A Calitri Reverie

 A Calitri Reverie

The Stateside Game of  "Find the Car"

     This time of year, the sub-freezing temperatures and biting winds keep us inside.  That goes for both sides of the Atlantic when winter takes hold.  Winters in our part of the States are more severe than in Calitri when one compares snowfall and temperature.  While there is scant snowfall to make a profit selling snow shovels, there is profit to be made selling puffy winter parkas in damp and cold Calitri.  For the most part, Calitri’s narrow, cobbled streets are largely abandoned until the influx of good weather and sun-loving homeowners arrive to augment the year-round residents.  Mirroring the timely expectancy of something like tax time every April 15th in the States, experience has taught us not to

A Quiet Winter Calitri Street

expect the earth to have sufficiently tilted back toward the sun until the Ides or midpoint of May.  By then, the sun’s heat reigns once more so that our thick walls lose their chill, flowers bloom, and scarves have once again been retired.

In Calitri, we live in the Borgo, which means Hamlet.  It lies in the shadow of a castle and, for centuries, was all there was of Calitri.  An earthquake in 1980 triggered a migration to the growing modern high-rise accommodations in a newer part of town.  The move left the Borgo, today a growing historical resource for Calitri, practically empty, falling further into decline and disrepair.  Its narrow streets, designed to accommodate nothing larger than a cart pulled by a donkey, and the complete lack of gardens or even soil left much to be desired.

This Gargoyle Serves to Keep
the Borgo Safe

      Some might go so far as to describe it as early brutalist architecture.  The use of raw, exposed concrete and stone, centuries-old wooden beams and doors, thick abutting household walls, and the lack of soil are pronounced.  There are no vegetable gardens or well-tended lawns to maintain.  “Doing the lawn,” if I can go so far as to call it that, amounts to pulling a few weeds.  But then, this is a medieval setting that I find romantic, where the view outside our windows takes in the same vistas people have enjoyed for centuries.  In Calitri, as in much of Italy, wooden structures are repurposed in century-long cycles rather than torn down as in the States.  Only the inhabitants like us change.  Historical and scenic, it is the kind of place whose picture appears on monthly household calendars, the kind we imagine when dreaming of Italy.  

Of course, winter is not totally bleak; there are occasional winter festivals, especially during Christmas, when the Borgo is animated with renewed activity.  A nativity scene is staged in a Borgo cave tunneled into the hamlet’s hillside, with locals dressed in costume, including an infant and farm animals like a

The Borgo - Topped by a Castle with Parking 
Piazza in the Foreground

mule, that I wouldn’t be surprised to learn had descended from a  former resident Borgo mule. 

While building exteriors retain their historic motif, their interiors cover a gamut of styles, furnishings, decorative treatments, and colors.  Like slow-moving tectonic plates, the present is gradually draping the past.  You don’t know what to expect once through an ancient doorway.  Colors can be overpowering, especially in the case of tiles, which can overwhelm a room’s décor.  Italians enjoy expressive, brightly colored tiles, and trend toward complex designs and the artisanal flair of majolica.  Others skip past traditional styles altogether and, as if to complement their fiber optic technology, go modern, preferring the strong lines of glass and gleaming chrome surroundings.            

Our Shower Curtain Wall

It is unlike our stateside style, but in the case of our Calitri pied-à-terre, sited in a medieval quarter, it is expressive of a newfound freedom in styles, furnishings, and decorative treatments.  Neither would we think of painting one bedroom wall “spaghetti red.”  Caught up in that Italian flair for color, we did.  Various maps of Italy decorate the walls of our combination TV and guest room, along with framed photos.  While far from being wildly expressive, our home’s interior reflects what I’d describe as that simple otherworldly mood of life of small-town Italia, not to be confused with the verve of big city life. 

Another prominent Borgo feature is the presence of caves cut into the high side of the sloping terrain, reminiscent of Matera, here refreshingly termed ‘grottos.’  These are not natural openings in the earth with stalactites frequented by spelunkers and bats but hollowed-out caverns made by men.  They were originally used for storage of everything from furniture to animals.  Today, they shelter an occasional

Spaghetti Red Wall

scooter but find a growing use as personal wine cantinas.  When wine isn’t being made, they serve as private dining areas for get-togethers with family and friends.  After all, all that stored wine can’t be allowed to accumulate.  More and more, we find these grottos repurposed as restaurants.  During festivals like SponzFest, held annually in August, we’ve seen grottos become pop-up cafes where the soothing rhythms from Woody Allen movies waft into the street, enchanting passersby into becoming customers.  Many nearby have made the transition. 

Just down the Street from our door are exam-

An Unrestored Grotto

ples of cave improvisations.  I’ll take you to one close by, the L’Antica Grotta, a charming Italian wine bar restaurant nestled within the ancient walls of a cave.  A right turn outside our door, then through a brief arching tunnel, leads us to Via Pasquale Berrilli, a main artery through the Borgo beginning in the piazza by the town hall.  Turning right again and continuing along Via Berrilli, we pass the home of Gerardina Cestone and her flower boxes, which in summertime bless us with an overflow of colors to emerge in a piccola piazza (small square). 

The home of our neighbor, Theresa Scoca, and her husband, Vincenzo, overlooks this small square. Hers is a 

Mailbox by our Door, 
Tunnel to Via Berrilli

family name of importance to the political history of Italy.  Over the years, they’ve become our go-to friends when we need something special, from a ladder to the surprising need for aninjection when my back went out.  Talk about trust, but that’s another story.  Their terraced porch overlooks this small opening among the Borgo buildings.  Evocative of the decorative streamers of some ancient joust, Theresa’s colorful panoply of laundry usually flutters there in the breeze.  The square’s open space borders the Berrilli Palazzo and is large enough to host an Aquedotto Puglese water fountain dated 1914 that supplied families before homes had running water.

A Pop-up Grotto Cafe
Announces "Here it Is"

     Continuing, we enter a longer tunnel watched over by a clock with a face on both the tunnel’s entry and exit.  Its needles indicate the correct time only twice a day for it ceased to operate and is ever reminding us of the arrival of the 1980 terremoto (earthquake).  Through the tunnel and down a gentle slope, we arrive at a junction in the cobbles where Via Berrilli meets Via Del Re, which begins with a sharp turn to the left. 

