I will concede that the following teaser entry does not have much to do with running except for the fact that probably a dozen of times yesterday I had to flee from the thirty or so such masked creatures to avoid being applied a glove of snow on my face … I think that my regular running must have helped because, despite having exposed myself heavily on account of the numerous pictures I took of the creatures, I was meted out this punishment (for having been caught) only once — and it was because I was taken off guard from behind while shooting a picture;-)
As there is a beautiful sun out and I would not miss this opportunity to go out running on the snow, I will upload a few pictures of this traditional carnival procession in the canton of Valais/Wallis (probably dating back to the 16th century) we attended yesterday as a teaser entry which I will revise later on — so please come back again if you wish to see more pictures of this highly folkloric event that takes place each year in February in a remote valley of the Swiss alps.
Giant samples of the traditional masks used for the procession displayed on a barn more than a century old (click to enlarge).
A picture-taker unaware of the punishment if caught gets a taste of a Tschäggättä‘s snow glove (click to enlarge).
What a fierce-looking Tschäggättä (click to enlarge)!
Another fierce-looking Tschäggättä on the prowl, better get out of the way, I would say … (click to enlarge)
Caught, although this boy must have thought that by standing on the little mound on the left he would be safe … (click to enlarge)
Adult men, too, would not be spared … and there was not much point trying to resist a tall and heavily clothed Tschäggättä (click to enlarge).
Another particular feature of this alpine carnival was the ear-piercing noise the masked figures (the Tschäggättä) would make with the cow bells they carried (click to enlarge).
Some would even perform a kind of shamane dance (click to enlarge)!
However, there was more to this event than a group of ugly masked figures simply chasing people around and making a lot of noise as you, dear reader, will get to see when I find the time to expand what is for the time being only a teaser entry — you may wish to take a look at the entries my wife has published on her blog in the meantime:
Niebergall Sebastian said:
Fantastique tradition suisse!!!
paulzan said:
Oui, une c’est bien belle tradition d’une petite vallée germanophone bien isolée en Valais. Qui plus est une vallée bien catholique comme il faut où très certainement des normes sociales bien strictes ne laissaient à la jeunesse masculine que ce type d’exutoire quelques semaines par an. A part cela, très sympa ce coucou d’Avoriaz. A une prochaine et salutations à Claire.
Paul
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Jan said:
Quelle fantastique analyse sociologique des ravagés du catholicisme traditionnel.
Oh these mountain guys !!!
paulzan said:
Ne serait-ce pas aussi à mettre en relation avec le renversement de l’ordre établi en conformité avec l’esprit originel du carnaval (Saturnales des Romains) ?
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