As an Italian witch I have been receiving more and more requests of people looking for advice and information about how they could approach Italian witchcraft and most (but not all) of them have been from people whose ancestral roots are partly buried in this country’s soil. I try to answer them in as much a detailed and articulate way I can manage in an e-mail or a private message, but I always feel as if this topic deserves to be addressed in a proper way, and that’s why I have decided to write a blog post about it: I hope this will be helpful to many people in finding their path and listening to the haunting song of our ancestors.
I know from past experience that I will touch upon some sore points and that this may lead to a lot of ruffled feathers and bruised feelings. I’m STILL going to touch on those sore points, because I think there are things that need to be said, no matter how unpleasant they may result for some, but before I do that, I want to state one thing very clearly: the desire so many people have to connect to our culture, both in its mundane and sorcerous aspects, is a thing of beauty.
Those whose ancestors fled from our land in search of a better future; those who were raised with the tales and the words of a place they have never seen; those who come to our shores every
chance they get and those who just dream of it because they lack the means to; those who treasure every snippet of information they can get their hands on and struggle with our language; those
who have not even a drop of Italian blood in their veins, but are in love with our history and culture, who feel the power and the sacredness of this land and its spirits and approach it with
respect: all of you are our brothers and sisters. I honor your quest and I hope you can find the path to come back to what feels like home.
It’s not the blood flowing in my veins that makes me Italian; it’s the time spent studying our history, listening to old people stories and local myths; it’s eating the food, learning the plants, the animals, the flow of the seasons; it’s the language I speak, the art and literature I have been immersed in since I was born; it’s the people around me and the web of connection embedded deep down into my soul, where every significant moment is tied to a memory, a smell, a place. Culture is meant to be shared. It is not meant to be taken or to be forcibly shaped into whatever better suits our desires and expectations, it’s a gift from the land and the people that came before us: it should be shared with joy and received with respect.
In these times of globalization, where the images and the ideas conveyed by the media of the dominant USA-centered popular culture (through movies, tv series, songs etc…) are so pervasive, being identified by a limited series of caricatural stereotypes is a source of unending irritation for Italians (and, no doubt, for people from many other countries and cultures, as well).
These ill-conceived ideas about what being an Italian means are pushed by three main cathegories of people:
- The out and out racists: those that have never ventured outside of their backyard and rely on dumbed-down propaganda. Like all racists, they are dismally ignorant and a huge amount of effort and patience is required to attempt a meaningful conversation, which goes way beyond the aim of this article.
- The romantics: those that love Italy and are fascinated by its culture, but treat it as a sort of fictional place, on which they project all sorts of expectations as if it were an amusement park for their imagination and not a real modern country inhabited by real people. These people often believe strange things, like “all Italian men are latin lovers”, or “people in Italy still use mules and chariots for transportation”, or “Italian families still arrange marriages for their children”, and so on. Even if it is not meant as such, this is still a form of covert racism and it’s still caused by ignorance: I assure you we are a modern and complex country, we watch Netflix and stuff. And I have never been on a mule in my life.
- Enthusiatic Italo-American people: those that identify as Italians because of their family origins and proudly claim what they believe to be typical Italian behaviors,
aesthetics, food, tastes etc. All of this comes from a good place, from the desire to reconnect to ones roots, but it fails to address the very important fact that Italo-American culture
is not Italian culture: in fact, these two are so different that most of Italians wouldn’t even recognize it as having something to do with them.
Most of the ideas Americans have about Italians are shaped by the customs of the immigrants that came there more than a century ago, but culture is a living, organic thing, as it grows and changes with us. Italian immigrants were coming mostly from the southern regions of the country (and this explains some of the one-dimensional stereotypes), what they brought with them were bits and pieces preserved from another time and implanted in a different environment, where they grew in their own way and developed differently, interacting with the special complex of people, ideas, languages and traditions they found themselves in.
Going even beyond the fact that Italo-American culture is not representative of Italy, it has to be taken into consideration that Italy is very diverse country (we go from the snow-topped highest mountains of the Alps, to the sunny southern climate) and it became an unified country only a century and a half ago: Italian culture is not a monolith, it’s a puzzle of different identities and traditions.
Some stereotypes, of course, have a bit of truth in it; one of them is that we DO get mad at food (because food here is much more than sustenance, it’s tradition, history and identity, so when we see fettuccine Alfredo or gooey spaghetti there’s something that detonates in our reptilian brain. Sorry about that.), and another one is that we are proud about local differences and traditions and we love to argue. I’m not joking when I say that every city, town and village has a nemesis in some of its neighbors; it’s a national sport of sorts to good-naturedly tease each other with enmities and stereotypes that go back several centuries. Imagine that people from Bologna and Modena are still playing at despising each other because of a war that was fought in the XIV century and that got started with the theft of a bucket[2]: a damn bucket. Enough said.
