Category: divine feminine

  • Thank You Alessia! Viva Santa Lucia!

    We had a wonderful online celebration for the Feast of Santa Lucia today! Thanks to Alessia Liistro of Smile and Food for teaching us your arancini and cuccìa recipes from your kitchen in Siracusa! Viva Santa Lucia patroness of light, eyes, wheat, grains, and the harvest!

  • Santa Lucia Answered Their Prayers

    Today we’ll make rice balls and cuccìa at noon (eastern time) for Santa Lucia. Details at https://experiencesicily.com/santa-lucia-2020/  In the days leading up to the Feast of Santa Lucia, December 13, many Sicilians refrain from eating pasta and only eat un-ground wheat grain, or “farro,” that is prepared as a dish called cuccìa. Devotees observe this ritual…

  • They Stabbed Lucia With A Dagger

    Please join Experience Sicily online to celebrate the Feast of Santa Lucia this Sunday, Dec. 13 at Noon Eastern. Reserve your spot at https://experiencesicily.com/santa-lucia-2020/ (Story continued from yesterday…) Like Sant’Agata of Catania before her, the maiden Lucia refused to participate in the activities of the brothel to which she was condemned. This of course, angered the…

  • Celebrate Santa Lucia Online With Us Sunday

    Sunday, join us for Santa Lucia! At the dawn of the 4th century, practicing Christianity in the Roman-ruled city of Siracusa was illegal. Already though, inspired by nearby Catania’s Patron Saint, Sant’Agata, who lived just a few decades before (from 231 AD – 251 AD), the young and beautiful Lucia devoted herself to the new…

  • Persephone And Pomegranates

    Pomegranates, when left on their trees, open like flowers to release hundreds of seeds. They are harvested in the fall. The maiden Kore, before she became known as Queen of the Underworld, Persephone, ate pomegranate seeds when Hades (AKA Pluto, God of the Underworld) offered them to her. The act of accepting them signified moving…

  • Learn To Make Rice Balls For Santa Lucia

    Let’s make arancini next Sunday for Santa Lucia! Although we can’t meet in person to celebrate la Festa di Santa Lucia this year, we can meet online! Together with my friend and colleague in Sicily, Alessia of Smile and Food, we’ll be teaching you how to make rice balls (Arancini) and cuccia (sweet farro traditionally…

  • Sacred Sicily And Lago Di Pergusa

    We’re halfway through autumn in the northern hemisphere. Persephone has made her way to the underworld to join her husband Pluto (AKA Hades) to continue her work as Queen of the Underworld. Meanwhile, Demeter, Persephone’s mother, is turning inward and the earth slowly begins its winter cycle. Pictured is Lago di Pergusa, or Pergusa Lake,…

  • The Saints As Guides For Life’s Cycles

    The veil between the living and the dead is thin during these days of mid-autumn. In past centuries, November 1 was better known as All Hallows or Hallowmas (Hence yesterday being All Hallows Eve or Halloween, in northern Christian countries.). Now called All Saints Day, today is a solemn feast to acknowledge all saints, known…

  • An Ancient Golden Platter In Sicily

    The extraordinary Phiale Aurea (or gold platter) of Caltavuturo (a village at the foot of the Madonie mountains of Palermo province) was created by an exceptional Greek goldsmith between the late 4th century/early 3rd century BCE. A bowl such as this one pictured was used during religious rites in ancient times for libations and offerings…