     We have also arrived at Palazzo Zampaglione, the baronial palace of the Zampaglione family (cousins of the Bourbons who once ruled Southern Italy’s Kingdom of Two Sicilies), located at Via Berrilli.  Practically opposite the entrance to this palazzo lies the L’Antica Grotta at 31 Berrilli, an ancient cave where the baron once stabled up to 100 horses.  Transforming this cave into a wine bar and restaurant took the steadfast combined horsepower of planning, drive, and initiative.  As we approached, we found no catchy signs and appeals to come inside.  

L'Antica Grotta, Via Pasquale Berrilli 31

The Grotta’s entrance confirmed we’d arrived much like the hole-in-the-wall place in Bologna we discovered once and never wanted to leave with the simplest of storefront appeals, the single word ‘Vino” scrawled on a board.  Here, to one side without fanfare and absent any glitz, a surprisingly easy-to-miss five-by-eight-inch wooden plaque with a flourish of cursive curlicues proclaimed L’Antica Grotta.  The opposite side of the entrance held a dangling lamp with a single bulb housed in what I’d describe as an inverted terracotta water glass that serves to illuminate the numerals 3 and 1.  These humble statements invite you into a world of rustic elegance, natural beauty, and the finest local cuisine.  Stepping inside, the interior is softly illuminated by warm, golden light, casting gentle shadows that dance across the rough-hewn stone surfaces, bearing the marks of centuries of history. 

Rehabbing a grotto is time-consuming and, I’d estimate, costly.  For weeks, as I passed by what grew to become the L’Antica Grotta, I’d pause to observe the progress.  I’ve no idea about Italian construction rules.  At home, a government agency called OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) would be apoplectic over the total failure of compliance — no helmets, spotters, masks, ventilation, and I could go on.  I could see a one-man act high atop a ladder, seemingly the sole performer in a mock circus act, balanced there, with hammer and chisel, as he chipped away at the ceiling of this surprisingly lengthy grotto.  With so much yet to go, he tapped to remove the residue of ages, everything from soot to paint, from the uneven surface of jutting stone arching above him.  I happen to love stonework.  Each time I sit beneath this vaulted ceiling, I recall my earlier visits during construction and marvel at the resulting artistry.  The stone tiara arching over today’s patrons is the result of the symphony of his million taps, orchestrated over weeks, undoubtedly resulting in countless stiff necks from the positioning required. 

 Hardworking doers Vincenzo Cestone and his wife,

Lisa Zarrilli, own and operate what has grown in the past few years to become the L’Antica Grotta.  The ceiling in their wine bar restaurant was only one of many projects requiring attention and prefigured other enhancements.  The kitchen they created is also unique in its enclosure behind glass partitions, which allows a clear glimpse of meal preparations.  In stark contrast to this glassed-in kitchen, the newly installed walls of a lavatory exceed the definition of opaqueness.  Enzo (an abbreviation for Vincenzo) also constructed a long, attractive counter along the left wall from wooden boards that resemble pallets.  It hosts an impressive array of Italian wines, beers, and spirits.  Enzo will help guide you through his featured beverages.  If you prefer wine, he’ll help you select a generous measure of a perfectly paired wine to enjoy with your meal.  We especially enjoyed the red Basilicata vintage L’Atto.  This bold red vintage is an excellent match for Enzo’s beef,  lamb, and pasta offerings, whose structure makes for easy drinking and a soft landing to a peppery palate. 

In the seating area, weathered wooden tables are set with flickering candles and, occasionally, fresh flowers foraged from the countryside.  This creates a romantic ambiance perfect for a memorable evening.  A leather couch with accompanying side chairs opposite the counter invites one to relax and enjoy an apparativo, although in my case, once seated, I sometimes require a helpful hoist to extricate myself. 

In addition to serving as the hostess, Lisa’s daily schedule also involves working as a beautician, while Enzo is kept occupied as a mechanic.  Along with their burgeoning family, their restaurant is the

embodiment of a dream to create a restaurant that celebrates the culture of past and present Calitri.

The Grotta’s menu features a tempting selection of authentic Italian dishes crafted from the finest locally sourced ingredients.  Each dish celebrates the area's rich culinary heritage, from delicate antipasti platters to hearty pasta dishes and succulent grilled meats.  You will not find Enzo on the menu.  He comes a-la-cart and free of charge with suggestions and a pinch of herb lore.  I’ve heard it said, “It ain’t the oven, it’s the cook.”  In this case, this is so true.  In his creations, Enzo loves to include herbs from his garden, honey from his beehives, or the results of foraging as he meanders the hillsides for nature’s latest bounty.  Absent a dictionary, it’s always fun trying to figure out the English equivalent of whatever herb

Enzo's Bistecca

Enzo might be explaining.

With each visit, we find ourselves unprepared for what is offered as the menu changes with the seasons.  On our first visit, we found battered and fried cod bites skewered like lollypops, just divine.  They quickly became our go-to favorite.  Eventually, moving from the surf to turf, we shifted to steak.  It wasn’t your run-of-the-mill variety but one that challenged Florence’s Bistecca alla Fiorentina, that renowned slab of perfectly cooked steak.  Enzo’s char-broiled T-bones are thick and juicy as you would expect, and certainly enough for two—Maria Elena, with an appreciation for the filet, and I favor the bone and what remains.  Far more surprising is their cost, a mere 20€ compared to their 50-60€ Florentine cousins. 

 While far removed from Calitri when I began to write this tale a few weeks ago, I was busy searching through snowbanks, hoping to liberate our car.  Since then, with apparent haste, the

A Different Benedict

snow has disappeared.  Can I attribute this to the solar eclipse we just experienced?  Was it Enzo's Bisteccapart of that three-body orbital problem of the sun, moon, and earth that caused the sun to blink and, with its renewed rays, rid us of the snow?  Whatever its cause, the effect leads us closer to returning to untarnished Calitri and the bounty of the Grotta. 

