January 24, 2004
Wish you were here
If you were here, I could show you the photos in Cote Est, the $129 magazine that is lent to me, of this pagan Christmas ritual. I looked all over the web for a visual, and got three cliche Swiss village photos and alot of hotel sites, so I'll have to describe the spectacle as best I can. See the evergreen in the lower left corner above? That is a crude facsimile of one of the costumes. Have to go check on that goddess, she is, as yet, unidentified.
In the Hiver 2003 issue of Cote Est there are photos of this ritual practiced in "Suisses Allemands de la Region D'Appenzell" that dazzled me. Since I can only read every third word of French, I can't tell you much more than that the pictures are amazing and spooky. It seems that it is a tradition in the region to dress onself like a tree, and join a procession on the mountain.
There are several types of tree (etc.) costumes pictured. Twelve guys have pulled dried brambles from the hillsides and completely covered themselves with twigs about a foot thick, creating the relative shape of an evergreen. The result is a little ominous-- man-sized, dried out Christmas trees, with legs, walking down the mountain. A couple have red berries on their brambles. I wonder if these outfits are handed down for generations, or are made freshly on an "as needed" basis. Actually they look like they might be hundreds of years old.
Many of the little girls have green boughs attached to them, (also about a foot thick) and pointy moss and balsam headresses, tied under their chins. A sweeter, more frivolous version of the tree men. Adult women have elaborate headresses that look permanent -- halos, four times larger than their heads, beautifully hand painted. These are added to the usual dirndels and familiar alpine attire Some of the men, shown on skis, have headresses also, shaped like plump birthday cakes with scenes from the village atop. Large cowbells abound (with circumferences the size of large pizzas). Forgive me for mixing my European metaphors.
Oh dear, I'm fact dumping again. The photography in this magazine is spectacular. I think it's time to get a scanner.
Posted by Dakota at January 24, 2004 06:18 AM