moscheta.htm: Reversing secret codes: "Beauty spots"

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Moschete, Mouches & Moles: mmm!
Reversing secret codes: "Beauty spots"

by Sesame ellis, June 2008
(first published at http://www.searchlores.org in June 2008, heavily edited by fravia+)

...a fine little essay :-.)
It would be nice to open a "reversing secret codes" specific section... in fact there are plenty of codes to reverse, as ole +ORC pointed out eons ago: "All around us grows a world of codes and secret and not so secret patterns. Codes that are at times so familiar and common that we do not even notice them any more... and yet they are there to fool us, and yet they offer marvellous cracking possibilities".
Granted, the example below is just a modest "historical reversing" attempt: as you will see, a faked beauty spot had, three centuries ago, a quasi-"steganographical" meaning: hiding a direct (sexual) message.
Yet this again demonstrates how many things around us can have, or can have had, an interesting (and in this case slightly arousing) hidden meaning.

Introduction
This is a very short "reversing" essay. Applied to a "secret" (sort of) code that doesn't exist anymore. Faked beauty spots were all the rage three centuries ago, and gave a very provoking allure to the young (and old) ladies (and men) that did wear them.

Terminology
The latin correct term is "nevus" (if we speak of the common melanocytic nevi). Yhe terms used in English are "mole" and "beauty spot", while in French we speak of a "grain de beauté" (grain of beauty), in Spanish the term is "lunar" (the sign of the moon), in italian "neo", in german "Schönheitsfleck" (dutch "schoonheidsvlekje", swedish "skönhetsfläck") and in portuguese "sinal".

Mode & trends
Faked "beauty spots" must have been great fun because of their "secret" meanings: put a fake mole on your nose and be a shameless provocateur.

You can find traces of this usage all over Europe: In Venice there is a famous "Calle delle moschete" where these faked beauty spots were produced.
The venetian word "moschete" (literally "small flies"), refers to these small faked moles, that were made of taffeta (a lustrous plain weave fabric with a smooth feel and slightly ribbed appearance) and were produced in this venetian street for the charming (and rather sexually open) ladies of the XVIII century.

This mode has disappeared, but I bet that anyone that would care to reintroduce such customs could make millions :-)
So, in order to avoid any excessive commercial exploit, I declare all kind of fake beauty spots (the moschete) that -given their age- are not per se subjected to copyright, to be henceforth protected forever under the GPL license: anyone is granted the right to produce, sell, use moschete as much as he cares only PROVIDED he respects the spirit and letter of the GPL license. There, I said it.

Bibliography
For Venice refer to the fantastic work of Giuseppe Tassini (1827-1899): Curiosità veneziane, ovvero origini delle denominazioni stradali, (Venezia 1863), that nowadays many young thiefs continue to exploit and shamelessly rip off in order to sell rather ludicrous "second tier" books about the "magic" Venice.

For Spain refer instead to Luis José Velázquez (Marquis of Valdeflores) beautiful small book: Collección de diferentes escritos relativos al cortejo (Madrid, 1764) where you will be able to read the following about the "steganographic" implicit messages of the moschete:
"The beauty spots on the left temple may signify that the fortress is occupied; on the right temple, that she is on the point of breaking up with the current escort and ready to choose another; and the absence of the beauty spots on either temple may mean that the place is vacant. The tiny patches, skillfully distributed throughout the face, may denote a momentary state of mind of the lady. For instance, placed near the right eye, they command the cortejo not to look so attentively at someone; placed in the vicinity of the left eye, that he can look at whomever he wishes. A spot near the right-hand corner of the mouth should signal to him not to talk to such and such a person; near the left-hand corner will tell the escort that he had been very amusing and cute".

Where & who
Beauty spots had a specific meaning, which depended on their location on the skin.

Here Giuseppe Tassini's description:
Near the mouth they meant voluptuousness. There were TWO possible areas: close to the underlips, in which case the mosquete were called civette (literally owl, but in italian it means also "One given to flirting", i.e: coquette) and close to the corners of the mouth, in which case the moschete were called assassine literally: "able to kill".

On the throat (or on the cheek) they conveyed a meaning of gallantry. This type of moscheta was in fact called galante i.e.: gallant or tirabaci i.e.: lovelock. On the nose a faked beauty spot shows boldness and was called sfrontata, i.e.: shameless).
A moscheta on the eye-corner indicates passion: appassionata (i.e.: passionate). This should not be confused with the irresistibile, that was always located near one of the eyes.
In the middle of the forehead the beauty spot meant grandeur (and was called maestosa, i.e.: grand).

In France there were similar significations for les grains de beauté (aka "les mouches"):
"La mouche était également un faux grain de beauté, fait de mousseline noire et collé sur le visage, utilisé pour faire ressortir la blancheur du teint. L'usage des mouches était déjà connu au XVIIème siècle. C'est au XVIIIème siècle qu'elles vont devenir les symboles de la parure.
La localisation de la mouche sur le visage possédait une symbolique particulière qui donnait des précisions sur le tempérament et la personnalité de l'utilisatrice à un moment donné."

Here you go:

La friponne
L'assassine ou la passionnée
La baiseuse (faut comprendre dans son sens primitif :-)
La coquette
La majestueuse
La galante
L'enjouée
La recéleuse ou la voleuse
L'effrontée (ou gaillarde)
La discréte
La généreuse
La tendre

Sous la lèvre, vers le menton (discréte)
Assassine: sous l'œil droit. Passionnée: près de l'oeil
Au coin de la bouche - coin droit de la lèvre
Sur la lèvre
Sur le front
Sur la joue - Sous l'œil gauche - Sous la pommette
Dans le creux du sourire
Posée pour cacher un bouton
Sur le bout du nez
Menton
Sein
Sur le lobe de l'oreille

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