The food, unique atmosphere, and hosts make each stop at L’Antica Grotta special.  I like everything about it.  As you savor each sip and bite, you can't help but feel a deep connection to the land and the people who have called this hillside and its grottos home for generations.  Their smiling spirits undoubtedly look down on us.  At least, I want to believe they do.  It's more than just a restaurant—it is a journey through time and taste, a testament to the enduring allure of Italy's gastronomic traditions and those like Enzo and Lise, who work hard to make it possible and keep traditions alive.  We just might see you there.

One final thought: as I finished this reflection on Calitri, my daughter's colleague had just returned from his first trip to Italy.  She called to share his text with me, which I now share with you:

“Been home less than 24 hours, and I miss Italy … Never felt this way after a vacation … I absolutely loved it there … The Italian lifestyle is right up my alley.”

And to think, he hasn’t even been to Calitri and L’Antica Grotta yet!

Winter in Calitri ...

     ... and the Calitri Borgo

From That Rogue Tourist, 

Paolo

To Hell and Back

 To Hell and Back

Maybe I’ve been reading the wrong books much of my life.  I’m not impugning a particular book or series but the type of books I gravitate toward.  Early on, age appropriate standards of the day were read to me.  I especially recall one in the 50s that stood out about a giant living in a castle made of odorous Limburger cheese, eating pickles, and drinking vinegar.  While its title eludes me, to this day, I have a lasting affinity for the strongest of cheeses.  The hard drive in my brain also vividly recalls a tale involving another unfriendly giant in Jack and the Beanstalk.  Surprisingly, I have no fear of giants, even the cyclopes variant, lurking in the dark recesses of my closet, but then I am a bit of a giant myself, haven’t any cows to trade for beans, or skills adequate to grow anything beyond San Marzano tomatoes.  Thankfully, about the time that dinosaurs became all the rage, I’d outgrown my thick-paged picture books only to be seduced by another type of illustrated adventure saga, the comic book.

My infatuation with comics began with the stack of comic books in a familiar barbershop along my hometown’s main street, where the memory of everything in my burgeoning world began.  It was

Blackhawk Comics

usually on a Saturday after I paid for the weeks’ worth of newspapers I’d delivered that I treated myself to a strawberry sundae at Nick’s Soda Shoppe alongside the local theater.  Farther along my way home, per Mom’s emphatic prompting, I’d detour into our neighborhood barbershop.  A reservation wasn’t needed, just enough time to wait your turn.  I didn’t mind. Waiting would insure there’d be plenty of time to devour the latest Blackhawk Comics edition that hopefully had arrived since I last visited.  The newest issue of this seven man team of WWII era ace pilots who fight tyranny and oppression was easy to spot among the pile of dog-eared publications splayed across the table in the cramped seating area.  I enjoyed reading the squadron’s fictional exploits once I understood how to maneuver through the sequence of word bubbles accompanying each picture panel.  Being a slow reader, I often passed my turn to the next waiting customer, leaving myself enough time to finish each issue.  This also assured I had time to check out the comic’s back pages.  Long before Amazon, this was where I’d find the most interesting mail-order items like live pet sea horses and eyeglasses which guaranteed you could see through clothing! 

By my teenage years, I'd moved on.  Comics had lost their attraction.  They'd been eclipsed by novels, soon followed by their audio narrations.  Whatever their genre, novels had the power to put me inside the scene, if not into the thoughts of a character that up to then had been limited to glimpses of action, one comic book panel at a time.  In later years, I’d read Dan Brown, Clive Cussler, and Vince Flynn in search of my heroes.  But I sensed I needed to expand my literary horizons.  This was the period when I put adventures aside for the moment and filled the void with murder mysteries.

A bestselling crime novel, The Word Is Murder, by British author Anthony Horowitz, is representative of this eye-opening genre.  I was quickly pulled into the action of this evolving who-done-it mystery as I had those formative Saturday mornings long ago.  It was easy to warm to Horowitz’s characters, flawed though many of his players would prove to be.  His chief inspector, a loner with multiple phobias, partners with the novel’s real-life author, Horowitz.  To complicate matters just a bit more, Horowitz, the book’s protagonist, plays the appropriate part of an author, who, as a murder is investigated, shadows the flawed detective.  If all went per their arrangement, the detective would solve the crime and Horowitz would have the makings for a profitable novel.  If you can follow that, great, but it took me a few replays of the audiobook.  The narrator’s British accent proved especially enjoyable when words like ‘client’ became ‘klee-ent’ as heavy emphasis pounced on a word’s first vowel.  A sprinkling of witty humor, many as asides to the reader, only added to its charming allure.  This highly recommended who-done-it was an eye-opener for me.  Better than reading it myself, the audiobook made the story come alive.  Hearing the voices of the various characters, their tonal inflections ranging from normal to expressions of passion or fear, was reminiscent of my earliest childhood memories, while nestled in my mother’s lap, listening as she dramatized the voice of each character.

This writing style, where the protagonist interacts with his reader, and in the case of the Horowitz novel where it also imparts insight into how to write a novel along the way, was like no story I’d ever encountered before.  Like trading ten baseball cards for a Micky Mantle in the schoolyard, I understood what I’d found.  By my teenage years, comics had lost their attraction.  They had been eclipsed by novels followed by audio narrations.  Whatever their genre, they had the power to put me inside the scene if not the thoughts of a character that up to then had been limited to glimpses into the action, one panel at a time.

But there was a higher, more elusive form of written expression called literature I was yet unfamiliar with.  This is a body of distinguished works, that by the excellence of their execution, are perceived to have lasting artistic merit.  Beginning in 1901, some of these works of poetry and prose have buttressed the award of a Nobel Prize to their authors.2 John Steinbeck (The Grapes of Wrath), Ernest Hemingway (The Old Man and the Sea), and William Faulkner (The Sound and the Fury) come to mind.  Adding to this list, four Italians, relatively unknown outside their native Italy, have received Nobel Prizes in Literature over the last one hundred years.  They include poet Giosuè Carducci (1906), novelist Grazia Deledda (1926), playwright and novelist Luigi Pirandello (1934), and playwright and satirist Dario Fo (1997).  