Delving specifically into the subject of witchcraft, things become even more complex and confused.
Let’s get started by saying that there is no such thing as an Italian Witchcraft Tradition, in the sense in which pagans and sorcerers usually employ the word “tradition”.
This is a common misunderstanding that occurs with people looking to get back in touch with their roots (be they biological or spiritual ones) and are used to the American claims of authentic Italian traditions reaching back to the burning times: if such a survival had been possible from the times of old we would be the first ones to be thrilled about it, but sadly this is not the case.
What we do have are bits and pieces of folk magic (especially regarding healing or averting evil and misfortune, since those were the most pressing urges of our ancestors), that sometimes show a remarkable continuity through centuries and can rarely retain some sort of initiatory passage, but, even in these cases, they are very focused practices that don’t amount to a complex web of belief with a cosmology, a set of deities and spirits, an orthopraxis with rituals and formulas and so on[1].
What is known in the United States as Stregheria is NOT an Italian tradition: I have never known someone, young or old, practicing it in Italy and it has no real historical basis. It is mainly based on C.G.Leland work, which is deeply problematic and has been widely criticized from an academic point of view[3], with snippets of folk practices and traditions that have been passed on by first-generation immigrants (especially from Campania and other southern regions), along with some daring fantasy inventions (like ongoing family feuds between mythological families of witches) : all of this has been woven together, given a structure largely borrowed by Wicca and other neo-pagans traditions, and presented as a complete package.
There is nothing inherently wrong with all of this, as long as people are aware that it represents a modern Italo-American tradition with no claims to representing the survival of an ancient cult. If this is what you are looking for, if it feels right for you, by all means go for it! Traditions are born every day and this is a sign of a rich and vital culture.
We are only asking of you to stop presenting it as an authentic historical Italian tradition, firstly because it’s not true and secondly because it leaves a very bitter taste in our mouth to be misrepresented by substituting the complexity of our genuine traditions and practices with a modern child of a popular dominant culture.
This often raises the hackles of people that feel that with these arguments we (the Italian witches) are trying to declare the superiority of a supposed “True Italian Tradition” versus a fake American one, but this is not the case: what we are saying is that such a tradition DOES NOT EXIST. It doesn’t exist in the United States, it doesn’t exist in Italy or Croatia or Ucraine or even in Pan’s Arcadia.
Even in Italy claims of young (or not so young) witches about being the recipients of an hereditary tradition of witchcraft abound: if all the stories about witchy grandmas were true, I would be very concerned about the true nature of sunday roast!
Inevitably all that turns out are grimoires written in the Theban alphabet or with “Celtic runes”, and practices of clear wiccan or neo-pagan origins. This doesn’t mean that there are no practices that are transmitted along a family line or in an initiatory-like manner, but, as I have previously stated, these are of a completely different nature.
To be fair, even the idea of a “pure” and “true” tradition, especially when it comes to witchcraft, would have been a very outlandish concept for our pre-christian ancestors: the
fact that spiritual practices are more authentic and powerful when they don’t show interaction with other cultures is largely an Abrahamic concept and witchcraft in particular has always been
especially voracious. Witchcraft belongs to the people and it has to answer to their needs, so whatever works and inspires is ingested and assimilated in a glorious display of richness and
cultural exchange, especially in the Mediterranean area, where people were more connected than separated by the sea: the PGM (Greek Magical Papyri) are the result of a fascinating syncretism
between Egyptian, Greco-Roman, Semitic and Near Eastern magical practices and traditions.
Another sore point is the inclusion of catholic saints and practices in modern witchcraft: it now seems to be all the rage, especially in anglophone countries, but Italian pagans are seldom thrilled by it. To understand this you have to imagine that the Catholic church is not an exotic, far-off reality for us: it’s a very tangible and still heavy and oppressive presence in our lives. Every day we see ancient temples of the Old Ones that have been transformed into catholic churches, sacred areas that have been appropriated by the Church and where we are not permitted to perform the old celebrations or even show our devotion in the simplest ways; the catholic establishment exerts its enormous political and economical power to influence national politics in all the areas of our life: sex and reproduction, education, medical care, the arts, the care of the environment… nothing escapes their desire to dictate how we should live and die.
In Italy the Catholic church has the face of the faith that forcibly smothered native polytheism, made magic a crime and desecrated nature; that burned, hanged and tortured so many of our ancestors.
When even harmless healing folk magic was made into a crime punishable by death, of course people had to gradually substitute gods and local spirits with Jesus, Mary and the Saints, to make their practices acceptable, at least on a surface level; furthermore, as I previously said, magic is voracious, so it should not come as a surprise that the country healer thought “If Jesus is so powerful, then his power will help my incantations”, and it’s no secret that many saints are masks put on pre-christian spirits, heroes and gods.
