Fasciuni: The Warmth of Bundled Belonging

Fasciuni (fah-she-U-ni) is a Sicilian word derived from the Arabic fašš (fash), meaning to bundle or bind together. This linguistic inheritance from Sicily's Arab period speaks to centuries of Mediterranean wisdom about survival and care. In its simplest form, fasciuni describes the act of gathering twigs or sticks and binding them into a bundle—transforming fragile, scattered pieces into something sturdy and useful. But the word carries within it something deeper than mere practicality: it holds the knowledge that bundling creates not just strength, but warmth, safety, and connection.

Think of a child wrapped in a blanket on a cold night, the fabric drawn close to keep the chill away. Or campers huddled together in a sleeping bag, their shared body heat creating a cocoon of warmth that neither could sustain alone. Consider nestling chicks pressed against one another beneath the shelter of their parents' wings, each small body contributing to and drawing from the collective warmth. This is fasciuni—the profound comfort and security that comes from being held together, from choosing proximity over isolation, from the deliberate act of drawing close.

A single twig snaps easily. But bound together, those same twigs become a bundle that holds, that endures, that serves. The binding itself matters: what wraps around the bundle, what draws the pieces together and keeps them from scattering. In the physical world, it might be cord or vine. In human community, it is care, mutual obligation, shared purpose—the conscious decision to tie our well-being to that of others.

Think of the multitude of examples of bundles (fasciuni) that we have and how they transform things:

• Herbs bundled together add healthy, flavorful components to soups, stews and braised dishes.

• Children bundled within a classroom are infused with education, taking on the teacher’s knowledge, just like a stew takes on the flavor and healthfulness of the herb bundle

• Flowers bundled together convey messages of beauty, affection, love, caring and empathy

• People bundled together for a common cause create hopes, purpose, plans, actions, intent and solidarity.

It is important to note that this essay focuses on “fasciuni” and not “fascio”.  The term "fascio" was used in the 1870s-1890s by revolutionary democratic groups in Sicily, most famously the Fasci Siciliani, which were organizations of workers and peasants founded in the early 1890s - primitive trade unions and mutual-benefit societies aimed at helping workers get better contracts. However, this same word and symbol were later co-opted by Mussolini's fascist movement, giving it very different and troubling associations.

The ancient wisdom of the Arabic fašš, from which the Sicilian fasciuni is derived, traveling from Arabic through Siculo-Arabic culture into the Sicilian language, speaks directly to what sustains democracy. Democracy is not a cold mechanism of voting and governing; it is the lived experience of people choosing to bundle themselves together, to create collective warmth in a world that can be harsh and unforgiving. It survives in neighborhoods where people check on elderly neighbors, in communities that organize to protect the vulnerable, in the countless small acts of wrapping one another in what matters most—dignity, justice, compassion.

When we isolate ourselves, when we scatter like individual twigs across the forest floor, we lose more than strength; we lose warmth. We lose the sensation of being held, of mattering to others, of contributing to something larger than our solitary selves. Democracy grows cold and brittle without the fasciuni of genuine community—without people willing to press close, to share resources and burdens, to create together the warmth that makes life not just survivable but meaningful.

Every thriving democracy is built on fasciuni: communities of people who understand that we are warmer together, safer together, stronger together. They are the citizens who show up, who organize, who refuse to let their neighbors face the cold alone. They know that democracy stays alive not through laws and institutions alone, but through the patient, persistent practice of bundling ourselves to one another—wrapping each other in care, binding our fates together, and creating the collective warmth that allows all of us to flourish.

By Council Member Joe Castagliola