Page:Blackwood's Magazine volume 026.djvu/75

 Poetical and Devotional Superstitions of Italy.

POETICAL AND DEVOTIONAL SUPERSTITIONS OF ITALY.

FROM THE JOURNAL OF A MODERN TRAVELLER.

THE inhabitants of ancient Italy gradually exchanged their native di- vinities for the historical deities intro- duced by successive settlers from Greece ; thus the dreams, omens, and auguries of Etruria were blended with the fables and ceremonies of Hellas, and the combination became the state religion of Rome. During the em pire, the miracle- loving Romans began to substitute the monsters, the en- chantments, and the astrology of Egypt and Chaldsea for the worn-out, but still publicly worshipped, state- gods ; and, finally, after the establish- ment of Christianity, the elementary spirits of Teutonic superstition raised into importance and celebrity by the witch- tribunals and other legislative prohibitions of Charlemagne, found their way to Italy, in tales and legends which took a deep and lasting hold of its imaginative inhabitants. It would not be difficult, even in the pnsent day, to separate and class these hetero- geneous elements of Italian supersti- tion, were it worth while to trace them to their respective sources. To gene- ral readers, however, some illustrative details of their actual working, and wide diffusion in the lower classes of Italian society will be more acceptable. Amidst the numerous vestiges of an- tique customs, discoverable in modern Italian life, occur not a few of the pu- rest heathenism. For instance, in the Cathedral of Isernia in Molise is still preserved, and honoured under ano- ther name, the Egyptian Phallus. Some of the female peasants in the rural districts of Naples wear small figures of Priapus on their bosoms to prevent sterility, while others, for the same purpose, wear small pictures of certain Christian saints. Thus have many objects of heathen worship, masking their origin under modern names, maintained their ground amidst the images and relics of the Romish Church.

The tales of spectral appearances and haunted houses, which occasion- ally occur in Italy, are modified by the cheerful habits of the people, and ge- nerally assume a lively and even ludi- crous character. The midnight ghost, which, in northern Europe, is associ-

ated with awful groans and rattling chains, becomes in Italy a teazing and a playful spirit, and is called a Spirito folletto. These spirits riot amidst the glass and china, talk to the cats, open and shut doors with sudden vio- lence, or, when in an angry mood, toss the sleepers out of their beds upon the floor. This non lascia dormir lagente is, however, the most grievous offence of which the Italians accuse the Spi- rito folletto. Instances of haunted houses are of rare occurrence ; but for many years a house in Rome, between the 'Lateran and S. Maria Maggiore remained uninhabited, because at nud night a monk was heard to read the mass and ring his bell. The Romans attach no importance to dreams and omens, except as materials for hu- morous and speculative discussion. In* deed, the superstitious faculties of the Italians generally are so fully occupied by the miracles of their numerous saints, and by the mysterious powers of relics and pictures, that the belief in any supernatural agency, uncon- nected with their religion, lays but slender hold of their credulity, and is nearly confined to the fair sex, who, in Rome especially, are prone to be- lieve in the existence and active agen- cy of witchcraft. The meetings of the Roman witches, who are numerous, and composed of young as well as old women, take place in the ancient Fo- rum, or Campo Vaccino. Hire are celebrated the nocturnal orgies, of which the most festivous and import- ant occurs on St John's night, when they assemble in great numbers, and in the shape of black cats with fiery eyes. This transformation is accom- plished by the aid of a mysterious ointment, supposed to consist in great measure of the root of pimpernel or burnet. With this they anoint them- selves from head to foot, a process which will remind the classical reader of the Thessalian enchantresses. These witches are said to compound bevera- ges which provoke love or hatred ; they create bad weather, and operate upon the absent by incantations. The greatest crime imputed to them is the sucking of children, who become, in consequence, by quick or slow grada-