Magic and religion in Umbrian folklore

Polia M. · Ricerca Folklorica (2024)

Resumen

Instead of the term "magic-religious" used indiscriminately, as field investigations demonstrate, it is preferable to analyse the importance of the religious component and the magical component in folklore on a caseby-case basis. The cult of the dead: the intense memory of the deceased in daily life has motivated a series of customs: prayers within the family and community; evening ringing of a bell in the streets of the towns to invite people to pray for suffrage; interpretation of signs codified by tradition that reveal the request for prayers by the deceased; welcoming rites for souls returning to their homes during the November feast of the dead; sacredness of food crumbs fallen on the floor. Feast of the Ascension: the lights obtained from the shells of earthen snails, the emphasis given to Mary in her role as Virgin of the Milk, the custom of leaving snails and pebbles taken from watercourses as offerings testify to the continuity of pre-Christian rites aimed at impetrating the regular fall of rain during the period in which the wheat ripens. The oak of child souls: to have children, women stretched out their hands in the hollow of an ancient oak and rubbed them on their bellies. The walnut leaf: in the preparation of the traditional "scented water of Saint John" (24-VI) the indispensable presence of a walnut leaf is required everywhere, a residue of the ancient prestige of the tree sacred to Jupiter.