In much of Europe 2 November is a day of recollection and visits to cemeteries. In Sicily it has also been, for centuries, a feast day for children. On the night between 1 and 2 November, according to tradition, the dead return to visit their families' homes and leave sweets and presents for the youngest. It is one of the most original traditions of Italian folklore, and it tells of a very particular way of living the relationship with those who are gone.
The night of the dead
Children were told that their grandparents and other departed relatives, on the night of their commemoration, came out of their graves to go home. If the little ones had been good and had prayed for them, on waking they would find gifts hidden somewhere in the house: under the bed, in a wardrobe, inside a basket.
The morning gift hunt was part of the rite. Children searched the whole house for the presents left by the dead, in a game that combined the thrill of discovery with the memory of the family.
The cannistru
The gifts were often gathered in a basket called the cannistru, filled with dried fruit, traditional sweets, seasonal fruit and small toys. The basket, prepared with care by the adults, was the tangible sign of the visit.
The sweets of the dead
The feast has a very rich culinary repertoire, each element of which carries a meaning.
Martorana fruit
Martorana fruit is made of almond paste shaped and painted to imitate real fruit perfectly: prickly pears, oranges, peaches, chestnuts, even vegetables. The name comes from the Martorana convent in Palermo, linked to the church of Santa Maria dell'Ammiraglio, where according to tradition the nuns created these sweets.
A much-told legend says that the nuns, for an important visit, hung almond-paste fruits on the bare trees of the garden to make it more beautiful. True or not, the story captures the spirit of these sweets well: an illusion of abundance, life renewing itself in the season of death.
Sugar puppets
The pupi di zucchero, also called pupaccena, are sugar figurines moulded and painted in bright colours. They depict paladins, ladies, dancers, knights and, today, modern characters too. Along with toys, they were the present children most looked forward to.
Bones of the dead
The ossa di morto, "bones of the dead", are hard, crunchy white biscuits, with an elongated shape that indeed recalls a bone. The name, which may seem macabre, is an ironic and affectionate way of approaching death: you eat it, make it familiar, strip it of terror.
The anthropological meaning of the feast
What does this tradition tell us about the culture that produced it?
- The dead remain part of the family. They are not distant or threatening figures, but relatives who go on taking care of the living, especially the youngest.
- Memory is passed on to children. Through the gift, children learn the names and stories of grandparents they never met. The feast is a tool for handing down family memory.
- Death is tamed. The bone-shaped biscuit, the game of searching, the cheerfulness of the morning turn a painful theme into a shared and serene experience.
- An exchange between living and dead. Children pray for the departed, the departed bring gifts to the children: it is a relationship of reciprocity that crosses the threshold of death.
Markets and fairs
In the weeks before 2 November, many Sicilian cities hold fiere dei morti, fairs of the dead, markets selling toys, sweets and dried fruit. In Palermo the fair is a traditional event, and pastry shop windows fill with martorana fruit and colourful puppets.
A tradition that changes
In recent decades the feast of the dead has had to reckon with other customs, such as Christmas as the centre of gift-giving and the arrival of Halloween from the English-speaking world. In many Sicilian families, however, the tradition holds: the sweets are still made, the baskets are still filled, and children still know that the gifts of 2 November come "from the dead".
It is a way of being in the world that deserves attention: a culture in which mourning does not erase the bond, and in which the remembrance of the dead is expressed through sweetness too.
In short
- In Sicily, on the night between 1 and 2 November, the dead bring gifts to children.
- The presents are hidden around the house or gathered in the basket called the cannistru.
- Martorana fruit takes its name from the Martorana convent in Palermo.
- Sugar puppets and ossa di morto complete the repertoire of the feast's sweets.
- The tradition keeps the dead within the family and hands memory down to children.
