di Anna Polo
Adapted from Marija Gimbutas - Twenty years of Goddess study - Proceedings of the conference of the same name – Rome 9-10 May 2014 – Laima Editorial Project – Turin
The object of study consists of the spirals that decorate the closing doors of some cave tombs of the civilization of Castelluccio, in the Syracuse area, with the aim of discovering their meaning and function. This interest is part of the search for connection with other spaces and other times, coming into contact with the sacred places of an ancient civilization and "absorbing" in this profound and emotional way ancient teachings useful for current spiritual research.
The Castelluccian civilization (or culture) can be defined as the richest and most articulated of the prehistoric civilizations of Sicily. There is a certain discrepancy among scholars on its dating: according to some it dates back to a period between 3000 and 2500 PEC, while others place it in periods ranging from 2200 to 1250 PEC In general, however, everyone agrees in attributing it to the Ancient Age of the Bronze Age, an era in which the metal alloy was still not widespread. The name derives from the homonymous site in the hinterland of Noto.
Although the culture of Castelluccio knew the use of metals, its spirituality was still based on the cult of the Mother Goddess and on the central role of fertility and therefore presented points of contact with the Neolithic agricultural civilizations. Countless cave tombs dotted the rocky walls of the Castelluccian settlements: in the largest necropolis there are 176. The large quantity of skeletons piled up in the tombs confirms the custom of collective burials. The outdoor spaces and elaborate facades suggest a public aspect and the importance of ceremonies dedicated to the living, probably when the tombs were reopened for other burials.
According to many scholars, the shape of the tombs would represent the maternal womb, with a clear connection to the cult of Mother Earth widespread among all the populations of the European and Anatolian area. The bodies were probably placed in a fetal position inside the ovoid cell, to symbolize the return of man to the mother's womb of the Goddess. An isolated but significant phenomenon within the Castelluccian civilization concerns the doors decorated with particular decorations, with spirals similar to those of the temple of Tarxien and the hypogeum of Hal Saflieni in Malta and those of the majestic corridor tomb of Newgrange in Ireland. It is probable that an analogous experience and spiritual need guided the hand of the artisans of Tarxien and Castelluccio, leading them to similar creations, the chronological primacy of which belongs to the Maltese.
The fact that the slabs decorated with spirals were hidden from view, because they were covered by other slabs or turned inwards, suggests that they were not decorative elements, but symbolic representations with a propitiatory and devotional function. A sort of "message" for the dead buried there, a call to life, an allusion to regeneration after death and therefore to the return of life and its triumph over death, all typical elements of the spirituality of the time.
The dynamic, symmetrical and harmonious force that the spiral manifests is the "goddess energy" which affects the generation and growth of men and animals, trees and plants, combats stasis and encourages the continuity and ceaseless renewal of the cosmic cycle . A Mother Goddess who generates, reabsorbs and welcomes, who gives life and takes it away, in a continuous periodic cycle of complementary roles.
The central role of fertility, represented through the representation of the sexual act, to which the stele of tomb n.31 suggests, reflects the devotion to the divinity who supervised the regenerative forces inherent in nature and in humans.
The sexual act, in full swing, was the climax of the reproductive process. Representing it meant emphasizing the attachment and devotion to whoever oversaw this phenomenon and constituted a sort of corrective to the death present in the tomb, as a magical restoration of life. It is no coincidence that underground or rock-cut sepulchres indicate a strong attachment to the earth element.
Finding such a vital element in a tomb, a place dedicated to death, struck me from the first time I saw a depiction of this stele. That image seemed to me to be the result of an intentional act, an expression of the will to create an environment in which to experience transcendence and rebirth after the death of the body. For the current mentality all this may appear absurd and incomprehensible, but for a civilization that considered life and death as two united and not opposite stages of the same, eternal cycle, a message like the one represented by the spirals of Castelluccio acquires a precise meaning and profound: leaving those who have abandoned their bodies a tangible sign of the culminating moment of life, the sexual act that creates a new being, celebrating vital energy and reminding the living and the dead that it never ends.
The tombs dug into the rock face were in an elevated position: the sacred place dominated the whole landscape and could be seen from afar, giving the feeling that the dead protected the living and watched over them.
The research on Castelluccio summarized here is part of a larger study of the spirals in the sacred places of Neolithic and Bronze Age Europe, which led me to visit the Neolithic temples of Malta and Gozo and the passage tombs of the valley of the Boyne in Ireland. Readings, insights and conversations with experts, including Miriam Dexter, collaborator and friend of Marija Gimbutas, helped me to frame the more general interest of this study, namely that of reconstructing parts of the human process, building a bridge between the present and the heritage of wisdom and experience accumulated in the past by ancient civilizations often cancelled, forgotten or otherwise little known. It is not a simple historical or "archaeological" interest: the recovery and interpretation of this heritage can in fact make a great contribution to current spiritual research, providing inspiration, cues, stimuli and teachings. Furthermore, the discovery of the advanced degree of spirituality reached by civilizations that could appear "primitive" from a technological point of view can change the conventional and widespread image that one has of periods very distant in time, but very close to the present for their sensitivity.
The complete study can be downloaded at this link: https://www.parcocasagiorgi.org/produzioni-maestri-casa-giorgi/
Anna Polo
Adapted from Marija Gimbutas - Twenty years of Goddess study - Proceedings of the conference of the same name – Rome 9-10 May 2014 – Laima Editorial Project – Turin
