Traditional seven legs bread doll known as "Pippia a setti cambas" "bambola a sette gambe". Baked at the beginning of Lent. Every week a leg is removed to measure the time remaining to Easter. Settimo San Pietro. Cagliari, Italy...
Apparently in the south of Italy, in Abruzzi, Puglia, Calabria, Naples, Irpinia, people used to make seven legged dolls, whose legs were ripped out one every week of the Lent to count time to Easter.
Anyone has any links to pics of these dolls?
In Spain these became female contours cut out of paper with seven legs, one leg again being ripped every Sunday of the Lent. They were/still are known as "Doña Cuaresma". In Catalonia they were/still are known as "La Vella Quaresma"...
In Greece we find Kyra Sarakosti, Mrs Lent, again with seven legs, and again one leg is pulled every week of Lent. In some parts of Greece, the last leg, is hidden inside the Easter bread. The lucky person who finds Kyra Sarakosti's last leg, is considered blessed.
In some parts of the Mediterranean, the Grandmother Lent is a doll with 7 feathers stuck inside of her or inside a potato or orange attached to the doll. One feather is then pulled out every week. Like this one from Calabria...
In Montenegro we find Baba Korizma, the Granny Lent, who walks with seven sticks, throwing away one for every week of Lent...She also eats naughty children, allegedly...
Same custom is apparently also found in France and Switzerland. Anyone has any pics, info about this?
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