Solstice Traditions in Italy

The Eve of St.John's Day: 

A process of purification of soul, mind and body through the simplicity of our ancient cultures. It is a social event! 

This handmade puppet is called "streghetta"
(tr.little witch). You add a scroll where you write down
your fears and fire the witch at the end of the day 
in a collective bonfire. Your fears will disappear! 

On the eve of St.John's Feast Day, June 23rd 2012, I took part in a workshop reviving ancient Italian traditions. I learned many interesting new things that I would like to share with you today. 

1. the making of a which (I call it "witch-ina"=streghetta in Italian, little witch) which is related to the purification of our soul by exorcizing our fears; 

2. the making of little bouquets of magic herbs (tr."mazzolini") out of nine selected herbs that are considered as miraculous and related to the purification of our mind;    

3. the making of "perfumed water" (tr."acqua odorosa") which is related to the purification of our body. This water makes an excellent tonic, refreshing water!

St.John's wort, "Hypericum Perforatum"
is the original name in Latin. 

This is the first step to make a witchina

The "witchina" was the first thing I made. I selected the color of the dress from several beautiful rainbow colors. I used two sticks, two strings, a piece of cotton and a small pink piece of fabric for the head. At the end of the day, I participated in the dances hand in hand around a bonfire. People were launching their witches into the fire. The wind was adding magic to the experience. Familiar pieces of music from Renaissance times were playing in the background and were very meaningful to me. I wanted to think that I got over all my fears. Therefore I did not fire my witchina. I had given it away as a gift instead of wishing to meet the person I gave it to that day. I think she is a wonderful person. She said she would keep the puppet as a memory.

Laurel's leaves: "Laurus nobilis" in Latin

After making my witchina I moved to a different table where they were making "magic bouquets" for the rest of the participants in the event. These magic bouquets were composed of five out of nine magic herbs: wild mint, laurel, lavender, St.John's wort and rosemary. All in even numbers except two leaves of laurel. I received the instructions to place this bouquet under my pillow during that night by expressing a wish. The wish would come true and I would sleep like in paradise. I slept like in paradise...I added some magic to the instructions by transferring my bouquet under the pillow of my fiancé to enjoy it upon his return from work early in the morning. I said to him to express his wish. At the end of his sleep, he said he felt relaxed and it was great we could share the same experience.

Lavender's name in Latin is
"Lavandula Officinalis"

Rosemary "Rosmarinus Officinalis": the herb
of the memory.

I came home from the workshop right before midnight with my lidded container of perfumed water out of the one hundred herbs. This was the third thing I chose to do in the workshop. I had participated in picking some of the herbs during a walk we took with herbs experts. They said to me that St.John the Baptist would pass and bless my perfumed water at midnight. So I was happy to be home right on time. 

I took off the lid of my small container of perfumed water and placed the perfumed water outside the window and waited...midnight arrived a few minutes later and I knew that St.John had passed under the windows and blessed my water. I was so happy! In the morning I filtered the water, took some cotton and passed this water on my body for the first time in my life. It was the most refreshing water I had ever tried. I did the same to my fiancé who was hesitating at first and then enjoyed it very much! 

Mint equals "Mentha" in Latin 

And as the line goes "everybody likes dreaming". This experience made me feel part of a magic world of peace, happiness and health. Dreaming is our life's poetry: reviving our ancestors' traditions makes us feel immortal. We can think of our future with a different attitude. We feel we are not alone: past, present and future gather together in a magic circle of rebirth.

If you wish to share traditions about solstice celebrations coming from different cultures, you are welcome to add your comments to this post. Poetry goes beyond the limits of languages, we can all share the same poetry worldwide. Thank you for sharing! 

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- Original Posts by Roberta Niccacci -

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