Italian Folk Magic

Did you catch this at all? @Francisco

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Thanks for sharing @janelle!!! That was a great watch! :clap: :clap: Having mostly Italian ancestry myself, I can definitely identify with Stregoneria. Especially on being taught magic on special dates (St. John’s eve, Christmas Eve), that’s the same thing my mother says.

I loved the video so here’s a few quotes for those who don’t have time to watch the entire clip:

On Witchcraft:

“Being called a “witch” is something that people from the outside did. That was the label that they gave us. Among ourselves we would say we’re going to do some “art” or “the way”. And each family may have had a different name for it but in its essence it was the same.”

On hereditary Magic:

“Our Magic comes through our bloodline but every person has the ability to tap into that Magic. The magical powers don’t come from being an “eighty-first generation witch”, it’s that I had the benefit of having teachers and people to support me, while some people their families might disown them, but they may turn out to be much more powerful and more adept than I could ever be in this lifetime.”

On who can practice Stregoneria:

“The tradition is beautiful and it’s who I am but if it’s living and it’s dynamic it has to be able to evolve with the postmodern world. Why should we hold things back from people who weren’t born Italian? When I was growing up we would say: “There are two kinds of people in the world: Those who are Italian and those who wish they were”. So why should you hold something that is this precious, this powerful and this amazing back from them?”

“A dear friend of mine told me that she was denied any of the teachings (in her family) because she’s queer. In the 21st century this is bullshit. We need to teach everybody everything and let them say “this is of value to me or this isn’t so much of value” and know that later down the road you can pick up on the part that you weren’t interested before.”

On Solitary practice:

“There are some people (watch out for them) who don’t want people to be a solitary practitioner. When you’re a solitary, you start to ask questions, and one of the questions that comes the most often is “Why do I need this teacher? I’m ready to move on”. And that is the cash cow that so many of these practitioners lose out on. All of their rules are nonsense to make you scared of leaving.”

On Stregheria vs Stregoneria:

Stregoneria simply means Witchcraft. “Stregheria” is a folk religion that was made up by Raven Grimassi and then expanded by people like Leo Martello and Lori Bruno. Essentialy, it’s Wicca with Italian seasoning.

On working with deities:

“We don’t worship the old ones, we work with them. If we call on Diana (name for the Goddess), I work with her like you would a great-great-grandmother. If I leave an offering it’s out of gratitude. It’s not a prescribed offering that you have to leave it or she’s going to get mad. They don’t want worship, they want devotion, love, to be part of the family.”

We recently also had a topic on Stregheria by Lori Bruno which also includes a video. It’s the other side of Italian Witchcraft so I recommend it too.

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I absolutely love this!

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I have Italian on my father’s side of the family. My grandmother was actually the first child in her family to be born in the United States, all of her brothers and sisters were born in Italy as were her parents. They came over in the early 1900s into Boston and they lived in South Boston when my father grew up along with his aunts, uncles, and cousins.

This is a great video I enjoyed it! Thank you!

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There’s the Distinct possibility that Stregha is a a remnant of old Etruscan, PreRoman culture. There was a book once written Vangeles de Stregha or Gospels of the Witches.

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“We don’t worship the old ones, we work with them. If we call on Diana (name for the Goddess), I work with her like you would a great-great-grandmother. If I leave an offering it’s out of gratitude. It’s not a prescribed offering that you have to leave it or she’s going to get mad. They don’t want worship, they want devotion, love, to be part of the family.”

@Francisco this is similar to the approach I have with Selene; I refer to her a lot as Mother or Goddess, I “worship” her but its more a sign of respect, much like the respect I would give to a matriarch in my family.

She doesnt demand offerings, but I gift her occasionally to show my thanks :gift::blush:

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@Abs53 That is beautiful. Have a Blessed Monday :full_moon: and a happy Full Moon! :sparkles:


Via Pinterest

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