A witch was hiding into the woods of Northern Italy, eating kids and scaring everyone who entered into the wood. One day, the last Thursday of January, the witch was used to look for some kid to eat, so a mother, to protect her son, sets a trap. She cooked a yellow saffron rice with Luganega sausage, which could distract the witch until next morning, when the sun chars her once and for all. Another legend sees the same witch being dismembered in two parts, while she was eating a doll with childish features filled with knives and scissors. So, the Feast of Giöbia, Zobia, Giubiana or Gibiana was born, a pagan tradition generated to propitiate the harvestes after the winter season, who seems to get the name of the Roman God Jupiter, then adopted into celebration allowed by the Catholic church. Typical of Northern Italy, this recurrence generally includes the pyre of puppets with the features of old and wrinkled witches. Sometimes they are entirely build with straw, but through time every region or country has created his symbol and celebration.
Translated by Giorgia Melis
Stefano Sartorio
Laureato in Scienze Internazionali e Istituzioni Europee e studente di Relazioni internazionali, mi piace indagare sulle cause delle problematiche e capire i fondamenti che caratterizzano le più odierne sfide globali.