"And thus the peasant will be sure to ever have good fortune.'

It is not difficult to recognise in Paló the Pales of the Romans, or the ancient deity of agriculture of all kinds. To him or to her–for Pales appears to have been recognised both as male and female–offerings were made by the peasants who also drank much, and leaped over flames. PRELLER writes that in the morning the shepherd uttered four times an invocation to Pales, then drank a mixture of milk and new wine, and then jumped over blazing straw. Therefore the invocation must have been very short, since it was so often repeated. It would be strange–and yet it is not impossible–that in the four lines here given there is an echo at least of the early invocation. There is so much which is unquestionably ancient in these Tuscan traditions that I find it almostimpossible sometimes to believe that there is anything modern in them. Critics may very reasonably indicate many errors and inconsistencies in details, but a comparison of the whole must leave the impression of antiquity. A single negro would not absolutely prove the existence of a black race, but a number of them would render it extremely probable.

As was the case with most deities, Pales had a town named after him. It is the modern Palo, half way between Rome and Civita Vecchia. I mention this because it may be thought–as was indeed urged as to Norcia–that the modern Tuscan deity was so called after the town.

When a light is suddenly and mysteriously extinguished or goes out apparently of its own accord, especially when two lovers are sitting together, it is commonly said in jest that "Esta did it." Esta is supposed to be aspirit who pays particular attention to lights, but beyond this I could learn nothing of her.

Hestia was an ancient name for Vesta, and CICERO thought that Vesta was derived from [greek word]. In any case the sudden extinguishment of a light or fire,

and the satirical covert allusion to love in the dark, seems to indicate that the goddess of chastity and her light are here alluded to. However,this is a matter which those who are best able to determine must settle for themselves if they think it worth the while. I do but record the fact that Esta put out the light, and then put out the light which was extinguished over Evelyn's bower.

When I asked if the name Carmenta was known it was promptly recognised asthat of a spirit who gives, presides over, and loves children, who aids in birth, and who is dear to mothers. Then the following was repeated:–

This corresponds in name and in every detail to the Latin Carmenta or Carmentis, who was another form of the Fauna or Bona Dea. Of her PRELLER says: "The Goddess of Birth, Carmenta, was so zealously worshipped near thePorta Carmentalis, which was named from her, that there was a Flamen Carmentalis, and two calendar days, the eleventh and the fifteenth ofJanuary, called the Carmentalia, devoted to her worship. These were among the most distinguished festivals of the Roman matrons. She was peculiarly the goddess of pregnancy.

The boundary-stones which determine the limits of fields are believed in Tuscany to have in or attached to them spirits called Spiriti dei sentieri, which means, however, "spirits of the paths," or lines of demarcation. It was, however, distinctly asserted that they lived in the stones. "And if any one removes them the spirit will quite ruin him," The single spirit is a sentiero.

This spirit is exactly the Terminus of the Romans, or the divinityof the boundaries. Fearful penalties were attached to the removal of such landmarks. The inscription of a terminus reads: Quisquis hocsustulerit aut læserit, ultimus suorum moriatur ("Should any one remove or injure this stone, may he die the last of his race !"). There is indeed quite a litany of old Latin curses, almost equal to a Roman Catholic excommunication, extant, as applied to these "land- grabbers." That the memory of these has survived is evident from the only comment which my informant made––Il spirito lo guasta("The spirit ruins them").

Lactantius, heaping ridicule on the heathen for worshipping many deities of small duties, specifies Terminus as one because he was rough and rude.

"He was the stone which Saturn swallowed thinking it was Jupiter. When Tarquin wished to build the Capitol and found these shrines of many ancient gods, he consulted them by augury whether they would yield to Jupiter. All agree to go save Terminus, who was suffered to remain. Hence the poet calls him the immovable rock of the Capitol. And what can I say of people who worship such stocks and stones (lapides et stipites)save that they are stocks and stones themselves?" (Adverstes Gentes, book i., chap. xx.).

