Italian Witchcraft

On my 13th
Christmas Eve
at the stroke of midnight
my Italian Grandmother
shared with me
the secrets of
Italian Folklore
or
as we fondly called it
Mallocchio
The Evil Eye
Jettatura

In Italian, there are two words used for the word "witch."
The first is Strega (pronounced stray_gah)
and the second is
Stregone (pronounced Stray-go-nay).
Literally, Strega means a "female witch" and Stregone means a "male Witch."
The old Italian word for Witchcraft is Stregheria (pronounced stray-gah-ree-ah).
In modern Italian, the word Stregoneria (from the root word strego, "to enchant") is used for witchcraft, but this word actually means sorcery.
Traditionally, Witches met within the forest to practice the Old Ways
and from this practice originated the term
"a grove of witches."

The persecution of Witches in Italy did not become violent until the late fourteenth century, and even then the Church struck out mainly against organized groups. The solitary village Witch was generally tolerated, being also the village healer and counselor, thus, Italian Witchcraft remained relatively intact throughout the Middle Ages. In northern Europe, the violent persecution of Witches began almost 100 years earlier, and it included solitaries as well as covens.

In central Italy, Witches of old worshiped the goddess Diana and her consort, the god Dianus. Outside Rome, in the Alban Hills region, they gathered in the ruins of the sanctuary of Diana at Lake Nemi. During the Middle Ages, Witches celebrated in the city of Benevento, at the site of a sacred walnut tree.
What these Witches came to worship were the forms of Nature,
personified as gods and goddesses.

The Cimaruta

The cimaruta, sometimes called the Witches' talisman, is perhaps the oldes surviving symbol of hereditary Witchcraft.
As late as the 19th Century,
antique cimaruta amulets were made of silver,
still the practice today.

The cimaruta symbol itself is a sprig of the herb known as rue,
worn as a sign of membership in the Society of Diana,
the Old Religion of the Witches.
The rue sprig symbol divided into three branches,
representing Diana Triformis,
the three-fold goddess
(the Italian equivalent of the Greek Hecate)
Each branch ends in bud like formations from which sprout various occult symbols.
Among hereditary Witches the cimaruta bears the symbols of
the fish
the cock
the moon
the serpent
the key
the dagger
and
the blossom

The fish is sacred to Diana-Proserpine, who was a sea goddess, and as such is an Underworld creature. The fish is symbolic of the occult life force, or procreative fertile power, submerged and only slightly visible beneath the surface when it is active.

The cock is sacred to the sun and is nicknamed the "watchful guardian."
It is the herald of the sunrise, but cocks also are very aggressive and will chase off even large animal intruders within their territory.
Legend says that cocks also chase off unwelcome spirits, and in this we see their association with sunrise dispelling the darkness. Therefore the cock appears as a symbol of vigilance and protection.

The moon appears on the cimaruta as a sign of following the moon goddess, for in ancient times the moon itself was believed to be the living goddess herself. Therefore to bear the sign of the moon was to proclaim allegiance to what it represented.

The serpent is a sign of health, as reflected in the ancient Caduceus symbolism. The gateway to the Underworld was guarded by snakes, sometimes represented by ropes, and in this we are reminded that health blocks the way to death. The snake is associated also with the Underworld because it disappears into holes and crevices. From ancient times it has also been connected to themes of sensuality and sexuality (the vital essence of the life force)
In this theme we see both natures of the snake:
the fertile essence
and
the phallus moving in and out of the crevice to the Underworld of rebirth.
In ancient art we often find the snake forming a circle, with its tail in its mouth, thus symbolizing perpetual union.
The venomous snake is a symbol of the transformative powers of the sexual aspects of magickal fluids produced in the body through stimulation of the endocrine system.

The key is a symbol of the gatekeeper.
Keys allow access into forbidden or restricted places.
The key appearing on the cimaruta indicates that the bearer
possesses the key to the Mysteries.

The dagger is the dart of Diana Venatrix,
which has the power to slay and transform
(much like the venomous snake)
It is the symbol of the magician's power

The blossom on the cimaruta is the vervain flower,
it's five petals symbolizing the pentagram of protecton
and
the sign of the Witch.
It is intersting to note that Hecate Triformis,
from whom Diana is descended,
in ancient iconography holds the symbols of the key, serpent & dagger.

Having been born an Italian-American, I grew up on stories about the Old World and its customs. My Grandmother used to tell me these wonderful tales of Italian spirits and the beautiful witches of Italy.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
When most people think of Witchcraft/Wicca they generally associate it with Celtic religion, having its roots in northern and western Europe. While this may be true when strictly employing the English word "Wicca," it is not true of Witchcraft in general. Actually the practice of the Old Religion,
(called in modern times, Wicca and Witchcraft)
was well established in Italy long before it was recognizable in any Celtic lands.
Italy is a land steeped in antiquity and tradition.
Great civilizations such as the Etruscan & Roman Empires once flourished amid Italy's beautiful hills and valleys. When other European people were still living in primitieve dwellings, great cities and temples adorned the Italian landscape.
In Italy, shamanism had already evolved into religion, which, in turn, evolved into various Mystery Traditions, at a time when northern and western Europeans were still considered barbarians.
The Old Religion in Italy first began to form around the beliefs of early,
pre-Etruscan Italian. The mystery teaching and the magickal practices were further developed and refined by the Etruscans, who appeared in Italy around
1000 B.C., establishing the great Etruscan Empire. The Etruscans were known historically for their great magickal and mystical knowledge. With the rise of the Roman Empire, other factors began to influence Italian religion.
The soldiers comprising the Roman armies carried the Pagan religion of Italy into all parts of the known world, and returned with aspects of all the religions they encountered. The also planted the seeds of Italian Paganism in every land that they conquered, which accounts for many of the similarities between sourthern and northern European practices. Roman religion went on to eventually become the greates eclectic tradition in all of history.
The Roman Senate libraries contained the great mystery texts of Etrusca, along with the teaching of other lands conquered by Rome. This placed Italy in a unique situation for, in effect, she preserved the world's religious concepts and wove them into a living mosiac. Here they have remained a silent testimony to the ways of our European ancestors.
In the far-off villages of the Roman Empire lived the rustics who had little contact with the ways of the Roman cities. They were not concerned with the great gods usually associated with Roman mythology, such as Jupiter and Vulcan. Their gods were dieties of the fields and forest upon whom the rustics still depended for their livelihood.
Over the course of time, Rome outlawed magickal practices and Dianic cults such as that of the King of the Woods at Nemi. The priestesses of Diana took refuge in the isolated villages near Lake Nemi, and the temple of Diana fell into ruins. Cultured and educated Romans looked down upon the country dwellers, whom they viewed as uncouth simpletons. Yet it was here in these rural villages that the Old Religion of Italy was maintained, separate and independent of Roman religion.

*text taken from the book Italian Witchcraft by Raven Grimassi*

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