THE CHARM OF ANCIENT RITUALS, THE WEDDING BETWEEN TREES

Basilicata is a land rich in traditions and boasts unique rituals which, since ancient times, have celebrated the ancestral bond between man and nature. In particular, during the spring and summer period, the region becomes the stage for truly unique ceremonies: “wedding between trees”.
The unusual marriage takes place between a trunk and a treetop of two different trees, a symbolic union between “two spouses” that recalls the archaic ode to fertility and the renewal of life in the hope of abundance. The arboreal rites therefore celebrate the union of two plants that are literally grafted together to form a single new tree and raised into the sky in an atmosphere of celebration and solemnity.
These rituals usually take place as the spring equinox approaches, coinciding with the rebirth of the plant world but also a material and spiritual re-generation of the Lucanian community.
The ceremony is well defined and articulated but may change slightly depending on the town in which it takes place. In most cases, the “marriage” involves cutting down a tree from the wood which is towed into the village by pairs of oxen; the trunk is then joined, in a mystical partnership between heaven and earth, to the treetop of another tree felledfrom a different wood to the first. The trunk represents masculine vigour, while the treetop represents the feminine side. The “wedding” ends with a climb by the bravest, who climb up to the top amid the applause and incitement of the crowd.
The trips that lead the trunk and the treetop from the wood to the town square have become special events and, to alleviate the effort of transporting them, there are several stops at traditional food and wine locations in the area. The festival also features traditional music and the cries of the cattlemen who, together with the bellowing of the oxen themselves, accompany and mark the progress of the ancient rite in a slow and cadenced rhythm.

A CEREMONY BOTH SACRED AND PROFANE

Tree rites are ceremonies that have their origins in the distant past and that take place in different parts of the world and in some parts of Italy. But it is in the Lucanian land where they are most widespread and where they appear in their most complete form, characterised by a perfect dualism between the sacred and the profane.
In Basilicata these rituals are born as a sort of magical ceremony that celebrates the very close relationship of the population with the nature that surrounds it. However, while originally the “marriages” between the trees had more profane values linked to the world of paganism, later, over the centuries, they have been transformed by welcoming and amplifying the religious significance of this tradition.
Today, therefore, both the pagan and the Christian aspects coexist in the rite. To the original meaning of the rite, linked to the Nordic-Celtic traditions and to the veneration of nature, the Christian value has been added, in a perfect union, through the concomitant celebrations of the patron saints of the various towns in which they take place. In most cases, the saint of reference is Saint Anthony of Padua.
The rite is carefully blessed by the priest and the oxen that are used to transport the trunk and the treetop, as well as being adorned with broom and coloured ribbons, bear the image of the patron saint on their forehead.

AN UNBREAKABLE BOND WITH OUR LAND

Over the years, something that has never changed in Lucanian tree rites is the strong sense of belonging and the spirit of identity that have always characterised these events. For the local people it is a moment eagerly awaited for the whole year: the “maggiaioli” (trunk bearers) and “cimaioli” (treetop bearers) compete to be able to take part in the “spouses” procession and, proudly, guide the pair of trees along the route.
The ritual thus renews every year the inextricable bond with its land and history and there is no lack of dances, songs and typical products that are enjoyed an atmosphere of celebration and solemnity.
In Basilicata there are eight towns where tree rituals are celebrated, divided into two areas, the “Maggio” area and the “Abete” area.

THE RITES OF MAGGIO

The “Maggio” area includes the area of the Gallipoli Cognato Regional Park and the Lucanian Dolomites and in particular the villages of Accettura, Castelmezzano, Oliveto Lucano and Pietrapertosa. There are many theories surrounding the meaning of the name “Maggio”, as this term is not always ascribable to the month (‘maggio’ means May in Italian) in which the ritual takes place. Perhaps it could derive from “Major”, indicating the choice of the largest and tallest tree from the wood as a “groom” for the wedding ceremony, or it could refer to the goddess Maja, a divinity who personified the fertility of the land, as the feast of tree fertility was dedicated to her.

THE MAGGIO OF PIETRAPERTOSA

On the Sunday following 13 June, Pietrapertosa is the stage for the “U’ Masc’” arboreal ritual celebrated every year in honour of Saint Anthony. The two main trees are chosen, cut and pared down a few days before the “wedding” in the Montepiano wood, inside the Gallipoli Cognato Park. The wedding procession begins early in the morning, the spouses walk in two different groups and are carried by pairs of oxen (paricchij) and by the massari (ox drivers) to the Convent of San Francesco and it is there, in front of the bell tower, that the ritual reaches its peak with the spectacular union of the trunk to the treetop and lifting the tree among the cheering crowd. The “U’ Masc'” of Pietrapertosa ends with a “maggiaiolo” bravely climbing a tree.Clinging to one of the ropes used to raise the Maggio, this courageous person climbs up to the top full of prizes, moving and dancing upside down to the beat of the music.

THE MAGGIO OF CASTELMEZZANO

The Maggio ritual in Castelmezzano takes place in conjunction with the celebrations of Saint Anthony of Padua on 12 and 13 September. In the woods of the Gallipoli Cognato Regional Park and the Lucanian Dolomites, among the most beautiful and luxuriant trees, a trunk of Turkey oak and a treetop of holly are chosen; the couple will be taken to the town square to celebrate the wedding.
The ‘maggio’, the long Turkey oak that symbolises male vigour, is dragged by pairs of oxen, while the treetop, the female part, is carried in procession between dances, songs and banquets. The symbolic and propitiatory union of the two spouses takes place, as for any self-respecting wedding, in an atmosphere of celebration and joviality and after the mutual “yes”, the new tree is ready to be climbed in order to take possession of the prizes placed at its top.

THE “CUNOCCHIA” OF CASTELSARACENO

In Castelsaraceno, Saint Anthony blesses the union between a beech trunk and a pine treetop, the “‘ndenna” and the “cunocchia”, with the wedding taking place during the first three Sundays of June on the occasion of the feast dedicated to the patron saint. On the first Sunday, the most beautiful beech is chosen and felled from the trees of the Pollino National Park, precisely in Favino at the foot of Mount Alpi. The following Sunday it is the turn of the treetop, the “cunocchia” which, chosen and felled on Mount Armizzone, is accompanied by songs, dances and lavish lunches. The couple meet for the first time on the third Sunday in June, and it is in Sant’Antonio square that the grafting and raising of the new tree takes place in a union between the sacred and the profane.

“A PIT” IN TERRANOVA DI POLLINO

The arboreal ritual of Terranova di Pollino is the only of the Lucanian that does not celebrate the union between a trunk and a treetop through the grafting and consequent birth of a “new” tree.
What takes place in this pretty village of the Pollino park is only the felling of the “A Pit”, the tallest and straightest fir of those in the Cugno dell’Acero wood, which is then carried on the shoulders of valiant local men aided by pairs of oxen as far as the town.
The trunk arrives at its destination on the occasion of the feast of Saint Anthony on 13 June when, after the religious celebrations, it is raised and climbed by the bravest in a festive atmosphere where the protagonists are dances and popular songs that resound in every corner of the town.