L'Albero delle Janàre
Who were the Janàre? Apparently they were peasants who lived their hard existence without arousing suspicion, but then, at night, it is sprinkled with a magic ointment, and threw in the air astride a broom made with sorghum dried. At the time of the jump, pronounced the sentence:
"Sott'a water, sott'a 'r vient, sott'a the noc d' Bnvient"
(under the water and in the wind, under the walnut tree of Benevento)
They were spiteful witches, capable of performing evil and spells. But their big event was the Sabbath: they were meeting on Saturday night at the knob of Benevento, a majestic and magical tree, under which celebrated their orgiastic rites dancing and joining up with spirits and demons. They preferred to gather in stormy nights, with the incessant wind, rain, thunder and lightning.
The essence of this legend has already been highlighted by feminists (as well as anthropological studies) that have made it the symbol of their battles: in fact these janare were nothing more than poor peasant duties and stifled by hard work and the fact that it "trasformassero" in the elusive beings, free, mischievous, represented their great moment of transgression, a way to gain visibility and even power ... then it becomes out of shape at the edge of the central figure, albeit a negative sign ... But in the end who of us, even among the representatives of the male gender, would not want to be sometimes a bit '... Janàra?
"Sott'a water, sott'a 'r vient, sott'a the noc d' Bnvient"
(under the water and in the wind, under the walnut tree of Benevento)
They were spiteful witches, capable of performing evil and spells. But their big event was the Sabbath: they were meeting on Saturday night at the knob of Benevento, a majestic and magical tree, under which celebrated their orgiastic rites dancing and joining up with spirits and demons. They preferred to gather in stormy nights, with the incessant wind, rain, thunder and lightning.
The essence of this legend has already been highlighted by feminists (as well as anthropological studies) that have made it the symbol of their battles: in fact these janare were nothing more than poor peasant duties and stifled by hard work and the fact that it "trasformassero" in the elusive beings, free, mischievous, represented their great moment of transgression, a way to gain visibility and even power ... then it becomes out of shape at the edge of the central figure, albeit a negative sign ... But in the end who of us, even among the representatives of the male gender, would not want to be sometimes a bit '... Janàra?
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Annunziata Orsini, Pittrice
Massimo Ammendola, Saggista
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