A day at Lo Spirito del Pianeta

If you’ve been following my blog for a while, you’ll know that I’ve spent the last few months working as an English language teaching assistant in an Italian primary school. However, it wasn’t until Tuesday this week that I got the opportunity to experience a ‘gita scolastica’ (school trip). Away days were a cause of huge excitement in my childhood, and it turns out they’re good fun for adults, too – that is, minus the stressful task of supervising twenty squealing students.

Our trip was to the Lo Spirito del Pianeta festival, which is currently taking place in the small town of Chiuduno. The aim of this event is to educate the general public on the customs of various tribes across the world, and in doing so, to create a sense of brotherhood between us and them. In this article, I’m going to be running through everything we got up to there, and hopefully encouraging you to go along, yourself, if you’re in the Bergamo area!

Our day

8:30

At 8.30 on the dot, we – eighty-five students, plus ten teachers – set off on a coach from Lodetto to Chiuduno. About half an hour later, we'd arrived at our destination. The festival wasn’t yet open, but the organisers very kindly let us come on site and have a snack in the picnic area while we waited for the first activity to commence.

10:00

The first person we met was Max, a member of the Italian Bosco Cascina Gervasone tribe. He explained to us that he and his people lived according to Celtic traditions, acting and dressing just as their ancestors would have. Like them, this community is split up into clans. These are essentially the same as families, only once the children hit ten, they are considered adults, and therefore move from their initial clan into another one. This, the spokesperson explained, means that they receive parental guidance from multiple couples.

The majority of this first talk, however, was about the tribe’s most important principle: the idea of being constantly at one with Mother Nature. Max reminded us of the three kingdoms – animal, vegetable, and mineral – and showed us examples of how each was used in his community. He was wearing a shawl made of wool (which he explained could also be used as a blanket), carrying a metal dagger with a wooden handle, and wearing a pair of leather shoes (made waterproof with animal fat). However, perhaps the most exciting of his possessions was a buffalo horn, which he blew into to conclude his fascinating presentation!

10:30

Next up was an equally captivating talk on plants and alternative medicine. The woman leading this one began by telling us that her three children – one of whom is now twenty-two – had got though their whole lives without taking a single antibiotic! When they had fallen ill, she had always resorted to herbal remedies, most of which required plants that could easily be found in the fields surrounding her home.

Rosemary, for example, is apparently excellent for pain relief: if you either sniff a sprig or prepare a tisane with it, your symptoms will be alleviated considerably. Other plants she mentioned included sage, good for treating toothache or the symptoms of menopause, and thyme, great for helping with indigestion. I’m almost looking forward to my next headache, just so that I can put her recommendations to the test! In the meantime, I’ll be thinking very carefully about how much I can trust the pharmaceutical industry.

11:00

By this point, it had started raining a little, but just before taking cover, we had a little dance around the central bonfire. The man in charge of this activity also burned some incense, which had a rather pungent smell, but was supposed to be great for clearing the airways. He also quickly showed us a stone sculpture that a tribe had built on the festival site the previous year (see first photo of article).

11:20

We would have got drenched if we’d stayed outside much longer, so off we hurried to the site's activity centre, where two men from an Aboriginal tribe were waiting to meet us. They began by explaining a bit about their status in Australia: about how until 1967, they were considered animals in the eyes of the law, and how even today, they suffer an enormous amount of discrimination. I think this was probably the most shocking speech of the day, and I don’t think anyone left that room unaware of the many changes that will have to be made in order for humanity to progress.

This presentation ended on a cheerier note, however. One of the men played a short tune on the didgeridoo, and both performed a traditional dance for us. Then, they painted Aboriginal patterns on our faces, using ochre! We were told that members of different tribes could be distinguished by the designs on their bodies. These particular people, for example, came from a place where two rivers meet, and had symbols on their chests to represent these waterways.

11:45

The final workshop before lunch was led by three representatives of a Mexican tribe. Even before they began sharing their culture with us, we were most intrigued by them, because of the fantastic costumes they were wearing. Their feather-adorned helmets were particularly impressive: one of them even had a stuffed wolf’s head attached to it! The trio performed a tribal dance for us, and then invited us teachers to join in. I don’t know if I got any of the moves right (I’m going to go with a solid ‘no’), but it was great fun to take part in this important ritual.

12:15

Our lunch break was almost two hours long, so we sat and ate together in the same picnic area as before, then spent some time looking round the site. Walking past the beautiful sculptures and tents, I felt most proud to be part of a world with so much diversity.

14:00

Our final treat of the day was a dance show put on by some members of a Canadian tribe! Each person performed a solo act, and it was incredible to see how much energy they put into their movements. At the end, we all joined in, and it was lovely to conclude the day with an activity that brought us all together.

Overall review

Apart from the miserable weather conditions, there is not one thing I could fault about this trip! It was so interesting to have our minds opened to the lifestyles of indigenous peoples across the world, and the day was a great reminder of the fact that, different as our customs may be, we are all part of the same human race. I’m always looking for ways to “live my best life” (for want of a less clichéd expression), so I absolutely loved learning about how other have fulfilled their various hopes and dreams.

If you’re going to be in the Bergamo area any time before 9th June, I’d strongly advise you to spend a day at this festival: your mind will be expanded in ways you wouldn't have imagined possible.

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