Witches, Wings, and The Winds
Folk Medicine/Book Club Live Circle: June 25 at 6pm EDT
Folk Medicine Live Circle and "Della Medicina" Book Club
“Nuvola,
nuvola scura,
che sei venuta a fare?
Vattene, vai lontano, vai nel bosco.
Ritirati, ritirati.
Vai da quella parte oscura,
dove non canta il gallo
e non cresce orma di cavallo.”
”Cloud,
dark cloud,
what have you come to do?
Go away, go far away, go into the woods.
Retreat, retreat.
Go to that dark place,
where the rooster does not crow
and no horse's footprint grows.”
~An apotropaic charm to ward off rain spoken by a Lucanian farmer in the documentary “Magia Lucana” by Luigi Di Gianni
Our next live circle we will focus on the streghe/witches of Southern Italy. The witches and healers were and are to this day some of the central figures of folk culture, myth, and agricultural life to the peasants and villagers of Italy’s many regions. As with Italian dialects, witch traditions vary from place to place, town to town, and through the changing times.
Join us!
Wednesday, June 25 @6pm EDT
For paid subscribers at $8 per month.
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These live circles will be recorded and posted here on substack.
+++Link to join via zoom is at the bottom of this post+++
Beyond the dominant narratives around individual witches and village healers, these figures were expressed in groups and networks of practitioners that used unique formulas, rites, and languages to weave the seen and the unseen worlds whether for the purposes of healing, divination, or prophecy.
The archetype or pattern of consciousness that moves through the world in the form of the witch does not only appear in human form. Witches, witchcraft, and natural magic sometimes appear as divine beings such as angels or other spirits, and even as natural elements such as the wind.
The city of Benevento, known for its traditions of witchcraft, includes wind/vento right in its name; Bene (good), vento (wind).
During our time together we will explore some ancient myths and literature describing the origins of witches, several regional witchcraft traditions, and how witchcraft can be found in agricultural and elemental rites from Italy including:
Sirens and Angels
The Parthenogenetic Priestesses
The Janara of Benevento
The Magara of Calabria
The Majaria of Sicily
The Cult of Diana
La scuola di Baselice (witch school in the town of Baselice, Benevento)
As usual, I’ll do some short reading from my book “Della Medicina” as part of the sharing and have an open Q and A.
Because this is an informal and fluid, discussion based circle we may or may not get to everything on the agenda. It’s my intention to allow space for a generative flow of ideas.
Everyone is welcome to simply listen in or join the discussion!
Zoom link below: