di Elena Fornari
Adapted from Marija Gimbutas - Twenty years of Goddess study - Proceedings of the conference of the same name – Rome 9-10 May 2014 – Laima Editorial Project – Turin
In central Italy, in the Tuscany region, a few kilometers from the Versilia coast, the Apuan Alps rise majestically. This area has been populated since the Paleolithic era: certainly the ancients had found an area with interesting characteristics, woods and rather articulated slopes, capable of offering large quantities of fruit and game and at the same time a nearby sea full of fish. On the other hand, the beauty of these places must have conquered the populations who arrived there, no less the powerful energy of the high peaks, which could "bring" the sky and at the same time give the view of the "big mother's womb" earth”, the sea.
If we go to visit the southern area of the Apuan Alps we find places where we can recognize the presence of ancient matriarchal cults: let's see some of them.
The ancient cult of Monte Forato, fertility cult
Near Monte Forato, in the past called "Pania Forata", we find evidence of Paleolithic settlements, in particular the Aeneolithic burial caves of Buca delle Fate and Grotta della Giovannina.
Monte Forato is a peak that has a large hole on the top, large enough to let a helicopter pass.
According to ancient popular legends, this natural arch would have been formed to let the Madonna pass with her Child Jesus. It is curious to find such a link between a peak and the Virgin Mary; certainly not casual, as analogies usually are in popular stories, where such elements are always to be traced back to submerged meanings. Several researchers have identified in this juxtaposition an allusion to the birth event in connection with Monte Forato.
Perforated stones have always been present in ancient places of worship. They were considered a symbol of passage from one state to another, and therefore used for the purpose of purification and healing. Marija Gimbutas suggests its presence in numerous places in Europe.
Passing through the hole meant crossing the threshold of life and therefore being reborn. Thus, in many European traditions and beyond, the newborn was passed through the holes of the perforated stones, or the sick or even healthy people to hope for protection.
Now, this large opening in the mountain was certainly considered extremely powerful, as it contained the indomitable force of the water and wind that had formed it by corroding the rock. But even more significant is the fact that Monte Forato is positioned in such a way that from the slope in front of it an astronomical phenomenon can be observed which has constituted a truly singular cult. In fact, during the summer solstice, between 21 and 24 June, at dawn the sun rises behind the mountain and projects its rays into the hole towards the valley below.
The cult of the sun dates back to ancient times, a symbol of death and rebirth that marked the passage of time. Together with the rhythm of the seasons and the change in natural manifestations, it has had an important value in all civilizations. And precisely in this area, thanks to this event, the union of the mountain and the sun was celebrated, as a "sacred marriage" between the ancient Mediterranean goddess and her god.
From a study of the toponymy of the area, it is possible to understand some interesting aspects regarding the cult of Monte Forato. In fact, the name Pruno, which belongs to the locality from where this phenomenon is observed, probably derives from the Indo-European rhyme *prus = burn, hence the Latin word butter = red, color of fire. In all probability this name was given to this place in reference to the extraordinary "ball of fire" that the ancients admired framed by the large hole in the summit and which they celebrated as a symbol of the fire of life inherent in the womb of the Great Mother represented by the mountain.
Moreover, this event occurred, and still occurs today, in a transitional period of the annual cycle in which nature bears witness to its rebirth under the splendor of sunlight.
Furthermore, at the foot of the peak, we find a place called Cardoso. Once again the study of an etymology can give us important indications; in fact the name Cardoso could derive from the word cardo, whose Indo-European root is krd. This root is the same that gave rise to the Greek word cardia and to the Latin word cor – cordis = heart. But from the radical kr also derives the Greek word krai – no = create. This could mean that this root expresses the concept of the creation of life, like what the heart organ does in every instant.
Probably this place was significant for fertility cults. In fact, near Cardoso, there is the sanctuary of San Leonardo, considered the protector of pregnant women. In addition, in front of the small ancient church, we find a large "cup-shaped" boulder. The archaic custom extended to all of Europe of engraving "cups" on the rocks, small round convexities like bowls, is well known. Their meaning was clearly referred to the basin as the womb of Mother Earth.
The horizontal rocks dotted with cup marks, such as that of San Leonardo, were in all probability sprayed with water or perhaps with menstrual blood, in a ritual propitious for fertility.
From this locality perhaps we walked along the path that leads to the summit of the "Pania Forata", to make a pilgrimage that was a good omen for conception.
Probably the event of the solstice linked to Monte Forato, since its origins, was not the only one to be an object of worship. This clarification refers to the fact that this peak is witness to another evocative event, I am referring to the passage of the full moon behind the large perforated rock which usually takes place between December and February. Certainly the almost diametrically opposite recurrence of the two events during the annual cycle must have struck the ancients, but above all the ancient priestesses of the goddess, the first in archaic history to deal with such cults.
The celebration of the Apuan event of Monte Forato has been maintained over the centuries. In the time when Celtic culture spread in this area, the contents of the cult of the sun god overlapped. The name Volegno, a locality adjacent to Pruno, bears witness to this.
The toponym Volegno derives from the name Belen, the Celtic and Ligurian god of sunlight. The name Belen comes from the Celtic word of Indo-European matrix call which means to shine. This divinity seems to correspond to the classic Apollo and both in Ireland and in Britain and in Gaul he was known as the consort of the goddess Dana.
Given that the Celtic tribes established large settlements in the surrounding area, we can assume that it was precisely the importance of this divinity in the Celtic world that contributed to the preservation of the cult of Monte Forato.
Even today, during the summer solstice, a festival is organized in the locality of Pruno which involves the whole town. And at dawn on 21 June a large group of people went to the plateau above the town to admire the passage of the sun from Monte Forato at dawn. Then, on the evening of the 24th, San Giovanni is celebrated, by lighting a large fire and having a great time. This is evidence of a strong syncretism which tends to preserve an archaic cultural identity.
In this regard, in the neighboring places there are wooded areas called Monte or Colle Baldoria. The presence of these toponyms indicates the relevance that these events had in popular culture. We also find this evidence in the typical stories of the area, where we often talk about the revelry of witches and witches. Their recurring description is very reminiscent of the sabbaths of the so-called "children of Diana" described in the well-known history of Italian witchcraft and suggests a remarkable affinity with what were its original cults.
We have evidence of the cult of Diana in the Apuan area from classical historiography. In fact, Tito Livio recounts that in 179 PEC the censor Marco Emilio had consecrated a temple to Diana to appease her anger, given that the Apuan people who had been defeated in battle had devoted themselves to this divinity.
Toponymy also brings us the rather widespread name of Diana, which we find rendered with the suffix dana or zana (derived from Danna e Zanna), in places with names such as Fordazzani (Foce di), Tiana, Zana, Sana (rio), Zandori, Dianuli/Zanula, colle Zani and others.
There are also sylvan localities called by the locals "Grotta di Diana" or "Polle di Diana". Such a direct and clear denomination makes us think of a use dedicated to this goddess until recent times.
Mount Matanna, place of worship of the Apuan Mother
Even Monte Matanna, not far from Monte Forato and Colle delle Baldorie, gives us a significant toponym. It contains the word *tanna” which takes us back to the Apuan toponymic wreck zana/zanna referring to the goddess Diana.
Now, we can recognize the Sanskrit particle in the name of Diana div = shine and the word ana/anna, which in Sanskrit refers to the concept of nourishment. And it is this last word that we find in the name Matanna and which refers us to the name Anna referring to the goddess Anna Perenna.
This juxtaposition between the goddess Diana, in her ancient nature as goddess of the woods and fertility, and the goddess Anna Perenna finds right acceptance in the meaning that both deities had in the archaic Italian-Mediterranean world for their meaning linked to the concept of mothers benevolent nurses, essentially concerned with giving and maintaining life.
A very ancient pre-Roman cult, that of Anna Perenna was probably a name that characterized the goddess as a source of continuous nourishment. But this "perennial" denomination also leads us to the Indian goddess Anna Purna, where full means total/complete. Extraordinarily, the characteristics of the two goddesses are practically the same and this is also confirmed by the fact that the Italic and Dravidian populations, who inhabited the Indus Valley, belonged to the same stock, the Pelasgian.
In the case of the Apuan area, we find another toponym which could further confirm the presence of the cult of Anna Perenna as akin to Anna Purna and that is the name given to a mountain located in the immediate vicinity, Mount Prana. This denomination is quite original in the Italian territory and we cannot help but think of the Sanskrit word prana which means life but also vital breath.
Furthermore, the name Matanna also contains the word food.
The Mediterranean linguistic basis mat o Bush it is very frequent both in medieval Latin and in the Romance dialects of the Ligurian area and indicates a bushy terrain, a wood or a grassy mountain with bushes and some not too tall trees.
It is curious how such a word, which indicates a place like a mountain full of vegetation, is clearly related to the word mater. In fact this last word comes from Sanskrit but with the meaning of preparing and forming with measure, which then became food, root of the following Latin word. Thus, in this case, the union of mat and zanna must have produced a transitional name like matzanna which then became Matanna, probably designating this place as nemus which became a temple, dedicated to Mater Anna Perenna.
Hypothesis of the cyclical nature of the Aprano matriarchal cult
Perhaps the appearance of the moon in the hole of the "Pania Forata", a metaphor of the sacred womb, heralded the rekindling of life after the winter death that mother nature was meeting after giving birth to the baby sun. Subsequently, spring brought new beginnings and perhaps something similar to the Ides of March was celebrated in March, a Roman-era celebration in honor of Anna Perenna. And then in June, with the summer solstice, the light of life at its maximum was expressed in the passage of the sun from the symbolically procreative cavity, to culminate in what later became the feast of San Giovanni, with the lighting of the great fire that was originally certainly dedicated to the goddess Diana.
Elena Fornari
Adapted from Marija Gimbutas - Twenty years of Goddess study - Proceedings of the conference of the same name – Rome 9-10 May 2014 – Laima Editorial Project – Turin
REFERENCES
- Marja Gimbutas – The language of the Goddess – Ed. Venexia;
- Marja Gimbutas – The living goddesses – Ed. Medusa;
- Anna de Nardis – From Circe to Morgana – Ed. Venexia;
- Italo Pucci – Naturalistic cults of ancient Liguria – Ed. Moon;
- Lorenzo Marcuccitti – The forgotten language – Ed. Moon;
- Oscar Guidi – The witches, the witches – Fazzi Publisher.
