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| Cimitero delle Fontanelle's detail |
Indeed, Naples traditions' are deeply rooted in both superstition and religion, till a point that they mix together and it is impossible to distinguish them.
A great example of this melange is the Cult of Death or the Cult of Skulls.
Such a religious practice is connected to the concepts of Christianity and a belief in Purgatory. According to the Catholic Church, Purgatory is a place for souls who have not been completely freed of sin.
People believed if the living said prayers on behalf of the souls in Purgatory, they will get favors in return.
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| A child's skull in Cimitero delle Fontanelle |
How does it work the cult of death in Naples?
Let's start from the fact that there are a lot of bones buried under Naples, as a result of Centuries of inhabitation, wars, and epidemias.
Worshippers, normally old women, used to receive a message from the deceased in their dreams, and would then “adopt” a skull they believed had belonged to the spirit that had contacted them.
They would clean and care for their skulls, and pray for them. Prayers are recited so that the spirit can be released from Purgatory. In return, the spirit is asked for favors, for a good job, a good marriage, a healthy child, and, above all, for intercession on the dreamer’s behalf to obtain grace.
Where the cult take place?
Two are the the main spots where the cult take place: the Fontanelle Cemetery, a vast underground ossuary located in Rione Sanita neighborhood, and the Church of “Santa Maria delle Anime del Purgatorio (Purgatorio ad Arco)” in via dei Tribunali.
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| Skull at the entrance of Santa Maria delle Anime del Purgatorio's Church |
How does the cult it presented to visitor eyes?
Worshippers pray and clean their skulls, give them names, offerings, write them prayers or requests, put photos of the beloved people near to them in order to protect them. Once they received the favours requested, they made a shrine or a box in which they put the inscription “per grazia ricevuta” (thanks for what was given). From that moment, the soul of the skull is released from of the Purgatory and can reach the Paradise.
A legend about Santa Maria delle Anime del Purgatorio's Church
At the crypt in Santa Maria delle Anime del Purgatorio ad Arco there is a skull nicknamed Lucia or the “Virgin Bride.” Lucia has become sort of a patron saint of brides, and her patrons have set her skull on a white cushion and adorned it with a tiara and a veil.
Who was Lucia?
Some believe that Lucia was a young lady who died of a broken heart when her father refused to let her marry the man she loved, and the veil she was never allowed to wear in life covers her skull in death. In another version of this legend Lucia was the only daughter of a nobleman. When she died of tuberculosis in 1789, right after her wedding to the Marquess Giacomo Santomango, her father buried her in the cemetery at Purgatorio ad Arco because he was a patron of the souls there.
The cult nowadays:
The Napolitan cult of the Death became so intense that the Archbishop of Naples banned it in 1969. Only in 2010 the Cimitero of Fontanelle opened again and visitors and curioius started to increase.
A part from the Cult of Death, special mention has to be made to Superstition and superstitious traditions.
The Evil Eye
In Naples there is a distinction between "bad luck" (sfortuna, in Italian) where there is no implication of it having been caused, and the "Evil Eye," (malocchio, in Italian) that is a bad luck "cast" on you by a malevolent person with that particular ability. Indeed, one of the common Napolitan terms for that kind of bad luck is “jettatura”, which comes from the Italian verb "gettare," meaning "throw" or "cast".
The most common way to ward off the Evil Eye, or bad luck caused by a spell, is by making the "sign of the horns" —le corna— that is, put the index and little fingers of the hand straight and pointend on the direction of the ground.
Apart from this way of warding off the evil eye there is also another way, the use of a “talisman” sold in every corner of Naples’s street - a single curved horn.
Worshippers pray and clean their skulls, give them names, offerings, write them prayers or requests, put photos of the beloved people near to them in order to protect them. Once they received the favours requested, they made a shrine or a box in which they put the inscription “per grazia ricevuta” (thanks for what was given). From that moment, the soul of the skull is released from of the Purgatory and can reach the Paradise.
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| "Per Grazia ricevuta" inscription and the name of the worshipper |
A legend about Santa Maria delle Anime del Purgatorio's Church
At the crypt in Santa Maria delle Anime del Purgatorio ad Arco there is a skull nicknamed Lucia or the “Virgin Bride.” Lucia has become sort of a patron saint of brides, and her patrons have set her skull on a white cushion and adorned it with a tiara and a veil.
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| Skull nicknamed "Lucia" |
Some believe that Lucia was a young lady who died of a broken heart when her father refused to let her marry the man she loved, and the veil she was never allowed to wear in life covers her skull in death. In another version of this legend Lucia was the only daughter of a nobleman. When she died of tuberculosis in 1789, right after her wedding to the Marquess Giacomo Santomango, her father buried her in the cemetery at Purgatorio ad Arco because he was a patron of the souls there.
The cult nowadays:
The Napolitan cult of the Death became so intense that the Archbishop of Naples banned it in 1969. Only in 2010 the Cimitero of Fontanelle opened again and visitors and curioius started to increase.
A part from the Cult of Death, special mention has to be made to Superstition and superstitious traditions.
The Evil Eye
In Naples there is a distinction between "bad luck" (sfortuna, in Italian) where there is no implication of it having been caused, and the "Evil Eye," (malocchio, in Italian) that is a bad luck "cast" on you by a malevolent person with that particular ability. Indeed, one of the common Napolitan terms for that kind of bad luck is “jettatura”, which comes from the Italian verb "gettare," meaning "throw" or "cast".
The most common way to ward off the Evil Eye, or bad luck caused by a spell, is by making the "sign of the horns" —le corna— that is, put the index and little fingers of the hand straight and pointend on the direction of the ground.
Apart from this way of warding off the evil eye there is also another way, the use of a “talisman” sold in every corner of Naples’s street - a single curved horn.
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| A shop that sells handmade horns to ward off the Evil Eye (till 2099) |
There are two explanations for the use of the horns as a good luck talisman: one says that it comes from the defensive posture of animals with the head lowered and the horns ready to use; the other explanation is that horns' shape represents male sexuality that is capable of impregnating but also of warding off evil.
Last explanations seems more realistic, since another common way for men in Naples to ward off bad luck is to touch their genitals.
Superstition is therefore an integrant part in Napolitan people's life and an element without which is not possible to understand Naples's culture and traditions.
A great Napolitan actor, Eduardo de Filippo, said: "Being superstitious is for ignorants, but not being it, brings you bad luck"
Last explanations seems more realistic, since another common way for men in Naples to ward off bad luck is to touch their genitals.
Superstition is therefore an integrant part in Napolitan people's life and an element without which is not possible to understand Naples's culture and traditions.
A great Napolitan actor, Eduardo de Filippo, said: "Being superstitious is for ignorants, but not being it, brings you bad luck"
(Essere superstiziosi è da ignoranti, ma non esserlo porta male)
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