This morning, a wish of mine was granted when we stopped in the town of Custonaci (Trapani Province) to visit the Sanctuary of Maria SS. di Custonaci. I wrote extensively about this Madonna–a Black Madonna–in August. You can read that post here. True to what many scholars who have studied the folklore of the Black…
Tag: mother goddess
Erice and Custonaci’s Mother Goddess
This week of Ferragosto in Erice, they are venerating their patron saint, the Madonna di Custonaci (pictured), with their annual week-long Festa della Madonna. It’s important to know that Ferragosto is another name for The Assumption, the feast celebrating when the Virgin Mother ascended to Heaven. In other words, there are feasts for the Madonna…
Mother’s Grain
The Feast of Santa Lucia is celebrated on December 13, which until 1582 when the Gregorian calendar was instated, was the winter solstice. To celebrate the saint, who is the Christian translation of the Greek goddess Demeter, goddess of grain, agriculture, and fertility, Sicilians eat cuccìa, a pudding made of farro (barley), milk (in this…