Crucified for almost all purposes, women flogged, witches coming out of darkness... Easter hosts extraordinary celebrations in some places on the planet. Sometimes, because of the mixture with pagan customs, which around the spring equinox always had something to do with fertility. Others, for wanting to take penance to the extreme. And, in some cases, because those days of redemption arouse an atavistic fear: that of the Evil One, the antagonist of Good.
Here we collect some of these curious traditions and others that are simply hard to believe.
Since Saint Francis of Assisi (c. 1181-1226) reflected on the human dimension of Christ, and therefore on what he must have suffered on the cross, the practice of public penance has become popular in Europe. In the Spain of the Golden Age, this became somewhat gruesome, until Carlos III prohibited it in 1777. In practice, he only managed to moderate it, since today many forms of mortification that take place during Holy Week survive.
An extreme case is that of San Fernando, the capital of the province of Pampanga, in the Philippines. Due to the Spanish influence, every year hundreds of faithful parade through the streets, whipping each other with whips and opening wounds on their backs with knives. Upon arriving at the cathedral –a neoclassical building from the Hispanic era–, already very bloody, they are beaten by the public. This to commemorate Holy Thursday.
To celebrate the death of Jesus, the next day, some are crucified with real nails! Of course, they stick them in the hands, and not in the wrists, as they probably did to Christ. Nor do they have their feet suspended, which in Roman times was what really made the crucified suffer. Many died from suffocation, after hours holding on to their arms.
Before Christianity celebrated Easter on these dates, the March equinox was in pagan tradition a time to celebrate the transition from winter to spring, that is, rebirth and fertility. Although most of the rites succumbed after Christianization, in some places Christianity is mixed with atavistic customs.
In the Czech Republic, Slovakia and parts of Hungary there is also something of the pagan, but what happens there is more shocking. To invoke fertility, the young men whip the women on the rear with a willow rod. They do it in groups and knocking from door to door, while they wait for them with Easter eggs.
Anthropologists explain that, in the Middle Ages, when there were not many spaces for socializing between the sexes, it was also a way of relating to singles. Today it is more of an innocent game than anything else. It is clear that it is no longer necessary to whip someone to get her attention, or throw a bucket of ice water at them, as girls in Moravia do with boys in one of the many versions of the party.
The Polish city of Wieliczka, twelve kilometers from Krakow, in Poland, hides underground what seems like a kingdom from a fantastic novel. It is about 3.5 kilometers of galleries, tunnels and large halls excavated at a depth of about a hundred meters, and decorated to create a kind of underground palace.
Originally they were salt mines; in fact, they still are. The part in operation reaches a depth of 300 meters, and extends over 300 kilometers.
The fact is that in the 13th century the miners began to take advantage of the salt rock to turn the galleries they left behind into art. The most spectacular thing is the chapel of Saint Kinga (a Hungarian nun of that century), which is the largest underground church in the world. A palatial staircase leads to a room 54 meters long, 18 meters wide and 12 meters high, with chandeliers hanging from the ceiling and a large altar at the end.
Every Good Friday, the miners dress in ceremonial uniforms, take up a cross, and head into the depths. Throughout 97 meters downhill they recall the last moments of the life of Jesus, until they reach the chapel. The Via Crucis ends in front of a salt statue of John Paul II, who canonized Saint Kinga in 1999.
In Sweden and Finland, Easter has an unwanted protagonist: witches. It is a legacy of medieval obsession with witchcraft, which between the 15th and 17th centuries led to brutal persecution. In the Scandinavian countries –which did not escape this hysteria–, in the Middle Ages the legend spread that between Maundy Thursday and Easter Sunday, witches came out of their lairs to meet with Satan on Blå Jungfrun, an islet in the strait from Kalmar (to the south, between the mainland and the island of Öland).
During those days they prowled among mortals, so it was convenient to secure the doors and cover the chimneys to prevent them from entering the houses. The superstition died with the advent of the Enlightenment – the last defendant was executed in 1704 – but it left a nice tradition. On Holy Thursday and Holy Saturday, children dress up as witches and go from door to door asking for candy.
On Holy Saturday, tourists who walk through the Spianada square, in Corfu (Greece), will see pots fly from the balconies. That is where the most curious gather, although it is typical of the entire island. Jars, vases, pitchers... Any of these containers will do, full of water, and the bigger the better.
It is a way of celebrating the resurrection of Christ – in this, the Corfiots are one day ahead – and asking Providence that the year be good. Historians aren't sure where the practice came from, though since the island belonged to the Republic of Venice for four centuries, it most likely has something to do with the Italian custom of throwing objects out of windows to celebrate the New Year. .
If not, it could be the repetition of an old Greek ritual of entry into the spring. With the change of season the fields flourished, so it was time to change the jars to receive the new harvest.
Be that as it may, it will happen on April 8, the same day that this year we celebrate Holy Saturday in Catholic Europe. Being an Orthodox country, there are those who may think that the Greek Easter should happen like the Russian one, a week later. If this is not the case, it is because in 1923 his Church switched, together with the State, to the Gregorian calendar.
In some rural areas of Bolivia, the death of Jesus on Good Friday inaugurates a few hours of anarchy that lasts until his resurrection on Sunday. Since Christ is dead and can't see us, why not steal? With this curious premise, it is typical for the neighbors to steal a head of cattle or objects of little value. Of course, it is a "controlled" looting, normalized only among members of the same community.
It is not the most spectacular tradition of Bolivian Holy Week. Around this time, hundreds of pilgrims are already walking through the altiplano towards the Sanctuary of Copacabana, where there is a representation of the Virgen de la Candelaria, who is also the patron saint of the Canary Islands. Most leave from La Paz, which makes a total of 139 kilometers. At 3,800 meters above sea level, it is not a suitable pilgrimage for ill-used lungs.
