User:WGiulio/La Smorfia

 "La Smorfia" (grimace) is the book of dreams, used to draw from various dreams the corresponding numbers to play the lottery. In every smorfia a word, an event, a person or an object is transformed into one or more numbers, through a coding that is also quite precise which provides for a different number depending on the context: for example "to play" is 79, but it changes if you play horses (81), lottery (33), soccer (50), cards (17), chess (22) and so on.

The smorfia was originally handed down orally, later transcribed on paper. Given the popular origin of the smorfia, there are not a few editions of the smorfia that use figures, for the illiterate, alongside numbers.

The origin of the term "smorfia" is uncertain, but the most frequent explanation is that it is linked to the name of Morpheus, the god of dreams in ancient Greece. Other theories are inclined to believe that the origin of the Grimace lies within the Jewish kabbalistic tradition, according to which there is no word, letter or sign in the Bible that does not have some related hidden meaning.

The grimace is traditionally linked to the city of Naples, which has a long tradition in the lottery game. It has often also been a source of inspiration for cinema, sometimes becoming the protagonist of dialogues and sketches conceived and proposed above all by Neapolitan actors.

Voci correlate

 * La smorfia napoletana