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A
witch riding her broom |
| calitri
tradizioni |
| In Calitri, like elsewhere,
it was believed that witches met every Friday in Benevento and
that on certain nights they would abduct horses from their stalls
and race them until tired so that the following morning their
masters would find them foaming at the mouth, all scratched up
either by the brambles or witches’ nails and with manes
knotted up so that they could not be easily unraveled. |
| To prevent this from
happening, a cross was usually carved on the animal’s forehead. |
| Furthermore, after the wheat had been bundled up in the fields,
they came out into the open (always on Friday) to dance on the threshing
floor. |
| The story is told of a certain Giuseppe Lampariello who, when
he went outside during the night to relieve himself, was surrounded
by six witches who danced around him in a circle and gave him a
sound thrashing saying: Last night we were six and tonight we are
seven. |
He answered: if I save myself from this beating, I’ll never
go out again at night to relieve myself. |
Besides witches properly so called (by definition,
malevolent), there were persons who practiced “positive”
magic (to foster a love affair or revive one, for example). |
| Among the witches of a more recent time in history were Maria
Michaela Casparrino and Mariasaluta (who practiced her craft on
Railroad Street). |
| Other witchcraft practices were connected with the evil eye. |
| If for instance a healthy child or
a greatly esteemed adult or an exceptionally good laborer suddenly
fell ill or came down with fevers, headaches and vomit, the cause
was ascribed to the evil eye. |
| If assistance from a sorceress wasn’t sought at once, exorcism
would require several hours, during which time prayers were addressed
to Saint Blaise while crosses were made on the patient. Another
custom was to hang around the child’s neck a slip of paper
with the word abracadabra written in pyramid form. |
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