"The fog came again that night, not on little cat’s feet but in an improper silent sprawl. I walked that night. I had a headache and I walked for air, smelling the wet, misty smell of the spring that was slowly wiping away the reluctant snow, leaving lifeless patches of last year’s grass bare and uncovered, like the head of a sighing old grandmother." "Strawberry sping", Stephen King
In this novel the murders of a serial killer seem to be linked to an anticipation of spring, the Strawberry Spring of the title, imagined by author in May, but clearly inspired by the so called Indian Summer: also known as Saint Martin's Summer or Saint Luke's Summer, in the northern emisphere it is a period of above-normal temperatures, dry and hazy, occurring in autumn, bettween late September and mid November.
In ancient times too those recurrent climatic anomalies have been recognised and often connected to myths and legends. The most famous of them is that about Alcyone: daughter of Aeolus, when her husband Ceyx died in a shipwreck, threw herself on the sea. Gods transformed her in a bird, the Halcyon bird. This bird builds its nest in winter on the beach. To permit to do it safely, Aeolus restrains his winds during seven days in each year, the so called Halcyon Days.
This eziologic myth refers both to the behavior of the bird and the occurrence of these days. In fact a recurrent climatic inversion between Jenuary and Frebruary has been observed in the Mediterranean area in recent times too and, especially, in the region of Athens, Attica. A recently published paper, analysing ancient tragic and comic texts, remarks the link between the Halcyon Days and the Leneia celebrations. In February the mild climate conditions permitted to play comedies and tragedies in open air theaters, despite being in winter. The Lenaia were and important celebration in Athens, with strong cultural and political significance; and immediately after there were place the Anthesteria, the commemoration of the dead.
February was an important month in Rome too. During this month were two public celebrations: Parentalia, the commemoration of the dead (as in Athens), and the Lupercalia, about the myth of the foundation of Rome.
It is quite imposiible not to suppose, for this case also, a link with this sort of respite of winter that permitted to make activities and worship otherwise impossible during winter.
Christian religion inherited those celebrations adapting them to the new cult needs. In particular the commemoration of dead was placed by the Roman liturgy, until XIV century, between January and February, as just now in some conservative oriental cult communities, as the southern Italian Grecìa.
But in 998 AD Saint Odilone of Cluny established that the commemoration of the dead in November 2nd, following the tradition of Samhain, the Celtic new year eve.
The Cluny's tradition has been officialy adopted by the Roman Church only in XIV century; but, why?
Thought that this short post doesn't want to be exhaustive about this topic, we can try to make some hypothesis:
1. A political reason: the strenght of Cluny's order imfluenced the Roman litirgy; but, why did it take about four centuries? Was it about the Avignon's captivity?
2. A cultural reason: the tradition of continental Europe has been adopted, despite the Mediterranean one; but you have to exlplain the span of time in this case too!
3. A climate reason: the XIV century AD is the end of Medieval Warm Period and at the beginning of the Little Ice Age: a such important commemoration has been displaced because the worsening of climate conditions avoiding the regular worship of tombs and cemeteries during the winter, especially in central and northern Europe. The decision to adopt the Cluny's tradition would been purely utilitaristic?
Obviously there is need for further research to determine what was the cause of such a decision that marked a clear distance between the ancient tradition of Mediterranean and continental Europe.
But this case study shows how the connections between culture and climate are varied and often not easily traceable; it is also evident that the study of these connections requires a deepening and a documentation very wide, in order to dispel the fog that envelops those links.
In this novel the murders of a serial killer seem to be linked to an anticipation of spring, the Strawberry Spring of the title, imagined by author in May, but clearly inspired by the so called Indian Summer: also known as Saint Martin's Summer or Saint Luke's Summer, in the northern emisphere it is a period of above-normal temperatures, dry and hazy, occurring in autumn, bettween late September and mid November.
In ancient times too those recurrent climatic anomalies have been recognised and often connected to myths and legends. The most famous of them is that about Alcyone: daughter of Aeolus, when her husband Ceyx died in a shipwreck, threw herself on the sea. Gods transformed her in a bird, the Halcyon bird. This bird builds its nest in winter on the beach. To permit to do it safely, Aeolus restrains his winds during seven days in each year, the so called Halcyon Days.
This eziologic myth refers both to the behavior of the bird and the occurrence of these days. In fact a recurrent climatic inversion between Jenuary and Frebruary has been observed in the Mediterranean area in recent times too and, especially, in the region of Athens, Attica. A recently published paper, analysing ancient tragic and comic texts, remarks the link between the Halcyon Days and the Leneia celebrations. In February the mild climate conditions permitted to play comedies and tragedies in open air theaters, despite being in winter. The Lenaia were and important celebration in Athens, with strong cultural and political significance; and immediately after there were place the Anthesteria, the commemoration of the dead.
February was an important month in Rome too. During this month were two public celebrations: Parentalia, the commemoration of the dead (as in Athens), and the Lupercalia, about the myth of the foundation of Rome.
It is quite imposiible not to suppose, for this case also, a link with this sort of respite of winter that permitted to make activities and worship otherwise impossible during winter.
Christian religion inherited those celebrations adapting them to the new cult needs. In particular the commemoration of dead was placed by the Roman liturgy, until XIV century, between January and February, as just now in some conservative oriental cult communities, as the southern Italian Grecìa.
But in 998 AD Saint Odilone of Cluny established that the commemoration of the dead in November 2nd, following the tradition of Samhain, the Celtic new year eve.
The Cluny's tradition has been officialy adopted by the Roman Church only in XIV century; but, why?
Thought that this short post doesn't want to be exhaustive about this topic, we can try to make some hypothesis:
1. A political reason: the strenght of Cluny's order imfluenced the Roman litirgy; but, why did it take about four centuries? Was it about the Avignon's captivity?
2. A cultural reason: the tradition of continental Europe has been adopted, despite the Mediterranean one; but you have to exlplain the span of time in this case too!
3. A climate reason: the XIV century AD is the end of Medieval Warm Period and at the beginning of the Little Ice Age: a such important commemoration has been displaced because the worsening of climate conditions avoiding the regular worship of tombs and cemeteries during the winter, especially in central and northern Europe. The decision to adopt the Cluny's tradition would been purely utilitaristic?
Obviously there is need for further research to determine what was the cause of such a decision that marked a clear distance between the ancient tradition of Mediterranean and continental Europe.
But this case study shows how the connections between culture and climate are varied and often not easily traceable; it is also evident that the study of these connections requires a deepening and a documentation very wide, in order to dispel the fog that envelops those links.