It is a pity that Lactantius could not have lived to the end of the nineteenth century, when he might have seen among Christians an array of saints of small

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or games, or Exempla, it would be an easy, or at least a defined work. Such pools are not hard to fathom, or count or measure, or exhaust. But this mass of old, obscure, unrecorded mythology, comes pouring and foaming down like the Arno from the mountains of La Romagna, in whose mysterious recesses still dwells

Well, it is a strange country little known–we have Goethe's word forthat–and it has sent me, all in a spring freshet, obscure deities of doubtful name and fame, sorceries, rhymes, legends–dirt and diamonds–tutti confusi e misti. What should I give? What should I suppress? As compared to anything which I have as yet met in folk-lore this has been more like counting Ossian's ghosts than aught else. Many a time have I almost despaired over it, and many a time been awed.

But hope springs eternal in the human breast, and so I will proceed to discuss my last discovery of a divinity who is generally supposed to have utterly died out nearly two thousand years ago, and yet who lives as a real foletto among a few old witches in La Romagna. I mean Faflon.

FUFLUNUS was the Etruscan Bacchus. "His name," writes MULLER (Die Etrusker, vol. ii., p. 79), "was sounded (lautet) Fuflunus, Fuflunu, Fuflunu, Fufluns– generally Fufluns. GERHARDT, i., 83, 84, 87, 90, &c. ; CORSSEN (i., p. 313-5). We find on goblets Fufunl (FAHR. P, Spl. n. 453) and Fuflunsl (CORSSEN, i., p. 430), according to CORSSEN from poculum, and poculum Bacchi. He derives the name of the god from the Indogennanic root fu, to beget, ab. Gerhard from Populonia"–which is very doubtful.

On inquiring from my best authority if there was in La Romagna Toscana a spirit of the vineyards, or of wine, I was promptly informed that there was such a being known as Fardel, or Flavo, but among the witches, or those better informed in such mysteries as Faflon. And at once there was narrated to me a legend which was then written out:–

"Faflon is a spirit who lives in the vines, and when women or men have gathered grapes and filled the panniers, then comes this Faflon and scatters them all on the ground ; but woe to the contadini should they be angered at it, for then Faflon knocks them right and left, and tramples (on the grapes), so that they get no profit. But ifthey take it good-naturedly, he gathers them again, and replaces them inthe panniers.

"Now there was a peasant who greatly loved the spirits, and frequently blessed them. One year everything went wrong with him; his crop of grapes and all other fruit failed, yet for all this he still loved Faflon and blessed him.

"One morning he rose to gather what little there was on the vines, but found that even that little was gone. The poor peasant began to weep, and said: 'Non mi resta che morrire. All that remains for me now is todie, for I have lost what little crop I had in my little vineyard.' Whenall at once Flaflon appeared, but beautiful with a beauty like enchantment–ma tanto bello di una bellezza da fare incantare–and said : 'Oh, peasant with great coarse shoes, but with a fine brain, thou hast loved me so well I will reward thee. Go to thy cellar, and there a great quantity

"Now what Flaflon had said seemed to be like a dream to the peasant, but he went to his cellar, and truly the wine which he had that year made him rich, e non ebbe piú biogna di fare ii contadino–he was no longer obliged to live as a peasant."

No one can doubt that this Faflon–it was written in the MS. sometimes Flaflon–is the Fufluns, or Fufunal, of the Etruscans. His appearance as a very beautiful being is perfectly in accordance with thatof Bacchus. It is exactly in this manner that Bacchus flashes up in beauty from disguise in classic tales. Bacchus of old carried off mortal beauties for mistresses, and I now give word for word as related by a witch a story of a modern Ariadne:–

"There was a contadino who had several vineyards, yet all went so ill with them for several years that he had not wine enough to drink for his family.

"Now he had a daughter–di una belleza da fare incantare–of enchanting beauty. And one evening as he was sitting almost in despair, his daughter said: 'Father, dear, do you not know how all this came topass? Have you forgotten that strange and beautiful youth who once cameto you and begged for me–he was so much in love? And when you denied him what he asked, he replied: "If I cannot have her neither shall you have any vintage." '

"Then the peasant was very angry, and beat his daughter, so that she had to go to bed. Then he went into the cellar, but what a sight he saw! On all the barrels were devils frolicking; fire flashed from their eyes and flamed from their mouths, and as they danced they sang:–

"Then the man gave his daughter to Faflon, and lo ! all the barrels were filled with the best, and from that time his vintages were abundant."

