WTI Magazine #28    2014 May, 1
Author : folclore.it      Translation by:

The picturesque procession of the "Serpari" (those who collect the snakes), also known as the most pagan rites among the Christian ones, is renewed every year on the first Thursday in May.

So on May 1st, in Cocullo in the province of L'Aquila, St. Dominic is celebrated: similarly to other customs in which the pagan rite is interwoven with Christian devotion, even on this occasion the devotion to St. Dominic, the saint patron who protects from snake bites, is celebrated together with the archaic ritual of the "Serpari", manipulators of snakes.

For the festival the statue of the saint is carried in procession, decked out with tangled snakes, harmless and particularly known on the mountains around the town: these snakes include the species of "Saettoni", "Cervoni", "Biacchi" and "Biscie".

The so-called serpari collect their own snakes in the mountains around Cocullo in the cold season, during their hibernation. Before the procession these men show the snakes to the visitors, allowing them to touch and handle them while they sing folk songs in the streets of the village.

After the Mass, in the late morning, the statue of the saint is covered with snakes and the procession begins. The parade stretches through the narrow streets of Cucullo providing the bystanders with evocative and exciting images. A different kind of day that reconciles souls with nature, cheers the hearts with the suggestions offered by a small untouched mountain village, and leads to the sharing of devotion mixed with folklore.

The meeting with the "Serpari", the chance to pet a snake and overcome fears and to huddle behind the statue of the saint asking aid for health, or simply to sit on the sidelines as a viewer in front of such a particular event, inevitably arouses a deep thrill: it's worth a try.