Once upon a time, in a magical forest, there lived a powerful witch named Morgana. She was known for her mischievous nature and her ability to cast spells that had unexpected consequences. Although she mostly used her powers for her own amusement, sometimes innocent creatures would become victims of her magical experiments. One fateful evening, as the sun began to set and the forest became enveloped in a mysterious haze, Morgana had an idea for her next spell. She had long been fascinated by the concept of transformation and decided to see what would happen if she were to turn a man into a woman. Without considering the potential consequences, Morgana gathered her enchanted ingredients and began to recite an ancient incantation.
What happened to Cathy? Almost an hour later, Pat called back. She’s home, she said with great relief. She said she suddenly felt like she was in trouble with me. She’s sorry she took so much time to get home. I breathed a sigh of relief and untied the knot in the cord, a wish fulfilled.
Place this circle on the altar encircling your Goddess candle, and leave it there for a while, meditating if you wish on the phase of the moon with which you have charged the cord. They must be entirely separate sounds, but they could be related to the things you saw, as long as you are clear that you are indeed hearing them and not thinking that you should be hearing them because you saw them in the first round.
Without considering the potential consequences, Morgana gathered her enchanted ingredients and began to recite an ancient incantation. As her words echoed through the forest, a burst of magical energy surged from her fingertips and enveloped a nearby young man named Jacob. Jacob, an unsuspecting wanderer, suddenly felt a strange sensation overcome him.
The study of Italian vernacular religion and magic
Most of the data on which my chapter is based were collected by Italian ethnologists and folklorists between 1880 and 1980, with interruptions during the First and Second World Wars. The study of folklore is never a politically neutral act, however. The kinds of materials collected, and the ways they were presented, were conditioned by the preconceived notions of the scholars collecting them. Italian unification in 1861 was followed by a great wave of urbanization, especially among the elite and middle classes, who sought in the life of the cities and the new capital a level of cosmopolitanism and sophistication unavailable in rural areas. This movement led to a surge of Italian nationalism, and a new focus, partly born of nostalgia, on what came to be called tradizioni popolari, popular or folk traditions. Italians located the source of their national identity and cultural authenticity in the Classical period, the last time the peninsula had existed as a unified entity under the aegis of the Roman Empire. Early Italian scholars sought in folklore some kind of link to that Classical past, as well as to that other touchstone of Italian national identity, the Renaissance, in order to show that contemporary Italian culture carried on an ancient, uninterrupted tradition that legitimized the existence of the state.
The early collectors worked from an evolutionary premise. They assumed that the practices of the Italian peasant class were remnants of an ancient, ‘primitive’ belief system dating back to pre-Classical times, which was destined to disappear as its bearers became ‘civilized’. Their attitudes ranged from the affectionate respect that Sicilian collector Giuseppe Pitrè brought to his informants, most of whom were also his medical patients, to the disdain of Giuseppe Bellucci, the title of whose 1919 work Il feticismo primitivo in Italia e le sue forme di adattamento (Primitive Fetishism and its Adaptations in Italy) speaks for itself. 5 While the work of early collectors has left us a wealth of material, including proverbs, charms, spells, cures and narratives, these scholars made few attempts to understand the role of magical belief systems and practices in the context of the lives of rural agricultural workers. Instead, they often preferred to compare them with the customs of ancient civilizations, so they could ‘prove’ an uninterrupted oral transmission of culture from Classical times to the founding of the Italian state. Beliefs and practices were presented as fragmentary and incomplete, not as parts of the integrated belief systems of individuals and small communities. They were also stigmatized as the ignorant productions of a peasant underclass. Because most early collectors were men, their concerns reflect those of their male informants. So, for example, we have a great many reports from men about women’s power to bind with potent love spells, but we do not know whether this reflects women’s actual behaviour, or men’s fears and anxieties. More significant still is the absence of ethnographic attention to women’s ecstatic traditions connected to saints’ cults. It was not until the 1970s that women began to enter the ethnological professions in greater numbers, and conduct fieldwork centred around women’s issues, that more information on women’s actual practices became available.
Survivalist perspectives flourished well into the Fascist period in Italy (1922–44), supported by a government whose political interests were served by the projection of contemporary cultural praxes into a gloriously imagined past. But, ultimately, survivalist perspectives were themselves rejected as outdated after the Second World War, as scholarship began to reflect a greater interest in contemporary social conditions and issues of power imbalances between the industrialized north and the underdeveloped Meridione (south) in the developing nation-state. It was the Socialist writer Antonio Gramsci, who was imprisoned by Mussolini, who most strongly influenced the post-Second World War generation of Italian ethnologists. Gramsci’s writings on folklore were brief, but significant, for they moved Italian ethnology away from survivalism at last. For him, folklore was not a ‘survival’ that was quickly disappearing, but an integral part of the cultures of rural Italian peasants, and a product of particular historical and cultural circumstances, and worthy of study in its own right alongside literature and history. In genres such as festivals and celebrations, he saw emergent forms of peasant resistance – clever, creative ways the rural underclass subtly undermined the power that the hegemony exercised over their daily lives. Following Karl Marx, Gramsci saw folklore as part of the ‘superstructure’ of society – those forms and accretions that grow out of particular economic configurations. He also believed that folklore, especially certain forms of folk belief and magical practice, were a kind of ‘false consciousness’ that ultimately blinded peasants to the forces that oppressed them by hiding the real sources of domination under a veil of mysticism. So while Gramsci idealized folklore as peasant resistance, and sought to legitimize its study as a form of culture in its own right, he also saw popular religiosity and magical practice as ultimately crippling, a relic of the past that needed to be discarded to bring about a more equal distribution of power in society.