But there was one standout Italian writer who

Dante Gazing at Purgatory

lived well before awards for literary achievement were in vogue, before Barnes and Noble bookstores, and well before the NY Times would weekly bring the best sellers to our attention.  He was actually a poet, whose marks on paper became the poetic equivalent of those on the surfaces of the Sistine Chapel and in epics like Beowulf and the Iliad.  In 1265, he was born in Florence to a middle-class family.  His name was Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri, better known to us simply as Dante, meaning ‘enduring’, which he certainly remains.

Although he claimed that his family descended from the ancient Romans, little is known of his early life beyond his development from an only child of a middle-class family of a notary into a poet, writer, philosopher, soldier, ambassador, and politician.³  He is known to have studied Tuscan poetry, likely at home or in a church-related school.  He would marry Gemma Donati and father at least three children.  

In 1295, a law decreed required nobles who aspired to public office to enroll in one of the guilds.  To further his political ambition, he obtained admission to the Physicians' and Apothecaries' Guild.  Although he did not intend to practice pharmacy, it was a close fit since books were sold from apothecary shops.  As a politician, he held various offices and became embroiled in the Guelph–Ghibelline political factions and ensuing military conflicts.  The Ghibellines backed The Holy Roman Emperor while the Guelphs faction, opposed to imperial influence, supported the Pope.  Dante and his family were loyal to the Guelphs.³ 

Following years of political strife that led to the defeat of the Ghibellines, the Guelphs split into two factions: Blacks Guelphs in support of the Pope while the Whites sought more freedom from

Dante, Father of the Italian Language

Rome.  In 1302, the Black Guelphs took power in Florence and accused Dante of corruption for the two months in 1300 when he’d served as city mayor.³  Under Black Guelph rule, Florence branded Dante a fugitive and confiscated his possessions.  He was condemned to exile for two years and ordered to pay a fine of five thousand florins.  With his assets seized, he could not pay the fine.  This resulted in his permanent exile, which lasted 20 years.  During this time he lived under a death sentence for had he returned to Florence without paying the fine, he could have been burned at the stake.  Later, in 1315, following Lewis Carroll’s Queen of Hearts dictum in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’s “off with their heads,” he faced public decapitation.  Dante shied from either of these predicaments, choosing instead to preserve life and limb by making Ravenna his home base.  From there he wondered throughout Italy seeking patrons who valued his talents.  His days as a politician at an end, he devoted himself to writing prose and La Commedia, later called The Divine Comedy.  He would never see his wife again.  His Divine Comedy, estimated to have taken 11 years to compose, is widely considered one of the most important poems of the Middle Ages and the greatest literary work in the Italian language.³

Although titled a comedy, there is nothing funny about it, even by today’s dark comedy standards.  Here, reference to comedy follows the classic story arc we see to this day in many sitcoms (Frasier comes to mind) where some sort of misunderstanding or confusion is the driving element until it is resolved by the end with everyone in high spirits (no pun intended).  In La Commedia, Dante’s movement from Purgatory to Paradise follows this pattern as sin is mollified, the Divine is pleased, and all is again right with the world.

Written in an Italian vernacular, not scholarly Latin readable only by the learned, it was clearly intended for the common people.  The Italian he used was his own, the Italian dialect of Florence, one of the fourteen competing versions of Italian then in use on the peninsula.  La Commedia became so widely read and prestigious that it formed the basis for modern-day Italian language, making Dante the “Father of the Italian Language.”

I am not a fan of poems.  The few I do enjoy, the likes of Kilmer (Trees) and Frost (The Road Not Taken), are by an equally few in number list of poets.  For much of my life, I kept La Commedia at arm’s length.  I still don’t fully understand it but have developed a smidgen of appreciation for its attempt to describe the state of souls after death in an imaginatively complex otherworld.  Like a Venn diagram might depict the intersection of Heaven and Hell as Purgatory, Dante, with his spheres, circles, and ascending and descending levels, took mankind on an imaginative journey into a contemplative world where life intersected death, for Dante “without having died traverses the kingdom of the dead,” (The Inferno, Canto 8), was yet mortal.  The poem became a nagging exception to my tentativeness about poetry.  Do I like it?  Possibly, but the jury is still not unanimous.  Clearly written by a genius, it is not a creation of stone but one of words.  As a vast literary construction, it is filled with illusions, hidden meaning, mystery, and a surprising amount of pagan and mythological references from such a devout Christian author.

Its structure was revolutionary, for in it, Dante introduced the terza rima, an interlocking three-line rhyme scheme never before seen.  Amazingly, every three lines see their first and third lines rhyme.  From there, the rhyme of the middle line becomes the rhyme for the first and third lines of the next three-line stanza, known as a terzine.  In total, this remarkable and complex inter-rhyming goes on for 14,233 lines. 

To create what would become the cornerstone of Western literature, Dante employs a cast of characters familiar in Dante's time but far from everyday household names familiar to today’s readers.  The cast contains 408 characters, with an additional 426 mentioned by name, along with indirect references to 112 additional persons through the inclusion of their quotes.¹

If I attempted to read it as Dante wrote it, there would be a problem.  First off, it is in a 13th-century version of Italian.  While purists, in order to appreciate its full majesty, will learn 13th-century Italian, I remain mired in the present tense (presente) of that horde of 21 Italian verb tenses of modern Italian.  In addition to understanding the bizarre geography of La Commedia that Dante travels through, medieval Florence of which he was a product, requires its own understanding.  As you would expect, his was an entirely different social order and culture from ours.  It was one where religion dominated everything through papal political manipulation, to the extent that often the Pope himself was a political appointment.  Church and state were one and the same.  Anyone who questioned the pope’s authority over temporal matters risked accusations of treason or heresy.

