Tufara, a town on the border with Campania, hosts an evocative and disturbing event every year on Shrove Tuesday: the Devil. Screams, noises and frightened people announce the arrival of this ancestral figure, symbol of pagan rites and ancient traditions.
Carnival, from the Latin “carnem levare” (eliminate the meat), has its roots in ancient propitiatory rituals. Among the most fascinating manifestations of the Molise tradition, the Devil of Tufara emerges with his primitive and shamanic charge. This scary mask moves wildly through the streets of the town, instilling fear with jumps and acrobatics.
The Devil wears seven goat skins, a sacred animal in pagan cults, holds a trident and has a red face with wide eyes, gnashed teeth and pointed ears. Its origins are lost in time: for some it is the lord of the underworld summoned to earth, for others a propitiatory dance to celebrate the end of winter and the return of fertility. Some interpretations connect it to the death and resurrection of Dionysus, god of vegetation and wine.
It is not only the Devil who parades in the carnival procession. Before him are the “Deaths”, figures dressed in white with their faces covered in flour, a symbol of purification and rebirth. They hold a sickle, recalling the gesture of farmers during the harvest, while their ritual song is replaced by screams and shouts.
The Devil is held by goblins with chains, but always manages to free himself with frenetic movements, representing the force of chaos and the uncontrollable energy of nature. The ritual culminates with the trial and conviction of the Carnival, personified by a scapegoat puppet. An extravagant jury finds him guilty and makes him fall from the castle. Despite his symbolic death, hope is reborn: the mother already has a new baby ready to give continuity to the rite.
A final figure, the “pisciatur”, embodies the vices and excess of Carnival. His role highlights the very essence of the festival: a moment of freedom and subversion destined to end with the return of order.
Today this tradition continues to live, maintaining its archaic charm intact. The Devil of Tufara is not just a mask, but a powerful symbol of transformation, death and rebirth, an indissoluble bond between past and present.