Since yesterday my “gaze” has been fixed on the image of our city full of people — as it will soon be again — taking part in our enchanting religious celebrations. Speaking of the “Carro del SS. Salvatore”, I could not help but connect it to the Macchina di S. Rosa, which today “carries” me towards Arcanum XX, “Judgement”.
The symbolism of this card tells us that we are facing the last chance to leave the prison of matter. It represents a change, a shift in position. Its general meaning tells us that only those who heed the call of the spirit can transform themselves to be reborn to a new life. Judgement intervenes for this purpose, to distinguish what is spiritual from what is material, inviting us to penetrate the depths of things, where a thought lies dormant that must come alive and be absorbed into our spirit.
This angel, with the sound of his trumpet, seems to be waiting for the signal to make the sound echo, to awaken souls and bring them back to life. The dead are resurrected not in matter but in spirit. Victory, consequently, is that of the spirit overcoming the obstacles set against it by matter. Matter should not be seen as an enemy to be destroyed, but as a substance to be used, since it imprisons the spirit only to force it into the effort of liberation.
In this awakening to spiritual life, my personal pairing for Arcanum XX was “the Angel of Monteverde”. In the plain of S. Lazzaro lies Viterbo’s monumental cemetery. Various chapels stand out for their richness and design; among these we find the one dedicated to the memory of Filippo de Parri, on whose funerary urn Giulio Monteverde created his wonderful angel of resurrection. On the card an angel appears announcing a judgement, and from the tombs rise a man, a woman and a child.
In the iconography of the resurrection of the dead, bodies are generally shown naked, to recall that, ultimately, man is born naked and returns naked to the earth. It is precisely from our own earth that, for centuries, the “root” of a tradition has continued to sink deep, enduring in its growing and budding. This “Rose”, inspiring muse of the “Ali di luce” machine, has also borrowed the beauty of the Angel of Monteverde, who, first opening his wings, brought us into a dimension of collective spirituality. It is impossible not to think of our city full of people, friends, strangers, men, women, Christians, atheists — a bit like in the arcana — all together, even though different, with a single desire: to live a cosmic emotion.
An emotion, as we know, is something that arrives unexpectedly, something that takes your breath away, but only for the beauty of the vision. We Viterbesi are used to the procession of the Macchina di S. Rosa, and only she can take our breath away… nothing else can. “Lift, and hold! ….Forward ….one… “…I invite you to watch the video” Il Facchino – Elia Caprera feat Mammorappo “
