The Tradition of Segnature: Underground Indigenous Practices in Italy
From the Janare in Campania to the Masche in Piemonte, the Italian regions have a long history of local healers and folk witches, also known as Segnatori. Shrouded in folklore and secrecy, these traditions are still alive and practised across the country, especially in the countryside. Data collecte...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
2019
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| In: |
Journal of the Irish Society for the Academic Study of Religions
Year: 2019, Volume: 7, Pages: 104-123 |
| Further subjects: | B
Segnatori
B Witchcraft B Shamanism B Indigenous B Folk magic B Magic B Segnature B Italy B Contemporary |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | From the Janare in Campania to the Masche in Piemonte, the Italian regions have a long history of local healers and folk witches, also known as Segnatori. Shrouded in folklore and secrecy, these traditions are still alive and practised across the country, especially in the countryside. Data collected during two years of fieldwork between 2016 and 2018 suggest that the sole way to engage with these local healers is through either being part of the community or their family. There is also a firm reticence on the part of the witches and their community members to talk about the practice and the rituals involved. By analysing how folk magic has been concealed within and reshaped by the boundaries dictated by the dominant religious system and the cultural framework, I will argue that this practice is ingrained in the life of local Italian communities, somehow framing the way people explain their sense of religiosity or lack thereof. The matter of an evolving syncretism - from Catholicism to Paganism - will also be addressed as a key element to confirm the resilience of such traditions. Lastly, I will analyse the significance of their enduring core for the conceptualisation of magic found in the cultural fabric. |
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| ISSN: | 2009-7409 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Irish Society for the Academic Study of Religions, Journal of the Irish Society for the Academic Study of Religions
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