Dante’s crowning gift to the world, his opus magnum, was and remains The Divine Comedy.  Throughout its terzine superstructure, each line consists of eleven syllables distributed among 100 cantos, a word for the grouped divisions of a long poem derived from the Italian word for song.  These cantos are divided into the three major songs or sections that describe Dante’s journey as follows:

Inferno (Hell)

Dante described Hell, that xanadu of suffering, as a gigantic funnel that moves downward through nine levels to the very center of the Earth.  The least offensive sinners occupy the upper circles of Hell, while those with more

The Boatman Charon Begin the Descent into L’Inferno (Hell)

grievous sins inhabit greater depths and suffer greater torment.  Along the way, as in other regions of his journey, he encounters and converses with known and legendary figures of his time.  Noteworthy, we learn that all torment is not by fire.  Traitors, for instance, are frozen in ice to their necks, while gluttonous shades suffer endless cold and dirty rain. 

Purgatorio (Purgatory)                                    

Terraced Purgatory Island

Purgatory Island is where penitent sinners cleanse themselves of sin before ascending to Heaven.  Beginning with the excommunicated and spiritually lazy, Dante spirals upward through seven terraces, each associated with the seven deadly sins.  Dante defined them as Pride, Envy, Wrath, Sloth, Avarice and Lavishness, Gluttony, and Lust.  Reaching the summit, he entered the Forest of Eden leading to Heaven.

Paradiso (Heaven)

Dante describes Paradise as a place of light and contentment, a land of luxury and fulfillment containing everlasting bliss.⁶  It is the heavenly abode of God, the angels, and the ‘virtuous dead’ presented as a series of nine concentric spheres surrounding the Earth.  Souls in Paradise are perceived to inhabit these different spheres according to

Purgatory Connects to the Spheres  
of Heaven Surrounding the Earth 
With Hell Deep Inside

their rank.  Empyrean, the Mind of God (tenth sphere), is the highest part of heaven.

It is challenging to understand the nuances of The Divine Comedy.  I doubt there will ever be a perfect way to tackle the text.  To get through the poem absent a deep understanding of Dante's world, I needed all the help I could get, as Dante did.  For him, as for me, it was a strange netherworld.  On his journey, Dante used guides.  His first would be the Roman poet-theologian Virgil of Aeneid fame, who appears at Hell’s Gate and saves Dante from three beasts.  Although a pagan from centuries past, in Dante’s day Virgil was believed to have been a proto-Christian because of his prophecy of Christ’s coming and thus was seen as a bridge from pagan to Christian.  Virgil assists Dante on his journey to the farthest depths of Hell, speaks on his behalf at times, and ascends with him to the garden summit of Purgatory.  There, drawing closer to God, Dante says goodbye to Virgil and meets his next guide, veiled Beatrice.  Beatrice was Dante’s lifelong muse and plutonic love, and serves as a symbol of faith as they depart Purgatorio and enter the celestial spheres of Paradiso (Moon, Planets, Sun, etc).  Only later, without fanfare, does she depart, replaced by Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, who in life was renowned for his devotion to the Virgin Mary, who then serves as a go-between to Christ.⁵  In Paradise, Saint Bernard mediates with the Virgin Mary on Dante’s behalf to allow Dante a “glimpse of the Trinity and the dual nature of Christ.” ¹  Even in Heaven,  human nature comes into play when you want something from someone else, even a deity:  Want God to do something for you?—Just ask his mother to intercede for you.

For my Cliff Notes ‘guiding’ equivalent, I relied on The Divine Comedy by Joseph Gallagher, whose canto after canto summaries served like Virgil and the others as my modern-day chaperon through the purifying souls of Purgatory, the torturous levels of Hell, until rising to the blissful epiphany of Paradise.

While it is unclear where Dante’s soul is today, we are certain concerning the whereabouts of his mortal remains.  Inside Florence’s Santa Croce Church, dubbed ‘Temple of Italian Glories,’ visitors will

The Dante Cenotaph, Santa Croce 
Church, Florence

find a crypt heralding Dante.  It properly lies among other eminent Florentines such as Michelangelo and Galileo.  By all appearances, though somewhat smaller than the tombs of other luminaries, it fits in with the similar sarcophagi that adorn the wall’s perimeter.  Impressively crafted, adorned, and personalized with figures, they ooze testaments of importance.  Few, however, are aware that although Dante is honored there, his remains are absent.  In fact, absent his remains, it is properly called a cenotaph; an honorary monument absent a body.  Because of his political exile, Dante was at arm’s length, a persona non grata, when he died in Ravenna after contracting malaria.  The figure atop this cenotaph announces, “Honor the Most High Poet,” but we do it symbolically from afar since Dante lies in Ravenna where he always has.  The pensive scowl of the figure poised atop his Santa Croce monument, which in fact, may be a caricature of Dante, may hint at this vacancy.  Exile meant exile.  For almost two centuries, a standoff pull and tug ensued, with Ravenna refusing to return his body despite Florence’s attempts to bring the body of its eminent citizen home.  Florence almost succeeded in 1519, but something went wrong.  Pope Leo X, a Florentine himself, concurred with the demands of the Accademia Medicea and authorized the transfer of Dante’s remains to Florence.  With the Pope's backing, everything seemed settled.  How could Ravenna

Dante's Tomb in Ravenna

resist the Pope’s will, especially since Ravenna was part of his Italian holdings?  But when the papal ambassadors arrived and opened the sarcophagus, the tomb was empty.⁴  It was only in 1865 when a box secreted inside the Ravenna church’s wall revealed the truth.  Apparently, local monks moved Dante’s remains into this box when his departure looked certain.  There they remained as conflicts came and went until their surprising discovery.

Reading through The Divine Comedy, can be a transformational eye-opener.  I can only imagine the impact such a revolutionary story had on the Florentine faithful of the time and later as it spread throughout medieval Italy.  Anecdotal reports following its unveiling recount how children, ran after Dante in hopes of touching the cloak of a man who, in their minds, had visited Hell, Heaven, and seen God.¹  In their households, a term we use, ‘Been through hell,’ took on a literal meaning.

