52 Reasons to Love Sicily #48. Myths and Legends. Sicily is the land of myth. Indeed, you’ll find points of interest recalling ancient myths throughout the island. For example, this Giulio Moschetti fountain created in 1906, the Fontana di Diana, is an obvious one. It illustrates the story of the water nymph Aretusa and her…
Category: divine feminine
Tonight! Presentation about the Divine and Sacred Feminine Sites of Eastern Sicily
Tonight! Join me at 7:30PM Eastern online for Myths and Mysteries of Sicily: Part I, Eastern Sicily. I’ll discuss the divine feminine and sacred feminine sites in Eastern Sicily. Details and registration at Myths and Mysteries of Sicily: Part I, Eastern Sicily Update: Enjoy! RECORDINGMyths and Mysteries of Sicily: Eastern Sicily, Part Ihttps://youtu.be/R5Lsbsa1q0E
Happy Mother’s Day! 52 Reasons to Love Sicily | The Mother Goddess’ Presence is Everywhere
Happy Mother’s Day! 52 Reasons to Love Sicily #24. The Mother Goddess’ Presence is Everywhere Demeter, the goddess of the grain, female fertilization, and the harvest, who is the mother of Persephone, represents the great matriarch in ancient Greek mythology. Her power to cultivate the bounties on the Earth’s surface for us are illustrated significantly…
52 Reasons to Love Sicily | Fantastic Feasts and Festivals
52 Reasons to Love Sicily #16. Fantastic Feasts and Festivals Sicily’s community rituals will enchant you. Case in point: Yes, that is a big artichoke! Because annually on April 25, the town of Cerda (Palermo Province) celebrates the Sagra del Carciofo or Artichoke Festival, in honor of their main crop. Cerda’s party is one of…
52 Reasons to Love Sicily | The Crowds Slip Away
52 Reasons to Love Sicily #10. The crowds slip away quickly in Sicily and what’s left are delightful discoveries. In accessible off-the-beaten-path towns like Sciacca in Agrigento Province, for one example, you will encounter something engaging when you least expect it, such as a work of street art, a votive altar for the Madonna on…
Giving Thanks To The Father
Thank you to those who joined me last evening for our online Experience Sicily Saint Joseph’s Day celebration! Viva San Giuseppe! Happy Saint Joseph’s Day! Buona festa del papà! Pictured is my altar for this powerful patron of fathers, carpenters, the home, and those who toil for their work. The three tiers represent Jesus, Mary,…
The Staff, Wreath, And Palm: Ritual Bread For Saint Joseph’s Day
Join me to recognize St. Joseph’s Day on Thursday, March 18 at 8PM Eastern. Register at https://experiencesicily.com/st-josephs-day-online/ You’ll learn more about the feast. Such as, on traditional St. Joseph’s Day altars or le tavolate di San Giuseppe, you will see these three types of loaves pictured. On the left is the staff (vastuni), which represents…
Votive Offerings Through The Millennia
Archaeologists are very careful to identify to whom an ancient temple is dedicated until they have concrete evidence (and I don’t just mean concrete in the sense of stone!). In Siracusa, for example, we know that the temple to Apollo on Ortigia is for Apollo because there is an inscription on the east-facing stairs stating…
Piazza Della Vittoria Is A Victory For The Goddess
It’s not lost on me (or my friend, tour guide Rosa Rizza) that when they broke ground in 1973 at Piazza della Vittoria in Siracusa to build the Sanctuary for the Madonna of the Tears, that where they intended to place the church, they discovered the foundation of the late 5th/early 4th century BCE Sanctuary…
They Looked To Venus For Love
In ancient times, if you were looking for love and passion, western Sicily was the place to go. I’ve written about Erice in the past, where for centuries there was a temple to Venus, the Roman goddess of love, and before that, it was a temple to the Carthaginians’ and Phoenicians’ goddess of love. Well,…