ABSTRACT
This chapter shows that the proposed contrast between the 'sacred' and the 'profane' in the Palio of Siena and its rituals. It describes a number of examples of actions that might be regarded as evidence of the 'profane' - or, more exactly, of the 'profanation of the sacred' - in the rituals and traditions of the Palio. The chapter argues that the traditional contrast and opposition between the sacred and the profane that is said to characterize many of the popular rituals of the Palio of Siena is, on closer examination, only partly valid and appropriate. Interest in astrological interpretations of the likely fortunes of the different contrade is also high and, again, will feature in both the newspapers and on television programmes devoted to the Palio. The chapter considers the potential significance for the argument that the Palio constitutes a modern expression of Sienese civil religion.
