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Befana
In Italian folklore, the Befana () is an old woman who delivers gifts to children throughout Italy on Epiphany Eve (the night of January 5) in a similar way to Santa Claus or the Three Magi Kings.Illes, Judika. ''Encyclopedia of Spirits: The Ultimate Guide to the Magic of Fairies, Genies, Demons, Ghosts, Gods & Goddesses'' (2009) p. 269. A popular belief is that her name derives from the Feast of Epiphany ( it, Festa dell'Epifania)."Italian Christmas tradition of "La Befana".Italian-Link.com n.d. 15 Dec, 2009/ref> In popular folklore, the Befana visits all the children of Italy on the eve of the Feast of the Epiphany to fill their socks with candy and presents if they are good, or a lump of coal or dark candy if they are bad. In many poorer parts of Italy and in particular rural Sicily, a stick in a stocking was placed instead of coal. Being a good housekeeper, many say she will sweep the floor before she leaves. To some the sweeping means the sweeping away of the problems of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Befana - Campomarino Di Maruggio
In Italian folklore, the Befana () is an old woman who delivers gifts to children throughout Italy on Epiphany Eve (the night of January 5) in a similar way to Santa Claus or the Three Magi Kings.Illes, Judika. ''Encyclopedia of Spirits: The Ultimate Guide to the Magic of Fairies, Genies, Demons, Ghosts, Gods & Goddesses'' (2009) p. 269. A popular belief is that her name derives from the Feast of Epiphany ( it, Festa dell'Epifania)."Italian Christmas tradition of "La Befana".Italian-Link.com n.d. 15 Dec, 2009/ref> In popular folklore, the Befana visits all the children of Italy on the eve of the Feast of the Epiphany to fill their socks with candy and presents if they are good, or a lump of coal or dark candy if they are bad. In many poorer parts of Italy and in particular rural Sicily, a stick in a stocking was placed instead of coal. Being a good housekeeper, many say she will sweep the floor before she leaves. To some the sweeping means the sweeping away of the problems of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Italian Folklore
Folklore of Italy refers to the folklore and urban legends of Italy. Within the Italian territory, various peoples have followed one another over time, each of which has left its mark on current culture. Some tales also come from Christianization, especially those concerning demons, which are sometimes recognized by Christian demonology. Folklore also includes folk music, folk dance and folk heroes. Figures and legends of Italian folklore Below is a list of the folklore figures who have animated Italian folk tales since ancient Rome. Traditional characters * In Italian folklore, the ''Befana'' is an old woman who delivers gifts to children throughout Italy on Epiphany Eve (the night of January 5) in a similar way to Santa Claus or the Three Magi Kings. A popular belief is that her name derives from the Feast of Epiphany ( it, Festa dell'Epifania). * ''Santa Lucia'' is a holy woman who delivers gifts to children of Bergamo and province on 13 December, again like Santa C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marche
Marche ( , ) is one of the twenty regions of Italy. In English, the region is sometimes referred to as The Marches ( ). The region is located in the central area of the country, bordered by Emilia-Romagna and the republic of San Marino to the north, Tuscany to the west, Umbria to the southwest, Abruzzo and Lazio to the south and the Adriatic Sea to the east. Except for river valleys and the often very narrow coastal strip, the land is hilly. A railway from Bologna to Brindisi, built in the 19th century, runs along the coast of the entire territory. Inland, the mountainous nature of the region, even today, allows relatively little travel north and south, except by twisting roads over the passes. Urbino, one of the major cities of the region, was the birthplace of Raphael, as well as a major centre of Renaissance history. Toponymy The name of the region derives from the plural of the medieval word '' marca'', meaning "march" or "mark" in the sense of border zone, originall ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pre-Christian Alpine Traditions
The central and eastern Alps of Europe are rich in folklore traditions dating back to pre-Christian times, with surviving elements originating from Germanic, Gaulish (Gallo-Roman), Slavic ( Carantanian) and Raetian culture. Survival through the ages Ancient customs survived in the rural parts of Austria, Switzerland, Bavaria, Slovenia, western and northern Croatia and north eastern Italy in the form of dance, art, processions, rituals and games. The high regional diversity results from the mutual isolation of Alpine communities. In the Alps, the relationship between the Roman Catholic Church and paganism has been an ambivalent one. While some customs survived only in the remote valleys inaccessible to the church's influence, other customs were actively assimilated over the centuries. In light of the dwindling rural population of the Alps, many customs have evolved into more modern interpretations. Pastoral traditions Around September 8, the feast of the Nativity of Mary, it ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Perchta
or (English: Bertha), also commonly known as and other variations, was once known as a goddess in Alpine paganism in the Upper German and Austrian regions of the Alps. Her name may mean "the bright one" ( goh, beraht, bereht, from Proto-Germanic *''berhtaz'') and is probably related to the name , meaning the feast of the Epiphany. Eugen Mogk provides an alternative etymology, attributing the origin of the name to the Old High German verb , meaning "hidden" or "covered". Perchta is often identified as stemming from the same Germanic goddess as Holda and other female figures of German folklore (see Frija-Frigg). According to Jacob Grimm and Lotte Motz, Perchta is Holda's southern cousin or equivalent, as they both share the role of "guardian of the beasts" and appear during the Twelve Days of Christmas, when they oversee spinning.Motz according to Hilton 1984. Grimm says Perchta or Berchta was known "precisely in those Upper German regions where Holda leaves off, in Swabia ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Celt
