia, a ffibbia; u
mattuni; a milanesi; seggia sgudata similar
to a stylised Grecian pattern; u cielu stidatu; a really
beautiful cloth was a rosa ‘ncurunata, whose effect was
that of a stylised flower framed by geometric lines; lastly, a
woven cloth which needed huge ability and experience to make,
was known as undici lizzi, because eleven lizzi
were used and consequently there were eleven pedals on the pedalora.
The effect was extraordinary, one could
actually see a beautiful star like flower coming to life on the
loom.
All these were designs which found their
matrix either in their geometric forms or their complicated composition
of webbing lines
From a careful observation of all these
woven patterns, all of our figurative culture emerges, the so called
minor arts. This culture found its roots more in the Byzantine era
than in the Greek era (seen in the plant and animal patterns), from
the Islamic (Arab) civilisations, and the Hispanic (estofados) civilisations.
Many
of the flowered designs from our looms found inspiration from
the light drapes, interspersed with decorative bands of vegetation
patterns which lies sumptuously on the throne on which the figure
of the Blessing Christ is represented in the Byzantine fresco
in San Zaccaria; also from the refined decorations of the three
panels above the sarcophagus in the Carafa mausoleum in the Matrice
church.
This
makes the woven cloths even more beautiful and impressive. The
floral patterns of the legendary cushion on which the young lady
rests her head, sculpted in relief on the lid of the sixteenth
century sarcophagus in the church of the S.S. Rosario, was inspiration
for the many little flowers woven on the quilts by our grandmothers.
The
elaborate compositions of the mixed marbles which ornate the balustrades
of the main altar in the church del Carmine, and the front of
the seventeen-hundreds altar in the Santa Maria dei Minnati church
probably contributed to refining the tastes of the able weavers;
lastly the rococo flower garlands which still adorn the 1762 organ
in the Matrice Church, certainly delighted the eyes of many brides
who reproduced them on pillowcases, napkins and kerchiefs, all
woven on the loom in linen.
Even if all these works of art are classified
as a minor or applied art, one must not under estimate the excellent
high quality of the final products.
When June was at an end, another rite filled
the last ten days. It was known as i hjiuri i San Gianni,
or u cumparatu di hjiuri. It consisted in an original commarato
relationship among the nubile young girls. Nowadays the rite is
no longer used and has disappeared. There are very scarce traces
of this ceremony left among the young generations so there is
great need to remember via a detailed description. Teresa Giamba,
in an unpublished work describes the rite as followed in the fraction
of San Nicola di Caulonia. It reads thus: “a practice, that of
hjiuri i San Gianni, nolonger in use but which unleashed
a great sympathy among the young girls of thirty years ago. It
was an occasion to create and reconfirm friendships and reciprocal
respect; something nearly impossible to find nowadays. The custom
guaranteed the lasting of the relationships over time, often,
the “Sangiovanni” was further consolidated with the baptism of
each others children.
The ritual of “San Giovanni in fiori” had
a three year cycle: The “commare” who would take the initiative,
on the 24th of June, the Festivity of san Giovanni,
following a check for the availability of the other girl and her
family would go to her house with all her family and there
would be a baquet prepared by the host. The visiting party would
brig a flower made of tissue paper similar to those in the hands
of san Giovanni’s statue. In a basket decorated with flowers,
there would be gifts, (usually clothes). On arrival the following
words would be recited:
Iª
comare: “Buongiorno cummari” IIª
comare: “Buongiorno
cummari”
Iª
comare: “Pigghjiativi
sti hjiuri
a
nomi di San Gianni
e tenitili cari.
Si vui non l’aggraditi
Signu
è ca non m’amati”
IIª
comare: “Eu
cummari mi li pigghjiu
e mi l’abbrazzu
e su pe ‘mmia tantu aggraditi"
On the Festivity of san Pietro e Paolo (29th
June) the visit was returned with the same rite. All this would
be repeated for three years; after that, the paper flowers were
taken to church and were deposited at the feet of San Giovanni’s
statue, on the day of his festivity.
To refuse a “Sangiovanni dei fiori”, other
than being hugely disrespectful and an offence, was also considered
a sin. Even when this relationship was not further strengthened,
it lasted in time even among later generations.
In
the fraction of San Nicola, until about forty years ago, the festivity
of San Giovanni was held in high regard; in local popular culture
it was considered the festivity of youth. The statue was borne
in procession by the young men particularly well turned out because
the crowd following the statue were mostly boys. Often in those
circumstances, the boys would look out and pick their possible
girlfriends. For the procession, the girls who had received the
“Sangiovanni dei fiori” would walk alongside the procession. The
“Sangiovanni dei fiori” was often the right and socially accepted
means of contacting a family where there was a youth who could
be a good partner in a future marriage.
In the evening of the 23rd of
June, the eve of the San Giovanni festivity, mostly many young
girls, would burn a thistle to find out whether they would soon
be engaged. This rite was known as u hjiuri i sangianni.
If at dawn on the 24th the flower was new and fresh,
it meant that their wish would be granted. Even the Commaratu
di hjiuri, the ceremony where the young women were the protagonists,
would end and by this time it was the end of June when in the
rest of Italy every evening the illuminations would follow each
other. The days would begin to shorten, the summer heat would
be more and more felt and with it another story, another season
would begin ...
A
heartfelt thank-you to Prof. Gustavo Cannizzaro who chose our
web site
for the first publication of his work
The
sacred and the profane in the caulonian june
by Gustavo Cannizzaro
Translated
by Alexia Mazza www.caulonia2000.it
- May 2001