Books help the winter months melt away.  Choose as you might among the plethora of subject matter from A to Z or, in the case of The Divine Comedy, from Α-Ω (Alpha to Omega).  Some people spend their entire lives studying The Divine Comedy.  In stark contrast, with but only a smattering of Duolingo Italian levels of accomplishment, I invested a few weeks trying to unravel its content with about as much headway as trying to untie a wet sneaker’s shoelace with gloves on.  I finally took the gloves off and read La Comedia naked in an English translation, having sacrificed its three-line poetic rhythm.  Searching to comprehend this field guide to a world following death, I took a chisel to it in an attempt to find that lodestone of comprehension that had liberated people from misery, expressed the power of love, outlined the intransigence of power, and the justice of salvation and punishment.  At this, I remained essentially a babe on my mother’s lap, equivalent to my youthful self, trying not to interpret the bubble dialog of comics but the melody of a gifted and, who knows, prescient poet. 

From That Rogue Tourist,

Paolo

 

1  A Modern Reader’s Guide to Dante's The Divine Comedy, Joseph Gallagher, Triumph Publications, 1999

2  Facts on the Nobel Prize in Literature, https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/facts/facts-on-the-nobel-      prize-in-literature/

3  Dante Alighieri, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dante_Alighieri

4  The Mystery of Dante Alighieri’s Remains, https://www.travelemiliaromagna.it/en/mystery-dante-alighieri-remains/

5  Clarifying Catholicism,

https://clarifyingcatholicism.org/articles/platonic-guides-virgil-and-beatrice/#:~:text=Beatrice's%20role%20as%20a%20guide,%2C%20to%20Christ%2C%20than%20Beatrice

6  Pardise, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradise#:~:text=Paradise%20is%20a%20place%20of%20contentment%2C%20a%20land%20of%20luxury,or%20underworlds%20such%20as%20Hell

Ancient Traditions

 

Ancient Traditions

Meet Punxsutawney Phil

      A snowy wintery season is upon us.  The below-freezing temperatures outside confirm this for at least some of us.  When it rains in the forest where we
live, we call it “the woods in the wet.”  We’ve nothing comparable when it snows other than vanishing to some warm clime or taking vitamin D.  Fortunately, days have already grown longer, so there is hope the white stuff will be short-lived, and we can retire our snowblower for another season.  Exactly when I should prepare to do this or otherwise ensure I have enough gas to continue blowing snow for additional weeks does not depend on the Old Farmer’s Almanac or the US National Weather Service. Instead, I rely on the USA’s one and only living and breathing groundhog weather barometer, Punxsutawney Phil.  According to a tradition extending back to 1887, if Phil sees his shadow and returns to his underground burrow, he has predicted six more weeks of winter-like weather.   However, if Phil does not see his shadow, he is telegraphing an early spring.¹  On a recent gloomy February day, Maria Elena and I heaved a sigh of relief when Phil confirmed winter just about in the rearview mirror.  

Prophecies like this extend beyond a Pennsylvania rodent's prognostications.  The many that have been promulgated around the globe and have existed since ancient times have not been binary in their predictive convictions.  Less conclusive, they offer more leeway to interpretation than simple “yes or no,” “long or short (as in winters),” or “rain or shine” decrees.

In the earlier world of ancient Rome, a method of divination heavily reliant on interpretation called haruspicy was practiced.  Haruspicy was a form of communication with the gods that relied on inspecting the entrails of sacrificed animals.  For example, examining a liver could assess the god’s approval or disapproval.⁴  Rather than predicting future events, this form of divination allowed humans to discern the will of the gods before engaging in a specific activity or making important decisions.  Through divination, Roman behavior maintained harmony between men and Mount Olympus deities.  Punxsutawney Phil has no idea how lucky he is that his shadow has replaced a fatal examination of his viscera. 

Modern Italians have seen these practices abolished but still retain a quasi-relationship with the whimsical nature of fate and chance, if not destiny.  Each year, for example, beginning at the stroke of midnight, cultural quirks renew themselves on New Year's Day.  Because the shape of lentils resembles ancient gold coins, symbolic of prosperity, eating them at midnight is deemed to promote good luck throughout the coming year.²  Although I love lentils, this hasn’t worked for me.  But then, I’ve never been in Italy on New Year's Eve, which may be key to their magic.  

Along with these legumes, eating twelve grapes (one for each month of the new year) or their equivalent dried version, raisins, will ensure Lady Luck is with you.²  When these antics conclude, in keeping with another Roman custom, you’re expected to don something red (usually underwear) to fend off negativity and invite happiness and love into your life.²  The color red is essential because it is associated with passion, energy, and, here again, prosperity.  It may all be for commercial reasons, but for it to work, you can’t cheat by wearing old red pajamas or lingerie.  Au contraire, your red underwear must be new and a gift from someone.  Buying them for yourself is cheating and just might be behind the enigma of Victoria’s Secret.  No wonder I get so many red jammies, with or without penguins, each Christmas!  

In parts of Italy, throwing old crockery out the window symbolizes purging yourself of what is useless.²  By ridding yourself of unnecessary items accumulated during the year, it is believed that you free yourself of burdens and avail yourself of a fresh start, in a way mindful of a New Year’s resolution.  But, look out below! 

If you are fortunate to make it outside safely (without head injury) that first day of the new year, ancient customs require that you closely observe the first person you meet on the street.  If it is an elderly person or, better yet, a hunchback, the new year will be full of great surprises.  If you meet a baby, a priest, or a doctor, according to this tradition, there might be some bad luck around the corner.

Moving on from New Year's, the search for happiness and love continues.  Geoffrey Chaucer, in a 1375 poem in reference to Saint Valentine’s Day, wrote:

“For this was on seynt Valentynes day, / Whan every foul cometh there to chese his make.”