The picture of the cellar full of frisking Bacchanals and Fauns is good. I suspect that a Catholic influence made them "devils with fire coming out of their mouths." But perhaps it was only

I should have been really sorry if, after all this fine Bacchic lore, I had not found a hymn to him. And here it is. When a peasant wants a goodvintage he may possibly pray for it in church, but to make sure of it herepeats the following to the jovial god:–

There, reader, is the very last real and sincere hymn to Bacchus which was ever sung in Italy–probably the last truly Bacchanalian song whichwill ever be heard on earth. There have been whole libraries of such lyrics–Della Cruscan Redi wrote a Bacco in Toscana; but that was art–this is religion. And what is stranger is that this Bacchic hymn was possibly, in some form, not much unlike it, also the first which was ever composed.

I should add that after the above was written my two contadino friends, who made a special business of going on market days to pick up the testimony of old peasants from all parts of La Romagna, fully confirmed the existence of this spirit, with this variation–that Ottavio Magrini wrote the name Faflond, while Peppino declares, "Ii name legitimo diquesto spirito e Faflo" ("The legitimate name of this spirit is Faflo"). It was one of the gods who were specially inquired for or cried at the market-place and elsewhere with satisfactory result.

Fufluns was also anciently known as Vertumnus. "Allied to him," says Dennis, "probably more than in name, was Voltumna, the great goddess at whoseshrine the confederate princes of Etruria held their councils" (Cities, &C., of Etruria, vol. i., p. lvii.).

The spirit of Content is certainly a very good one, and I wish with all my heart that it may dwell with my reader, not only as regards this book, but be in all his life in everything. It is very creditable to the Italians that in such a terribly overtaxed country the idea of a spirit of content can be entertained, however, it is certain that they do invoke her when setting out on a journey to seek fortune. And it is uttered as follows:–

"When one is about to travel to seek fortune he says to his friends:–

"Then the traveller may go his way joyous and at ease, sure that he will succeed, but he must never forget that it is due to the Spirit of Content."

There can be no question but that this Spirit of Content is the Fortuna Redux, "the goddess of happy journeys, and of prosperous returns, to whom, after the long absence of the Emperor AUGUSTUS, altars, temples, and sacrifices were ordained." When Augustus (B.C. 19) returned, October 12th, from a long absence

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without laughter, and innocence without smiles. Apropos of which I come to the charming spirit Corredoio, who is purely heathen.

There is in the Romagna a spirit, fairy or goddess (male or female), who is of a gay and festive nature. She is called Curedoia or Corredoio, andloves dances and festivals. She is a vera fanatica per la musica–wild after music–and though you may not suspect her presence, she is sure to attend wherever there is a frolic or a ball. I offer withall modesty, or even distrust, the suggestion that we may have in her the beau reste or possible fragment of Curitis or Quritis–the is and us of Latin are very commonly changed to vowels in Italian, which would make Curitoio at once.

"Curitis," says MÜLLER, "was the name in Falerii, where she was zealously worshipped, of Juno." Magnificent festivals with every circumstance of splendour and gaiety were held in her honour. White cows were sacrificed, the streets laid with carpets (OVID, iii., 12, 13, 24), maidens wrapped, according to Greek custom, in white garments, bore as cannephoroe, the holy utensils on their heads. The Etruscans surpassed any race of antiquity in their passion for processions, festivals, and the intensity of their frolics. The Romans seem to have taken their style from Greece, but their keen relish for splendid pleasure from the Tuski. And if Curitis was the popular name for Juno, and if she was indeedabove all others the goddess of the pompa and the festivals and of joyousness, it is not impossible that the name survives in the modern deity of the dance, and what most nearly corresponds to the grand displaysof the olden time. Of Corredoio I have the following:–

"Corredoio e uno spirito che va molto nelle feste da ballo, Corredoio is a spirit who much frequents dances and who in every way diverts himself. (There are conflicting accounts as to the sex of Corredoio or Corredoia). He is delighted to come in like a ventata–a gust of wind–e cosi si alza le sattane a quelle Signore–and so raise the devil–or the skirts–among the ladies, then he (or she) bursts into loud laughter, so that the ladies blush. Then Corredoio flies up into the orchestra, and makes all the musicians whirl round, and then he makes all the instruments sound of themselves, and everybody is amazed to hear music and see no performers–at which he utters another roar of laughter–e se ne va–and flies away."

