"Mary-Grace Fahrun's Italian Folk Magic is a tribute to Italian mothers and grandmothers who kept their loved ones well fed and in good health with recipes and remedies concocted from their magical kitchens." --Agata De Santis, director of the documentary film Mal’occhio, founder of italocanadese.com
"There has been little written on Italian folk magic throughout the years, possibly because many who perform folk magic do not think of what they are doing as magic. Mary-Grace Fahrun's book beautifully illustrates how magic never died and has continued to be practiced by European peoples. It shows that instead of magic being a fantasy laying outside of the mundane world, it was interfused with the everyday, enchanting every aspect of life with its great mystery. Folk magic is re-enchanting the world again, through Italian proverbs and recipes in this book, intimately intertwined with the culture and families of Italian descent. This is a beautiful thing to see in the written word." --Marcus R. McCoy, co-founder of the Viridis Genii symposium
"Mary-Grace Fahrun's Italian Folk Magic is an intimate journey into the heart of Italian folk magical practices as they are lived every day. Having grown up in an extended Italian family in North America and Italy, the author presents us with the stories, characters, saints, charms, and prayers that form the core of folk religion, setting them in context in an authentic, down-to-earth, and humorous voice. A delight to read!" --Sabina Magliocco, Professor of Anthropology, University of British Columbia
Italian Folk Magic is a fascinating journey through the magical, folkloric, and healing traditions of Italy with an emphasis on the practical. The reader learns uniquely Italian methods of magical protection and divination and spells for love, sex, control, and revenge.
The book contains magical and religious rituals and prayers and explores divination techniques, crafting, blessing rituals, witchcraft, and, of course, the evil eye, known as malocchio in Italian—the author explains what it is, where it comes from, and, crucially, how to get rid of it.
This book can help Italians regain their magical heritage, but Italian folk magic is a beautiful, powerful, and effective magical tradition that is accessible to anyone who wants to learn it.
Mary-Grace Fahrun was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, to Italian immigrant parents and grew up in the Italian neighborhoods of Montreal and Connecticut. She describes herself as “an avid keeper of customs, traditions, and secrets” and is an authority on Italian folk magic and folk healing traditions. Photo credit: Raymond Fahrun
6 x 9
240 pages
Line drawings