(For this was on Saint Valentine’s Day, / When every fowl comes to choose his mate.) ³

Chaucer appears to have been referring to an earlier origin of the holiday, once again thought to have ancient Roman roots well before Saint Valentine or red pajamas.  Every year on February 15, Roman priests gathered at the sacred Lupercal cave on the Palatine Hill, where Romulus and Remus were allegedly born (circa 771 BC) to sacrifice a goat and dog.  This ritual was performed to bless mothers with fertility in the coming year.  Not to take away from modern reality TV series like The Bachelor and Love is Blind, the legend also describes how single women placed their names in an urn.  Unmarried men would then draw to be paired with these women for the year, which often resulted in marriage.³

A Cornicello Neckless

There is also a very popular and plentiful horn-shaped Italian trinket known as a cornicello, which for millennia was considered the best, most powerful of good luck charms.  On the spectrum of fortune and protection, the common American practice of carrying a rabbit’s foot doesn’t approach the persistent worldwide mania for wearing a cornicello.  Made of red coral, a cornicello offers protection from the ill intentions of the evil eye, a malevolent gaze that some cast to cause bad things to happen.  This concept is deeply rooted in ancient beliefs and continues to hold significance to this day.  Across cultures around the world, the evil eye plays a formidable role.  For example, it’s known as el Ojo Maledicto (‘the cursed eye’) in Latin America.  While I’ll not attempt to write it in Hanzi characters, it’s called the ‘jinxed eye’ in China.  Protective evil eye pendants are thought to have originated with the Greeks and Ancient Romans some 3,000 years ago as a defense against a shared threat: the evil eye curse.¹¹  Casting the evil eye bestows a curse intended to bring harm, misfortune, accidents, or negative influences on someone.  In addition to the cornicello, there are other amulets designed to ward off evil spirits, and variations of evil intentions.  I have an eye-shaped amulet myself

My Metaphysical Eye Bead
Desktop Security System

purchased in what better place than Olympia,  Greece.  Referred to as a nazar (‘to be coveted’), this large eye-shaped bead is made of glass.  Its circular shape featuring four colored concentric circles dangles above my desk in case of some metaphysical, counter-curse emergency.  It has the advantage of zero power consumption, and lacking the need for renewal, it offers 24/7 protection.  

For Added Protection
Some Use Both

     The benefits of a cornicello include blessings, fortune, positive outcomes in various aspects of life, and, as always, prosperity.  It is often worn by individuals of Italian descent to reflect their Italian heritage.  While it may look like a pepper, don’t be fooled.  It doesn’t symbolize a hot pepperoncino pepper, it clearly resembles.  It is something entirely different.  For ancient Romans, the male organ was
regarded as a talisman of fertility and prosperity.  Thus, this Italian protective pendant usually takes the form of a phallus.  A cornicello is also believed to enhance one's emotional connections, strengthen relationships, and ignite passion in romantic partnerships.  It extends to promoting good health, emotional protection, vitality, and

A Cornicello Resembles a Hot
Pepperoncino Pepper

courage, as well as providing protection from negative energies.  Not stopping there, its properties are believed to enhance energy levels, boost the immune system, improve overall well-being, and bolster determination. 

In 77 AD, Pliny the Elder wrote in depth about red coral in his early version of an encyclopedia, Naturalis Historia.  Thought to possess powers capable of warding off danger, Pliny went so far as to have recommended coral to protect against lightning strikes and, for those with this problem, a means to counter temptresses.⁶  He describes the most valued coral as the reddest and branchiest.  It was also viewed as a thing of beauty and powerfully religious.  While he expressed his belief in its protective powers, he’d likely agree that it would be useless against what, at the time, was believed to be the foremost practitioner of the evil eye, mythological Medusa.  A self-initiated gaze at Medusa saw the ‘voyeur’ turn to stone.  Absent Medusa, in the Middle East and the Mediterranean, where blue eyes are relatively rare, the ancients believed that people, especially those with blue eyes, could cast the evil eye with just a glance, unfortunately marking me as a potential transmitter.¹⁰

Coral amulets are also given to children for protection.  In many paintings of the 1300 - 1500s, you will find children with a small coral horn or branch.  One in particular by Piero della Francesca hung in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, portrays the infant Jesus wearing a red coral stem.  Another example,

Red Coral Necklace on Infant Jesus

the “Virgin and Child with Angles,” by Allegretto Nuzi, hung in the Musee du Petit Palais in Avignon, France, portrays a similar scene with red coral prominently visible on the child.  If the child is too small to wear an amulet safely, there are alternative approaches to ensure protection.  For instance, my Florentine friend, Christina, recounts how her mother-in-law sewed a piece of coral to Christina’s infant son’s bassinet to ward off malocchio (‘evil eye’) misfortune.  Other parents tie a red thread around a baby’s hands.  Our former neighbor, JoAnn, related how, as a child, when she complained of a headache, a zia (aunt) or nonna (grandmother) would take her aside and make a sign of the cross three times with her right thumb in the center of her forehead to the accompaniment of a prayerful incantation over her (the words vary from region to region) followed by spitting three times.  She would then move to one side of JoAnn’s forehead, make the signs once more there three times, spit again, only to cycle through this sequence one last time on the other side of the forehead’s center.  The spitting mimics a superstition where a Greek yaiyai (grandmother)

Virgin & Child by Nuzi

will quickly spit at a newborn three times, ‘tou, tou, tou,’ to ward off the evil eye.  This follows another Greek custom whereby if someone makes a ‘tou’ spitting sound at you three times, accompanied by the flick of their hand, that person is not expressing disapproval at all.  Instead, they are paying you a compliment.  It means you are worthy of envy, so giving you what appears to be a negative gesture (spitting) wards off the potential for the evil eye due to jealousy.  Next, JoAnne’s relative would add a drop of oil to each of three small white bowls filled with water.  In keeping with their version of the tradition, if the oil burst out quickly into the water as if it had exploded (some claim the drop must sink), it meant you were the victim of an evil eye perpetrator.  If, however, the droplet didn’t separate and remained in a circle, not to worry, you only had a headache.  Today, contemporary events call a similar procedure to detect an analogous form of evil a take-home COVID Test! 

