Popular belief has it that during the night of June 23-24, the night of St. John the Baptist, witches gather in Rome in front of the Basilica of St. John Lateran, all there to invoke the names of Salome and Herodias who asked Herod for the head of the Baptist as a gift.
On this “night of the witches,” even in the early twentieth century the people of Rome flocked from all districts in front of the Basilica, with flashlights and lanterns (the fires of St. John), to pray to the saint, and during the festivities among other dishes in the taverns one could eat snails with sauce cooked in a pot. To keep witches from entering the house, a broom and a jar of salt were hung outside the doorway, or two brooms crossed with heads of garlic. The festival ended at dawn with the firing of the cannon from Castel Sant’Angelo marking the beginning of the mass celebrated by the Pope at the Basilica of St. John, at the end of which he threw silver coins to the people from the loggia.
And in the capital city, the historic “Night of the Witches” returns again this year for the Feast of St. John at the Gardens on Via Sannio with a full schedule of cultural, entertainment and workshop events aimed at all age groups to rediscover Roman tradition.
From the Gardens of Via Sannio, for Romans who are curious about or passionate about the rituals associated with the night of St. John the Baptist, Abruzzo offers a rich array of traditions and, driving along the A24 and A25, is only an hour’s highway ride away.
There are several purification rituals in which the waters of the sea, rivers, dew, and even the waters of household plumbing were attributed beneficial and almost magical properties to cure and soothe headaches, rheumatism, and especially skin diseases.
As reported by Elvira Di Fulvio, in Fara Filiorum Petri in the province of Chieti, local elders remember that chi tenéve nu sfoche, that is, people suffering from any skin disease, used to go to the nearest river or spring on June 24 before dawn, to heal themselves they would light a small fire, throw the still burning tizzi into the current and then wash themselves with the water while chanting the litany: “San Giuvànne, je m’allàve ‘nghe st’acqua currende, e tu aremmùreme stu foche ardenne.”
In Torrevecchia Teatina (CH) and in Montesilvano Colle in the province of Pescara, the Festa dei Compari a Fiore is revived with the collection of “lu ramajette” to give as a gift to the mate or comare. In Colledimezzo, also in the Chieti area, the appointment is with the collection of magical herbs and the preparation of the water of St. John.
By the A25 you can also reach Civitella Roveto in the province of L’Aquila, in this center of Marsica on the border between Abruzzo and Lazio on the night between June 23 and 24 there is the custom of lighting bonfires and bathing at first light in the Liri River where the rite of “comparanza“ takes place: boys and girls crossing their pinkies in the name of St. John the Baptist forge an indissoluble bond of kinship.