There is an incantation or invocation to Corredoio which is extremely curious:–

The reader who understands Italian, if he will make allowancefor the fact that it is only that of a poor peasant woman, translated "as she went along," from Romagnola, may admit that this is a very remarkable and beautiful invocation with a ring as of Shakespeare in it. It is utterly out of the pale of the Church and as heathen as can be. There is in the whole Catholic–I may say Christian–religion, no trace ofsuch a glorious Robin Goodfellow as Corredoio–one who goes to all the balls, plays on all the instruments, whirls all the women in a wild waltz, then wends him laughing, ho, ho, ho! and yet makes it his constant occupation to go into families and promote peace and harmony, or please and play with the children, and depart, leaving everybody jolly.

This invocation is as earnest a prayer in the Romagna as any in the Prayer Book, and it begs the deity to sometimes "look in on a fellow and cheerhim up in a friendly way"–a deity who is very beautiful, graceful, accomplished; it is only in Italy that one could find a god who can "do the whole orchestra," and

who makes it the business of his life to make people happy. Truly I cannot but feel grateful that such a fragment of light-hearted Paganism has survived, if only to show to an astonished world that Piety and Jollity can go hand-in-hand. The priests in Italy have been teaching the people that religion and salvation and everything saintly is of tears, wails, fasting, blood, torture, and death–yet all the while under these ashes ofmisery, the old heathen Roman-Etruscan spirit of human nature and genialtenderness still survived. In all the religions current in all the world there is nothing so real, so touching, and so beautiful as this spirit of Corredoio. Sancte Corredoio ride pro nobis!

It would hardly be worth while to mention Orco, the Italian form of Orcus, who has passed into innumerable fairy tales as the Ogre, and who is known to every Italian child, were it not for the peculiar description of him given by my chief authority. "Orco," she said, "is a terrible spirit who once was a great wizard." For this is all the world over the earliestconception of spirits, and especially of those who are feared. Among savage tribes in the early stages of Shamanism, like the Red Indians of America, every remarkable spirit was once a man, always a magician. We may say that the Latin Orcus was a personification of hell, or of the horrible, just as Jupiter was of lightning,¹ but, etymology to the contrary, it is a fact that rude races apply such names as hell and lightning to men. According to Euhemerus of Messina, who derived all gods from men, in which he appears to have been, to a certain degree, right, so far at least as rude races are concerned.

Tesana is "the Spirit of the Dawn," one may say Aurora–"Lo spirito della alba." She is good, and while a contadino is sleepingwhen the morning red is first seen on the hills she comes to him in dreams and says:–

¹ "Pluton Latiné est Diespiter: alii Orcum dicunt" (Tertullian Div. Instit. Lib., i., chap. 14).

Title Page / Table of Contents / List of Illustrations / Introduction / Introduction Part 2 / Turn to Page / 18-30 / 31-43 / 44-60 / 61-75 / 76-90 / 91-104 / 105-118 / 119-131 / 132-144 / 145-154 / 155-166 / 167-176 / 177-187 / 188-197 / 198-207 / 208-217 / 218-227 / 228-237 / 238-247 / 251-262 / 263-274 / 275-284 / 285-295 / 296-307 / 308-317 / 318-328 / 329-338 / 339-350 / 351-361 / 362-376 / Index / Acor-Dion / Dion-Invo / Invo-Orph / Ovid-Tour / Tozz-Zumi / O:.B:.C:. Index / History / Essays & Articles / Spirit Visions / Research & Theories / The Ways & Teachings / Initiation O:.B:.C:. / The Elements / Traditional Ritual / Sacred Text / copyright 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001 Gregory S. Van Etten This web site hosted by Acorn Products. All rights reserved