Beyond protection against the evil eye, a blue-colored amulet projects positive energies such as creativity, motivation, and commitment, which symbolize good karma.¹¹  What I particularly like, although when I purchased my blue bead, I hadn’t a clue, is that it fosters calmness, a smooth flow of communication, serenity, and relaxation in its owner—a veritable tranquilizing, non-prescription form of Valium if ever there was one.  In addition to blue, evil eye beads are available in various colors.  While each color offers protection against evil curses that might lead to misfortune, depending on their color, they are also said to promote such things as freedom, happiness, imagination, success, relief from exhaustion, wealth, secure friendships, and more.¹¹  There are evidently colors available for every concern.  The classic color scheme is deep blue with white circles to symbolize the human eye.  An eye bead talisman like mine is believed to possess a supernatural force that reflects a

... Just About Everywhere Indeed

malevolent gaze back upon its source—those who wish harm upon others. 

To muddle things further, it’s believed that a curse can be triggered involuntarily by someone unaware they can cast an evil eye.  A folktale tells of a man whose gaze was such a potent transmitter that, knowing this, he resorted to cutting out his own eyes rather than continuing to spread misfortune, especially to his loved ones.¹²  Under circumstances like these, it could be just about everywhere. 

 The twin tyrannies, jealousy, and envy are thought to be the dominant motives that trigger evil eye curses.  The recipient must believe that receiving the evil eye will cause misfortune or injury for it to be effective.  A potent glare, a simple glance, or even a negative comment that one person might give another, founded on intense jealousy or envy, are reportedly all it takes.  To shield against such acts, an urge to suppress envy and snuff out jealousy grew to become ... Just Abiut Everywherso widespread that people went to great lengths to not show pride in their status, flaunt excess, and eliminate any form of behavior that might foster envy, loathing, or resentment in others.  They dressed down, lived simply, wore old shoes, watched what they said in public so as not to boast or appear overly intelligent, and did anything to avoid highlighting themselves.  It is mindful of the public response to that famous purge of luxuries (Bonfire of the Vanities) by Savonarola in 1497 Florence.

When it comes to the evil eye and curses, I’m also reminded of that magical 1987 movie “Moonstruck.”  When Dean Martin would sing, “When the moon hits your eye, like a big pizza pie - that’s Amore,” he foreshadowed this movie, where the moon may as well have been a character.  It is a portrayal of the workings of a dynamic Italian American family, where when referencing Italians, the word dynamic is steeped in passion.  Cher earned the Best Actress Academy Award for her performance in this must-see, fairytale story of love and life that approaches reality.  In the riot of ethnicity that ensues, one Scene at JFK Airport (click/open to watch) reveals a vendetta based on a lifetime accumulation of envy.  In it, as an airliner takes off for Sicily with Cher’s fiancée aboard, an old woman explains why she has placed a curse on the plane for it to crash.  Come to find out, neither of them believes in curses, though Cher cringes and, while no evidence of a cornicello is presented, has her fingers crossed.  

      Another form of expressive protection, a widespread part of everyday life in Il Mezzogiorno (southern Italy), where history runs long, is a gesture called le corna (‘the horn’).  Generally, Italians, expressive as they are, make the sign of the horns when confronted with unfortunate events or simply when harmful events are mentioned.  It is formed by extending the index and pinkie fingers downward while holding the inner remaining fingers closed with the thumb (making this sign with the hand raised takes on a different meaning).

 To this day, the faithful perform certain hand gestures like the sign of the cross and wear religious medals such as a Miraculous Medal or a St. Benedict Medal for divine protection from curses, evil, and diseases.  Others pray to icons for protection, maintain repositories of protective symbols, and wear sacred texts, and charms.  The hamsa, also called the Hand of Fatima and the Hand of Mary is an equally powerful palm-shaped amulet popular from North Africa to the Middle East.  Along with other

Hamsa With an All-Seeing Nazar

symbology, the hamsa features an eye in the middle of an open hand.  As with other evil eye amulets, like the cornicello and nazar, the hamsa is traditionally believed to have talismanic power to provide divine protection.⁹

Like religion, the power of the evil eye is based on belief and faith, making it difficult, if impossible, to verify its validity.  Although scientific evidence does not support the protective powers of amulets, if you believe in the evil eye and the need for protection, it seems best to wear one.  If correct, you have everything to gain.  If you are cynical about these apocryphal beliefs, ask yourself: do I, like grandma, throw a pinch of salt over my shoulder for good luck (thought to blind the devil to stop him from performing evil deeds), pass along chain letters, feel a bit anxious about the number 13 especially Friday the 13th, fear you’ve tempted the Fates by walking under a ladder, break a mirror and anticipate seven years of bad luck, never open an umbrella inside, or knock on wood for luck (gods were thought to inhabit trees)?  If that is the case, acquiring an amulet as an insurance policy on life and limb may be wise just in case these ancient social mores are credible.  You have nothing to lose.  Whichever way you go—nothing to lose, everything to gain—this may explain why so many people worldwide, myself included, possess these protective icons.

 

From That Rogue Tourist, 

Paolo

 

1. Groundhog Day 2020 Guide: Punxsutawney Phil facts, tips for going to Gobbler's Knob and More. Pennlive, 2020-01-28.

2. Studia in Italia, https://www.studiainitalia.com/en/blog/new-year-traditions-italy/#:~:text=Eat%20lentils%20and%20grapes&text=For%20others%2C%20lentils%20are%20a,)%2C%20to%20bring%20you%20luck

3. Valentine’s Day’s Connection with Love was Probably Invented by Chaucer and Other 14th-Century Poets, https://theconversation.com/valentines-days-connection-with-love-was-probably-invented-by-chaucer-and-other-14th-century-poets-199544

4. Haruspex, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haruspex

6. Coral and the Grand Tour, https://www.ericaweiner.com/history-lessons/coral-and-the-grand-tour#:~:text=Coral%20in%20jewelry%20in%20Europe,Angels%20by%20Allegretto%20Nuzi%2C%201360.

9. Hamsa, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamsa

10. Nazar, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazar_(amulet)

11. Evil eye Bracelet Meaning and Origins, https://www.iconicjewelry.com/evil-eye-bracelet-meaning-and-origins/

12. The-Strange-Power-of-the-Evil-Eye, https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20180216-the-strange-power-of-the-evil-eye