For millennia now, every year before the winter solstice,
the rite of Faugni takes place in the village of Atri.
Fauni-Ignes is an ancient pagan and agricultural tradition
that was adopted by Christianity over the centuries.
This traditional rite of fire lights up the night
until the break of dawn, when shadows are still thick.
CINERES COLLECTION
Fire under the ashes
2016
CINERES COLLECTION
INSPIRATION BEHIND THE COLLECTION
For millennia now, every year before the winter solstice, the rite of Faugni - from ancient latin Fauni-Ignes, the Fire of Faun -take place in the village of Atri, in Italy.
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Fauni-Ignes is an ancient pagan agricultural tradition to invoke the favours of Faunus, god of fertility.
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The Faugni are high burning bundles of reeds lashed with natural strings that are carries in procession through the suggestive town of Atri on the eight of December to the sound of traditional musical band.
The traditional rite of fire lights up the night until the break of down, when shadows are still thick. Sacred and profane entwine during the night of the Faugni.
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Bonfires, prayers, wine, the ring of the cathedral's bells, the din of the marching band, the people knock on all the doors, inviting each other to partake in this ancient rite.
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And so it is that, within Fauni,
a thousand-year flower is dusted with ashes. And so it is that, within Ignes, the ancestral fire takes on a sacred character.
