Riti espressi, repressi, manomessi. Il Signore dell’Olmo e le metamorfosi rituali in età pandemica

The article constitutes a reflection on the ritual modifications of the pandemic age recorded in Mazzarino (CL), in Sicily, during the celebrations in May, promoted by various social categories (devotees, confreres, priests, institutions etc.). These changes contribute to understanding the transformational mechanisms that have always affected collective ceremonial institutes, even in periods not affected by crisis. The transformations concern more the structure, the channel of ritual expression, and less the semantic and symbolic component, which remains even if in requalified, redetermined and re-functionalized forms. An eloquent example of this coexistence between permanent morphologies and modified structures is the ciuri di maju current protagonist of the feast of the Signuri di l’Urmu.