Alongside the learned esotericism of philosophers and initiatory orders there has always been a folk magic, passed on orally and tied to everyday life, illness, harvests, love and fear. Sicily preserves extraordinary documentation of it, thanks to two very different sources: the archives of the Inquisition and the work of nineteenth-century folklorists. What emerges is a complex world in which Christian faith, ancient beliefs and protective practices were intertwined.
The Spanish Inquisition in Sicily
Unlike most of Italy, Sicily long came under the Spanish Inquisition, introduced under Aragonese and Castilian rule at the end of the fifteenth century. From the seventeenth century the tribunal was based in Palermo at Palazzo Chiaramonte, known as the Steri, which also housed its prisons.
The trials dealt mainly with heresy, hidden Judaism and Islam, bigamy and blasphemy, but also with magic and superstition. The trial reports sent to Madrid, now kept in Spanish archives, allow a precise reconstruction of beliefs and practices common on the island in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
The tribunal was abolished in 1782 by the viceroy Domenico Caracciolo. On the walls of the Steri cells prisoners left graffiti, drawings and prayers, studied by Giuseppe Pitrè in the early twentieth century and still visible today. Leonardo Sciascia devoted his story Death of the Inquisitor to the case of a prisoner of the Steri.
The donne di fora
Among the most fascinating evidence in the Inquisition archives is that of the donne di fora, the "ladies from outside". They were supernatural beings, described as beautiful, well-dressed women, sometimes with animal feet, who went out at night in companies, visited houses, feasted and could bring good or ill fortune.
The surprising thing is that several women, and a few men, told the inquisitors that they belonged to these companies, went out in spirit during sleep and took part in their feasts. They were often village healers, who claimed to help the sick through their relationship with the ladies from outside.
The Danish historian Gustav Henningsen, studying these trials, showed that the Sicilian inquisitors, while classing these accounts as superstition, often treated the accused relatively mildly, seeing them as deluded rather than as devil-worshippers. According to Henningsen, the donne di fora represent an archaic pattern of belief in "night journeys" different from the witches' sabbath constructed by the demonologists.
Magarìa and ciarmi
Sicilian popular language distinguished several forms of practice:
- magarìa, sorcery with harmful intent, attributed to the magara or magaru;
- ciarmi, formulas and charms recited to protect, to undo a harm or to favour an event;
- orazioni, popular prayers addressed to the saints, often outside official liturgy.
The boundary between these categories was thin and depended on intention. The same gesture could be seen as protective or harmful depending on who performed it and why.
The eye and its formula
One of the most widespread practices, in Sicily as throughout southern Italy, concerned the eye, the envious gaze believed capable of doing harm. To check for its presence, drops of oil were poured into a dish of water to see whether they spread out or stayed together, while formulas were recited with the sign of the cross.
According to a deeply rooted tradition, these formulas could be taught only at one precise moment, Christmas Eve, by an older person to a younger one, usually within the family. Whoever received them was not to reveal them outside that occasion, or they would lose their power.
The ciarauli and St Paul
A typically Sicilian figure is the ciaraulu, a person believed to have power over snakes and venomous creatures and to be immune to their bite. Tradition linked this gift to St Paul, who according to the Acts of the Apostles survived a viper's bite after being shipwrecked on Malta. The ciarauli were said to be born on days associated with the saint and performed rituals with formulas and saliva.
Giuseppe Pitrè, the great collector
Much of what we know about nineteenth-century Sicilian folk magic is owed to Giuseppe Pitrè (1841-1916), a Palermo physician and founder of folklore studies in Italy. Pitrè collected tales, songs, proverbs, festivals, beliefs and practices in his monumental Biblioteca delle tradizioni popolari siciliane, published in twenty-five volumes.
In particular, the volumes devoted to Customs, Beliefs and Prejudices of the Sicilian People describe in detail formulas, remedies, divinations and protections, recorded from the lips of his informants. Pitrè wrote with respect and curiosity, without contempt for the beliefs he gathered.
A heritage to preserve
For Studio Esoterico Cornelio, rooted in Sicilian culture, this tradition is part of a collective memory that deserves to be known seriously. Folk practices expressed the need for protection, meaning and community among people who often lived in hard conditions. Studying them means restoring dignity to a knowledge that for centuries was persecuted or mocked.
In short
- In Sicily the Spanish Inquisition was based at the Steri in Palermo until its abolition in 1782.
- The trials document belief in the donne di fora, studied by Gustav Henningsen.
- Folk culture distinguished magarìa, ciarmi and orazioni; formulas against the eye were passed on at Christmas Eve.
- The ciarauli were believed immune to snakes through a link with St Paul.
- Giuseppe Pitrè gathered these traditions in his Biblioteca delle tradizioni popolari siciliane.