Incontri Tra/Montani: Acknowledging the importance of our shared pagan past

As covered here before, Incontri Tra/Montani ("encounters between the mountains") is a meeting group between the main cultural organizations of both the Val Camonica and the Valtellina (Sondrio), for discussion regarding the logistics of forming a "Camuno-Valtellina province" including Val Camonica. It also forms a political voice for this rural mountain region.

This group formed in 2009, and their activities and ongoing meetings are covered on their website if you can either read Italian or wish to translate it. I have found it too difficult to actually translate word for word for posting here. I found one article regarding one of their 2009 meetings in which the shared pagan history of both valleys was considered. This short article was published by the Val Camonica Distretto Culturale, and also involved the Camunian cultural group Circolo Culturale Ghislandi.

This Camunian-Valtellinese shared cultural history is significant not only because it ties the two valleys together since time immemorial, but also in that there was a shared spiritual experience. I think it was at the Tonale Pass that the Pagans---Camunians, Valtellinese, Chiavennaschi, and Bergamaschi from the Alpine stretches---would all gather for the eight seasonal festivals. Presumably each would last for several days of rituals.

If I could time travel to witness one historical event, I imagine myself at perhaps a Midsummer gathering... maybe a thousand years ago. Standing with my ancestors along the high mountain pass, feeling the warm summer breeze blowing against me, amid the ominous colors of a golden glowing moon against a darkening blue twilight sky, and observing the rich colors of the high Alps as they are slightly illuminated by the dusk sun.

Perhaps this is the chief ceremony, and a high priestess is standing at a high point with an upraised staff with a small sickle attached to it. She is speaking loudly in an old dialect that I can't begin to recognize, but I somehow just know that she is of my family. I'm standing about 25 yards away. Her face is mostly shadowed, but I can see her beautiful long grayish hair draped over her robe. Although I cannot understand her words, I sense that it has something to do with the great Almother who is watching over us and this earthly paradise.

Back to 2009, this meeting was also attended by representatives from neighboring provinces, including the Swiss canton of Ticino. Among the subjects covered at this meeting was a new book entitled 'Ci Chiamavano Streghe' ("they called us witches") by Giuseppe Laterza. If I understand correctly, the idea of "duel awareness" regarding this and other shared history was emphasized.  This inquisition of the church against local native pagan culture was also present in the Valtellina.

From the article: Just remember that between May and June 1518 in Pisogne, Breno, Edolo, Cemmo and Darfo were prosecuted between 100 and 150 people, of which some 70 the judges of the Inquisition issued a death sentence, then regularly performed. Most of these people, about two-thirds, were women. It went on to say that "witchcraft" was really a scapegoat for a general fear of even the remotest speck of female "deviance" according to church doctrine. I'm guessing that could be something as simple as dancing, as pagans often did. The church and state worked together to this end. In this case, the Venetian state and local Vatican authorities. 

This period was described as a "clash of cultures," between the urban (church and state) and the rural (Christian-Pagan harmony). Oddly, we see this cultural-political conflict in the United States even today. This internal crusade ("witch hunt") was a European cultural civil war. An estimated 110,000 "authorities," over the course of three centuries, conducted an estimated 60,000 executions. As we're beginning to see pretty clearly today, there are many millions of people today who would love to do this again worldwide... in the name of another supremacist religion.

Book details:
Title: 'They Called Us Witches'
Authors: Various Authors
Preface: Pier Luigi Milani
Curator: Andrea Richini
Editors: Giuseppe Laterza
Publication date: 2009
Price: Euro $25.00









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Symbols and symbolism - Avia Venefica

 
Avia Venefica links

Whats-Your-Sign.com

Symbolic-Meanings.com

YouTube channel

Old YouTube channel

Facebook


2 other links

Symbols.com (great symbol site)
 
SymbolDictionary.net

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Loose Ends: Valcamonica, Cernunnos, Wicca, Druids, and the Pentagram - Part II

Witches: Part 1 (Part 2 below)

This is an episode of Lifetime's Intimate Portrait: Witches

This I believe aired around mid 90's. I don't remember when I taped it. It's a bit jumpy in a few parts. This was taped originally on VHS (remember them?!)

I cropped out the "Historical" parts. Many of the info is outdated. I tried mostly to get the interviews with Modern day Witches & Wiccans.

However I don't agree or support all of the info. I think this would be interesting for those who follow the teachings of Laurie Cabot, Z. Budapest and Janet Farrar.

From RivaWitch YouTube channel

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The original 'Loose Ends: Valcamonica, Cernunnos, Wicca, Druids, and the Pentagram' was posted on March 5, 2009; and it has been the most popular post from this blog by a country mile! Out of over 10,500 page views, most of that fairly recent, that one post accounts for about 20% of the total. So I think it's only logical to update some of the knowledge. The original was an attempt to tie-in various concepts. It was more of a musing of the subjects. Maybe we can do better.

