Auguri, Buon Pasqua, La Pasquetta, Bonfires, Exploding Carts and more

I love the holidays on Facebook. I learned how to say "Auguri" at Christmas, and then this week I found out that it is also a useful word at Easter. Everybody says "Buona Pasqua" (Good Easter), and if you can't remember it, or you can't spell it, you can always just say "auguri", which is a shorthand way of saying "best wishes". I may have to do an entire blog on auguri, but this one is about Easter.

Probably for as many dialects as there are in Italy, there are an equal number of ways to celebrate Easter, however it all comes down to Buona Pasqua, the greeting you will hear everywhere and you will see on nearly every Facebook post. Some of the celebrations involve parades (rather processions), and there are even some that are explosive:

Florence-Scoppio del Carro

In Florence, Easter is celebrated with the Scoppio del Carro, explosion of the cart. A decorated wagon is dragged through Florence by white oxen until it reaches Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence's historic center. Following mass, the Archbishop sends a dove-shaped rocket into the cart igniting the fireworks held in the cart. This spectacular display is followed by a parade in medieval costumes. (Nothing is said about whether they unhitch the oxen or not. I think maybe yes? At the very least, I think it might be hard to find white oxen every year.)

La Pasquetta

The day after Easter is La Pasquetta or the Little Easter. This is considered a day of rest, and often involves taking the leftovers from Easter dinner to parks for a picnic. Many of the shops remain closed, and it is another excuse for a day off, and a day with the family.

Easter in Scotland

Easter is a very important day in the Church of Scotland. In many parts of Scotland, huge fires used to be lit on Easter Saturday, a tradition that dates back to the pagan era when spring festivales were held at this time. (See Easter in Vienna, next.)

Easter in Vienna

Easter Fires (Osterfeuer)

In the Alpine provinces of Austria, Easter fires burn on mountain peaks after sunset on Holy Saturday, and bands of musicians go through the towns, playing sacred hymns.

They are sometimes called Judas fires, because effigies of Judas Iscariot are frequently burned in them. The Easter eve bonfires predate Christianity and were originally intended to celebrate the arrival of spring. The burning effigy once symbolized winter.

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There are celebrations all over the world for many different reasons:  Political, religious, family, historical, etc.  Sometimes, like with Cinco de Mayo we adopt another country's festival as one of our own because of familiarity, but usually we just get used to how we celebrate our own holidays, and miss out on many different, wonderful festivals and traditions.  That is one of the fun things about learning about another country or region and I am looking forward to learning more about the special days of Scotland, Italy and Vienna.

Dee