I’m not saying that there is no power or value to be found in catholic practices, I’m just saying that Catholicism is still very much a living, breathing abuser here, so people that openly identify as pagans and witches are generally way more eager to free themselves from its burden than to include it in their practice.
If you came this far, you may be asking yourself what’s really going on with witchcraft in Italy.
We still have the places of power, the history (both as historical research and as physical remains), popular traditions and tales and all of the things that form a complex tapestry from which we draw the means to reconnect with the deities and spirits of the land, weaving together past and present. There is no one true way to read this tapestry, since even in historical times witchcraft and pre-christian folk spirituality never formed a precise structure that was common to all and, furthermore, that the very choice we make when we choose the threads that interest and call to us the most, is changing our perspective and forming an unique landscape.
Not to mention the fact that Italy, and foreigners often forget this, has seen an astonishing number of peoples and cultures in its history: Celts, Latins, Romans, Etruscans, Greeks, North-Africans, Arabs, Scandinavians and so forth… So, even if we were to ignore the idea that someone can be called by a culture that’s not ancestral to him/her (which can happen), our ancestral ways include incredible variety! No strictly defined tradition can ever be authentic and give justice to this complexity and richness.
What we have now is a growing, multifaceted reality: there are people that explore the medieval tradition of the Witches’ Sabbat, people who choose to research and work with specific pre-christian traditions and spiritualities, people who prefer to dedicate themselves to the study and practice of local folk magic in its many forms, people who take the structures and tools from modern traditions of witchcraft and use them to rebuild a connection with spirits of the place, and many others I failed to mention.
If I were to give advice to someone looking to get in touch with Italian traditions of witchcraft, this, in a nutshell, is what I would say:
- Don't rely on all those paths that claim to be an “Authentic Italian Witchcraft Tradition”, as they are not what they claim to be. If one in particular calls to you and you love its lore and structure, feel free to go for it: no one is stopping you! Just be aware that they are modern Italo-American inventions and that no Italian would recognize them as being traditional.
- Get in touch with Italian people seriously practicing witchcraft in fb groups and the like (and learning the language is a big advantage, but you will find that lots of Italians seriously practicing some form of magic speak English).
- Listen to Italians when they speak about customs and traditions of their country, instead of being offended or silencing them when things don’t fit your expectations. Avoid arrogantly appropriating a culture you don’t really know and show it respect.
- Read books about local folklore and history (possibly written by Italians living in Italy and/or by scholars). C.Ginzburg and E. de Martino, for example, are two very good sources to get you started.
- Master the tools to establish a personal connection to local spirits and deities.
- If you can, come to Italy! The land is a physical thing: come put your hands in the soil, drink from sacred springs, eat the food and listen to the voice of Faun in the
woods.
If you are meant to walk this path, the spirits and the land will recognize and embrace you, and we will as well: I wish you the best on your journey.
In bocca al lupo!
Giulia Turolla, February 29th, 2020
Did you like what you just read?
Giulia Turolla, the author of this piece (her short bio is at the end of the page) will be offering an online intensive workshop on the cult of Diana
Nemorensis in June and July 2021!
This workshop is addressed to all the people feeling the call of Diana and of the sacred inhabiting wild places: we will not only learn
about the ancient cult of this goddess, but also discover how to step unto Her path and to the Mysteries of the Lake.
We will unveil the secrets and the practices that will allow us to bring the magic and the power of wild places in our life, how to honor them and create a strong bond between ourselves and the place we live in: a sacred bond, that can heal ourselves and the world around us.
[1]For examples of folk practices that involve hereditary or initiatory transmission, see P. Govetti “I guaritori di campagna. Viaggio attraverso la medicina popolare in Italia”, Edizioni Mediterranee, 2016
[2]The so-called “secchia rapita” from the battle of Zappolino in 1325 CE.
[3]I don’t personally dismiss Leland’s work as complete fiction, but his claims of having uncovered a direct survival of an ancient witchcraft cult have been demonstrated to be groundless. For a modern critique of Leland’s work and methodology see M. di Fazio, “Un esploratore di sub-culture: Charles Godfrey Leland”, Archeologiae 1.2, 2003 and “Gli Etruschi nella cultura popolare Italiana del XIX secolo. Le indagini di Charles G. Leland”, History of Classical Scholarship Issue 1, 2019. For a commentary on Leland’s manuscripts see R. Mathiesen “Charles G. Leland and the Witches of Italy: the Origin of Aradia” in “Aradia or the Gospel of the Witches – a New Translation” by M.Pazzaglini e D.Pazzaglini, Phoenix Publishing, 1998.