To start with, the "Cernic tradition"--after many centuries of often brutal state and church-sponsored religious condemnation--developed into what is referred to as "European witchcraft." The idea of "Wicca" is a recent development; and one which does not necessarily adhere to it's parent "Celtic paganism." By "Celtic" I mean the spiritual-traditions of the loosely-connected pre-Roman Celtic cultures who lived, at one time or another, from Ireland to Turkey and from Poland to Spain. It seems pretty clear that the Cernic spiritual hub was located in Gaul, and Cisalpine Gaul, but it may have sprung from the Hallstatt culture in what is today south Germany. Horned or antlered images can be traced back as far as 20,000 years ago in central Europe. It seems at least possible that the origins of this spiritual tradition may date back with the early proto-Europeans who predated other Indo-European peoples.

Recent archeology is showing more and more that the ancient Celts built roads which served as trade routes across Europe; from marketplace to marketplace; from community to community. Cernic spiritual concepts likely migrated in this way, and mixed with other spiritual traditions on those far off places. For example, the ancient Celts, in what is today England and Wales, apparently made no reference in art or symbology regarding Cernunnos; but they developed their own concept of the "horned god." It seems to be true that females, special females, were generally the high priestesses of this earth-based spiritual traditon. The forest was their church.

Wicca is a universalist concept developed by Freemasons in the United Kingdom; and the pentagram they adopted goes back to Sumeria. However, there are references to the pentagram within European witchcraft which can be traced back about five centuries. Having "borrowed" many things from other pagan religions worldwide, Wicca only vaguely resembles European witchcraft or Celtic paganism. For example, the ancient Egyptian goddess Isis had nothing whatsoever to do with Cernunnos. It's fun to compare certain traditions, but to splice them together only accomplishes to spoil their uniqueness. Also, modern politics are no place to inject religion; and many well-intentioned people are turned off by politically-minded people within any religion.

But getting back to the Cernic tradition of the ancient world; it's not entirely clear how this spiritual tradition interacted with the Druidic spiritual tradition which was also Celtic in origin. The Druids lived in ancient Gaul as well, although it appears that most of the high priests of Druidism were males. It was also an earth-based spiritual tradition, which also existed in what is now the British Isles. It appears that the Cernic traditions merged with the Teutonic Wotanist traditions in some areas. I haven't seen evidence of how Druidic ideas may have interacted with the Wotanists, but I would guess that all of these beliefs merged in some places. I don't think that today it's pragmatic to open up ancient feuds; but there is absolutely no doubt that Christianity fully replaced the Cernic, Druidic, Wotanist, and many other earth-based rites; either by coercion or force. It was not just the Romans who perpetrated this policy either.

 It should be mentioned that Cernunnos was not the only Celto-Gaulish god, and that there were other gods and goddesses like there is in Odinism; but Cernunnos (pronounced as "KER-new-nos") was the chief one in most places (just as Odin is in Odinism). Some of the dark symbolism in European witchcraft is probably a result of it having to exist underground for so long; but some of it may have always existed. "Dark imagery" does not necessarily reflect "evil." The ancient forests were often dark places. It seems obvious to me that this is mainly just a reflection of nature. To the ancients, the night was a scary place; and they may have counted on Cernunnos to protect them. Any hike at night in a remote natural area will give us an instant connection to that world.

It seems obvious to me that the rightful daughters of Cern today, would be the most logical ones to access "Cernism" and serve as its high priestesses. To the ancient Cernic pagans, the family was at the heart of their culture; and the woman was the head of the household. Not the "head" like she was bossing around her husband, but boss of the "household" while he was away hunting, providing, or at war. This one element of their culture marginally found it's way into later Christian societies, which had entirely different views regarding men and women. The Cernic male represented "law"; while the Cernic female represented "justice." Cernic women were the spiritual leaders of their folk societies. They were at the center of everything.

Cernic women were very strong-women, not "Feminists," which is an entirely modern political construct which attempts to make females more masculine. There were "women warriors" in Cernic societies. They weren't like guys, but simply were just big strong gals, period. Obviously there are some women who could wipe the floor up with weaker men; and these women were pragmatically allowed to serve the tribe in battle. It was all about the family, clan, and tribe... maybe sometimes of a "tribal federation," or loosely their nation.

It's important to compare the Cernic societies with the Odinic societies. Of course, the Cernic culture had it's own mythology, just like Odinism. There are many similarities. Odinism may have developed a little more of a "heroic ethic," which seems to remind one a little more of "the masculine"; while Cernism, although in many ways a "warrior society," somehow seemed to be a little bit more "down to earth," and reminds one a little more of "the feminine." As to where the Druids fit into all of this, I don't know. Some Celtic societies seemed to be Druidic, while others seemed to have been Cernic. I think it's also very important to remember that Cernism influenced other tribal groups. For example, some ancient Norse seemed to be almost Cernic, or at least strongly influenced by them.

Obviously, the first 'Loose Ends" article was from the point of view of historical Camunian culture. The Camunians had not surrendered their native beliefs by the sixteenth century, which is pretty remarkable. However, the Val Camonica witch trials were just two of many such events in Europe during the Middle Ages, and after. In all of these tragic events, think of the great women and men who died. They were martyrs who aren't even given the proper status of martyrs. In the earlier article, I had stated that I believed that the witch trials were exaggerated; and they probably were in most locations in Europe and the American colonies. However, in some locations it was pretty extreme, as the last link above reflects in its 'Counting the Witch Hunt' graph by Ronald Hutton. It's hard to argue with those numbers.

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