This philosophy was very much at the heart of the work of two great Italian folklore scholars of the mid-twentieth century: Alberto Maria Cirese and Ernesto De Martino. Cirese expanded upon Gramsci’s theories of folklore, urging its study as part of subaltern culture that existed in contraposition to the hegemony of church and state. De Martino was interested in documenting and analysing Italian magical practice to understand thoroughly how magic worked within the economic, cultural and historical context in which it existed. Thus his groundbreaking studies of the evil eye belief complex and tarantismo emphasize peasants’ captivity in a system of social relations rooted in economic, social and gender oppression. Still, despite De Martino’s own origins in Naples, centre extraordinaire of the occult in southern Italy, and his deep knowledge of ethnology, he and his followers, like Cirese, saw magic as primarily a tool of the poor and weak, a form of resistance against systematic forms of domination that was ultimately unsuccessful. They assumed that as economic opportunities became available to the subaltern class, folk magical practices would cease to exist.
Both the survivalist perspective and the Marxian attention to materialist context made important contributions to the understanding of folk magical practices by emphasizing their historical continuity with earlier systems of thought, and their relationship to systems of power and domination. However, both approaches ultimately failed to address the deeply spiritual nature these practices had for their practitioners. This spiritual significance is, I suspect, the reason why despite the disappearance of Italy’s grinding poverty and backwardness by the mid-twentieth century, vernacular magical practice has persisted, albeit in mutated forms. Nor are its manifestations limited to underdeveloped rural areas. As ethnologist Cecilia Gatto Trocchi has shown, urban centres are now the sites of a variety of occult and esoteric practices, from traditional fortune-telling to New Age religious movements, which are rooted in earlier systems of magic and healing. 6 Today, a new generation of seekers is reviving old practices such as tarantismo as a way of affirming local and regional identities in an increasingly globalized Europe. 7
He clutched his chest as his body began to change. His muscles softened, his facial features became more delicate, and his voice transformed into a melodious tone. Within moments, Jacob had become a woman - a woman who was bewildered and trying to make sense of her new form. As the realization of what had just happened settled in, the transformed Jacob, now called Jessica, sought out Morgana in search of an explanation. She found the witch deep within the forest, cackling with glee at her successful spell. Angry and desperate, Jessica confronted Morgana, demanding that she reverse the spell and return her to her original form. However, Morgana simply laughed, enjoying the chaos she had caused. She explained that her magic was irreversible and that Jessica was now trapped in her female body forever. Jessica was devastated, feeling lost and confused in her new life. As she navigated her way through the forest, she encountered various challenges and prejudices that came with being a woman. She also gained a newfound empathy, realizing the inequality and struggles faced by women in society. Over time, Jessica discovered inner strength and resilience, using her experiences to advocate for gender equality and women's rights. She became a symbol of empowerment, inspiring others to challenge societal norms and fight for their rights. While Morgana's spell had initially caused pain and confusion, it ultimately led to a transformation beyond the physical. Jessica's journey taught her the power of empathy, understanding, and the importance of embracing one's true self. And so, the tale of the witch turning a man into a woman became a legend, reminding individuals to embrace their own identities and fight for equality, regardless of the circumstances..
Reviews for "The Witch's Brew: How a Man is Transformed into a Woman through Sorcery"
1. Sarah - 2 stars - I found "Witch turns man into woman" to be a rather disappointing read. While the concept of the story was intriguing, the execution fell short. The characters lacked depth and development, making it difficult to connect with their experiences. Additionally, the plot felt rushed and underdeveloped, leaving many loose ends untied. Overall, I was left wanting more from this story, as it had the potential to be a thought-provoking exploration of gender identity but instead ended up feeling shallow and incomplete.
2. Mark - 1 star - "Witch turns man into woman" was a complete waste of time. The writing was uninspired and lacked any semblance of creativity. The dialogue was clunky and unrealistic, making it difficult to engage with the story. Furthermore, the characters were one-dimensional and lacked depth, making it impossible to empathize with their struggles and challenges. Overall, I would not recommend this book to anyone looking for a well-written and engaging read. Save your time and find something better to read.
3. Jessica - 2.5 stars - While "Witch turns man into woman" had an interesting premise, I found the execution to be shallow and predictable. The story followed a cliché narrative arc and the characters lacked depth and complexity. Additionally, the writing style was lackluster, failing to capture the emotional depth that could have made this story impactful. While it had some moments of intrigue, overall, I was left feeling underwhelmed and unsatisfied with this read.