Italian History and Folklore

According to Magliocco (2004)

Entrenched religion in historic Italy can be characterized as an Italian people’s religion or way of life based on their experience, comprehension, and practice of it (p. 153). Fundamentally, vernacular religion emerges from everyday culture and cannot alter established behaviors. For example, Magliocco (2004, p. 154) noticed that Italians, even those who were urbanized or living in cities, were steadfast in following their ancestors’ traditional customs. As for natural magic, Magliocco (2004, p. 156) determined that it was a way of conviction in itself that was developed or resonated from a small community and would be categorized as being strange and complicated. For instance, there were beliefs that witchcraft was prevalent among those who lived in the rural settings. More so, for those who lived together in small communities (Magliocco, 2004, p. 156).

Jettatura

According to (De Ceglia) (2011, p. 78), the term Jettatura has no lineage of occurrence as different authors and philosophers claim to the inventors of the word. Jettatura, nonetheless, can be determined as the consequence of doing ill by man under the Napoleon theorem. The debate to epitomize the definition is based on the understanding of the metaphoric association between the eye and its evil entity. As such, linkages towards magic and fascination have been determined to aid in understanding what the evil eye is and how ill a man can get and what are the consequences (De Ceglia, 2011, p. 79).

Evil Eye

About Berger’s (2012) work, on the Evil Eye, the deduction is that the evil eye is linked to extraordinary revelations both in action and superstition. More so, the term evil eye is related to individuals such as witches and sorcerers based on their ability to look at someone or gaze into their eyes and cause harm. Harm can be different as they can range from death, illness or insanity (Berger, 2012, p.1099). The concept of the Evil Eye, based on the reading, is that traditional folklore denoted the belief and the superstition as being real and that any considerable harm to humans was caused by the gaze of an unwanted being such as a witch. As such, the fundamental traditional belief is that up to date any harm is caused by the undesirable individual such as a woman who does not understand that she can possess such powers- as they are inherited (Berger, 2012, p. 1100).

Imaging the Strega

According to Magliocco (2011) chapter on interpreting the witchcraft from America and that of Italian folklore, is that they are different. The author deduces that Italian-American witchcraft cannot be compared to Italian witchcraft due to one primal basis. The idea is that with Italian witchcraft is inherited and passed on from generation to generation of Italian descent. There is a distinction in how other authors try and link American witchcraft to that of Italian witchcraft (Magliocco, 2011, p. 199). Further, the author determines that due to the migration of Italians to North America may have facilitated the emergence of similar characteristics in witchcraft techniques. Therefore, the distinction between Italian witchcraft and American-Italian witchcraft is that one was genetically inherited whereas the other was an invented tradition (Magliocco, 2011, p. 198).

Work Cited

Berger, Allan S. “The Evil Eye—an Ancient Superstition.” Journal of Religion and Health, vol. 51, no. 4, 2012, pp. 1098–1103.

De Ceglia, Francesco Paolo. ”‘ It’s Not True, but I Believe It’: Discussions on Jettatura in Naples between the End of the Eighteenth and Beginning of the Nineteenth Centuries.” Journal of the History of Ideas, vol. 72, no. 1, 2011, pp. 75–97.

Magliocco, Sabina. ”Imagining the Strega: Folklore Reclamation and the Construction of Italian American Witchcraft.” Performing Ecstasies: Music, Dance, and Ritual in the Mediterranean, 2005, pp. 277–301.

Magliocco, Sabina ”Witchcraft, Healing and Vernacular Magic in Italy.” Witchcraft Continued. Popular Magic in Modern Europe, 2004, pp. 151–173.