L'Italo-Americano

L'Italo-Americano THURSDAY, DECEMBER 27, 2018 www.italoamericano.org 6 part way up the hill. Nearby Roman roads appear to bear this theory out, although it probably wasn't until the Barbarian era, after the fall of the Roman Empire, that the current hilltop location at 710 meters was estab- lished. Earthquakes later drove residents and monks from the older, lower fortress up to the rocky precipice s ummit and gradually the top was leveled and a church built. The community, whose name comes from the Latin for small wood of laurel trees, spelt either Lauretum or Loretinum, grew gradually, probably becoming a little municipality during Nor- man or Lombard times. The first documentary evidence of its existence dates back to the 1200s and the commune then passed through the hands of many landowners, feudal lords, fief- doms and barons before being sold to one Duke Antonio Vital- iano in the 1600s. Somewhere along that tan- g l e d t i m e l i n e t h e p e o p l e o f Oratino began a magical custom of lighting the faglia torch on Christmas Eve each year. So what happens? Fundamentally, the festival involves the lighting of a gigan- tic 13-meter tall wooden torch once darkness has fallen the n i g h t b e f o r e C h r i s t m a s . I t sounds simple, doesn't it but there's so much more to it than just setting the tower alight. In fact, preparation begins weeks beforehand using techniques handed down from father to son over countless generations. The tower itself is made from reed cane, a rare wood in the region of Molise that can be hard to track down.The story goes that youngsters used to steel canes from the fields and vine- yards of the local hillsides at night to build the steeple. It required cunning, dexterity and skill to avoid detection and acted as a kind of initiation into man- hood. But today they're harvest- ed in daylight and with a little more attention to the letter of the law! Not every cane makes the cut though. They need to be long for a start and thickness is important too to ensure that the tower is sturdy enough to stand tall. Once felled, the reed canes – some of which are the thickness of a m a n ' s t h u m b o r m o r e – a r e cleaned by hand and bagged before being laid down in stor- age to dry. They're so precious t h a t o n l y a f e w l o c a l s k n o w where the reeds are kept. Next comes the construction phase, generally begun as the c o l d , d a r k D e c e m b e r n i g h t s draw in and helped along with warm, sweet wine for suste- nance. It's arguably the most i m p o r t a n t s t a g e , t o o , a s t h e obelisk has to be built as strong as steel to remain upright even once lit, and as it continues to burn down. So strength, skill and years of experience are used to beat then bundle the canes into a densely packed cylinder nearly 2 meters in diameter. Elm wood r i n g s a r e l a s h e d a r o u n d t h e faglia to keep it tight as it grows and the longer it becomes, the more abundant the next harvest will be. At least so the tradition goes. Work finishes after 4 long d a y s o f g r a f t a s C h r i s t m a s approaches, but before the light show can begin the torch has to be moved. A small group of musicians heralds the torch's arrival in t o w n a s 5 0 m e n p o w e r f u l l y shoulder the hefty, 3000 kg pil- lar aloft. As the sun slowly sets one man cloaked in black – the Capofaglia - climbs up onto the column to guide its path from the front, a crooked branch casu- ally embedded into the rods to steady him. In days gone by, he would have taunted those who had suffered the theft of the pre- cious reeds from a height, but today he directs the work, pivot- ing the faglia carefully round tight corners, reeds brushing against ancient brickwork as the pageant penetrates the historic heart of the hilltop community. The faglia reaches its jour- ney's end in darkness and the final stage begins. First a wick of petrol-soaked reeds is hammered into the tip of the torch instead of the basket c a r r y i n g p r o s e c c o t h a t h a d c a p p e d i t e a r l i e r . A n d t h e n chains, pulleys and brute mascu- l i n e f o r c e w i n c h i t i n t o t h e upright position in front of the bell tower of the main church, la Chiesa Madre di Santa Maria Assunta in Cielo. Cables careful- ly tether the column to the build- ings around it and finally, by around seven o'clock, la faglia è pronta, it's ready. A f t e r a b l e s s i n g f r o m t h e priest, one man climbs the bell tower. He lights an oil-soaked r a g o n t h e e n d o f o n e f i n a l , lengthy cane and carefully push- es it out of the bell tower porti- co, igniting the wick and setting fire to the faglia. So after all that effort, what does it all mean? Clearly, the exclusively male ritual evokes a number of things. From pagan fire festivals and the Winter solstice to fertility and manhood, from purity to invinci- bility, from abundance to light, from marriage to the male phal- lus and even death, everything is weaved into the canes. Another generation of youngsters cheer- fully enters adulthood, figura- tively burning their bonds with childhood and stepping out into the world. Ancient paganism intertwines nature and religion in a truly unique Molisan display. Christmas begins, welcoming the birth of Jesus. The days start to lengthen again. And as the torch is left to burn through the night, Oratino is renewed, puri- fied, re-energized and reborn. Evviva le canne! Long live the canes and the torch of Oratino! The village of Oratino has ancient origins: its name comes from that of an old Roman settlement, Lauretum Among the many symbolic meanings of the Faglia ritual, there are also those of masculinity and fertility NEWS & FEATURES TOP STORIES PEOPLE EVENTS Continued from page 4

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