The Celts (, see pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples () are. "CELTS location: Greater Europe time period: Second millennium B.C.E. to present ancestry: Celtic a collection of Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancient Indo-European people, reached the apogee of their influence and territorial expansion during the 4th century bc, extending across the length of Europe from Britain to Asia Minor."; . " e Celts, were Indo-Europeans, a fact that explains a certain compatibility between Celtic, Roman, and Germanic mythology."; . "The Celts and Germans were two Indo-European groups whose civilizations had some common characteristics."; . "Celts and Germans were of course derived from the same Indo-European stock."; . "Celt, also spelled Kelt, Latin Celta, plural Celtae, a member of an early Indo-European people who from the 2nd millennium bce to the 1st century bce spread over much of Europe."; in Europe and Anatolia, identified by their use of Celtic languages ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Giubiana
The Giubiana is a traditional celebration having great popularity in the northern Italian region of Lombardy, and particularly in Brianza, as well as in the region of Piedmont. During the last Thursday in January, bonfires are lit, on which the Giubiana (i.e. a puppet of an old witch) is burnt. The name The name of this witch, and of the festival, changes according to the different languages spoken in these regions: *Giubiana in northern Brianza *Gibiana in southern Brianza *Giöbia/Gioeubia in the province of Varese *Giòbia e Giobiassa in Piedmont According to some, she is named after the ancient Roman God Jupiter, and this is why celebrations are held on Thursdays (in Anglo-Saxon tradition the day of Thor, but in the Latin tradition the day of Jupiter). Furthermore, according to popular traditions, on Thursday nights (or Saturday nights) witches assembled for Sabbath. The festivity In the days before the festival the villagers collect all that's combustible (wood, hay, paper et ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nicnevin
Nicneven, Nicnevin or Nicnevan is a witch or fairy queen from Scottish folklore. She is often said to be the same figure as the Gyre-Carling or Hecate, but some scholars disagree with this. It is debated whether the name originally referred to a real woman or a mythical goddess. Etymology The name may derive from a Scottish Gaelic surname Neachneohain, meaning "daughter(s) of the divine," and/or "daughter(s) of Scathach," or NicNaoimhein, meaning "daughter of the little saint"."nic" meaning "daughter" and "naoimhein" meaning "of little saint" ( > the proper name Niven) http://www.dsl.ac.uk/ Other theories propose that the name derives from the Irish war goddess Neamhain, or is connected to water-spirits such as the Nixie, Nokke or even Neptune. Legend The first known mention of Nicneven was by Alexander Montgomerie around 1580. Montgomerie and Patrick Hume of Polwarth were two court poets under King James VI of Scotland. In a "flyting" or exchange of comical insults in ve ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carlo Ginzburg
Carlo Ginzburg (; born April 15, 1939) is an Italian historian and proponent of the field of microhistory. He is best known for ''Il formaggio e i vermi'' (1976, English title: ''The Cheese and the Worms''), which examined the beliefs of an Italian heretic, Menocchio, from Montereale Valcellina. In 1966, he published ''The Night Battles'', an examination of the ''benandanti'' visionary folk tradition found in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Friuli in northeastern Italy. He returned to looking at the visionary traditions of early modern Europe for his 1989 book '' Ecstasies: Deciphering the Witches' Sabbath''. Life The son of Natalia Ginzburg, a novelist, and Leone Ginzburg, a philologist, historian, and literary critic, Carlo Ginzburg was born in 1939 in Turin, Italy. His interest for history was influenced by the works of historians Delio Cantimori and Marc Bloch. He received a PhD from the University of Pisa in 1961. He subsequently held teaching positions at the Univer ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
New Year
New Year is the time or day currently at which a new calendar year begins and the calendar's year count increments by one. Many cultures celebrate the event in some manner. In the Gregorian calendar, the most widely used calendar system today, New Year occurs on January 1 ( New Year's Day, preceded by New Year's Eve). This was also the first day of the year in the original Julian calendar and the Roman calendar (after 153 BC). Other cultures observe their traditional or religious New Year's Day according to their own customs, typically (though not invariably) because they use a lunar calendar or a lunisolar calendar. Chinese New Year, the Islamic New Year, Tamil New Year (Puthandu), and the Jewish New Year are among well-known examples. India, Nepal, and other countries also celebrate New Year on dates according to their own calendars that are movable in the Gregorian calendar. During the Middle Ages in Western Europe, while the Julian calendar was still in use, au ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fasti (Ovid)
The ''Fasti'' ( la, Fāstī , "the Calendar"), sometimes translated as ''The Book of Days'' or ''On the Roman Calendar'', is a six-book Latin poem written by the Roman poet Ovid and published in AD 8. Ovid is believed to have left the ''Fasti'' incomplete when he was exiled to Tomis by the emperor Augustus in 8 AD. Written in elegiac couplets and drawing on conventions of Greek and Latin didactic poetry, the ''Fasti'' is structured as a series of eye-witness reports and interviews by the first-person ''vates'' ("poet-prophet" or "bard") with Roman deities, who explain the origins of Roman holidays and associated customs—often with multiple aetiologies. The poem is a significant, and in some cases unique, source of fact in studies of religion in ancient Rome; and the influential anthropologist and ritualist J.G. Frazer translated and annotated the work for the Loeb Classical Library series. Each book covers one month, January through June, of the Roman calendar, and was writt ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
