F.A.Q.

This section provides handy, and I hope useful, answers to the most recurrent questions about witchcraft, Italian lore and other subjects. Please get in touch if you have a particular question in

mind

1. Are you a witch? / Am I a witch ?
2. Is witchcraft hereditary ?
3. What is magic? 
4. How does magic work?
5. Do spells really work?
6. Do witches practice black magic... ? 
7. I heard of the Law of Three, that everything good or bad shall return three times back...
8. Do you worship the devil?
9. Is witchcraft a religion?
10. What is the difference between wicca, witchcraft and Italian witchcraft (or stregoneria)?
11. So what do wiccan and streghe have in common? 
12. If you are Italian, why is this blog in English ?
13. What are your witch credential? Who initiated you? Where is your certificate?  

1.Are you a witch? / Am I a witch ?

Potentially, every woman and every man is a witch. The idea that we form distinct and separate matters from the ‘natural’ world is a delusion: we are made of water, mainly, then proteins and void. The physical qualities that make us ourselves may be found in the whole of nature. A witch is the product of the land, and she recognises and feels the bond with the rest of the existing word in a strong and affirmative way. Realising that you belong to the rest of nature is the first step towards witchcraft.

Said that, some people might have a particular talent for witchcraft. Some other people perform some or other forms of witchcraft for their whole life, but they do not realise it. It is also true that although everyone is a potential witch, not everyone has the spirit and the vocation to pursue the path of witchcraft. This is natural: everyone may be able to use a paint brush, but we are not all Leonardo here. ^ back to top
 

2. Is witchcraft hereditary ?

Yes and no. Let’s try to split this question in its two most common and possible meanings.

First, thanks to tv series and misleading books, many think that hereditary witchcraft may entail the transmission of mighty supernatural powers from mother to daughter. It is true that particular gifts that witches may make use of (clairvoyance and mediumship, for example) seem to be recurrent within the same families, although this is not always the case. Many people may consciously or unconsciously have innate clairvoyance abilities, fortune-telling and son on,  but they do not practice witchcraft. Witchcraft is a set of practices, you cannot be born with it. In this sense, witchcraft is not hereditary – some psychic abilities seem to be, but this does not a witch make.

Second, some people do receive magical practices from their parents and choose to embrace them. In this sense, witchcraft can be hereditary. The passage of practices may happen mostly in two ways. Some (few) families are repository of sometimes ancient forms of witchcraft, and do transmit them to their siblings and sometimes to people out of their family groups. These forms of witchcraft may be organised and structured, or simple country practices passed on from centuries and filled with Christian names and beautiful synchrony. In very many cases, these people may not call themselves witches – and if they do not, we do not see why shall we. Many, possibly most, witches nowadays do not come from hereditary lines (in the broad sense of actual family and of ‘coven’). Finally, there are people who have a natural gift for witchcraft, but they do not necessarily become witches – as there are people who have a great potential for painting, but never took a brush in their hands.  ^ back to top

3. What is magic? 

It is the ability to affect the physical and spiritual world, by means of energetic interaction, in order to obtain a result that one values. Famous magician Aleister Crowley defined it as : 'the science and art of causing change to occur in conformity with will'.  ^ back to top

4. How does magic work?

We do not know, we know it works though, and for many witches this is enough. However, the strongly positivist society we live in may not accept that something happens which there is no explanation to, so many new witches (including myself, at the time) often struggle to accommodate together their rational minds and the fact of their effective spellwork. Quantum theory is the only scientific theory that had given rationalists witches a hope for the explanation of the forces behind witchcraft, although it seems to be used to explain pretty much everything which science seems not to grasp. What quantum theory suggests is that at the sub-atomic level our perception of reality affects the very fabric of it. The quantum, a small indivisible particle theorised in quantistic mechanics,  would change his physical properties (mass, position, speed) according to how we think of it. The following fun experiment may provide an insight for the sceptical regarding the powers of the minds on the physical world.

Witches believe we can affect physical reality, but it is not enough to think of change to make it happen. Especially for the beginners, witchcraft is a path of dedication and may sometimes be full of failures. Results must be earned. Although we do not know how witchcraft works, we do have some clues about it. First, witchcraft seems to be closely linked to the moon. If we have power over the physical world through our will and our mind because of the communalities we share with the rest of nature, then the relevance of the moon should come as no surprise: living beings are mainly made of water, and the moon calls and repels water through gravity. Not only spells do seem to work according to lunar phases, but spells directed at increasing and calling will work best during crescent moon phases, while spells directed at diminishing and banning work best if performed during the drawing moon. Observing these simple rules is one of the first and most effective ‘traditions’ of witchcraft. The same works for colours and the ‘correspondences’ in general. The moon may be a big constraints or a potential push for one’s spellwork, and should never be ignored. However, correspondences are useful but not fundamental in witchcraft, as the witch’s will is everything the practitioner really needs.  

Second, witches tend to believe that similar affects the similar (what is usually called sympathetic magic) and that the microcosmos reflects the macrocosmos (which is similar to say that one part can affect the whole). These simple principles are the tenets of many magical operations. ^ back to top

5. Do spells really work?

It depends on the practitioner. Spells are associations of symbols which are meaningful to the practitioner, and which are aimed at producing the result she desires. However, a spell without a good practitioner is lifeless and the most powerful spell is useless in the hands of the untrained or ungifted. When well crafted, or well understood, and performed by a capable person, spells do work. The reality of effectiveness of spellwork can be understood only performing a successful spell (or having one performed for you). ^ back to top

6. Do witches practice black magic... ?

Magic is not black, nor white. Just as electrical currents can kill you or be useful in your life. Magic is not good nor bad, it just is, and it will work towards the objective you have set it for. When people talk about dark, red, green or white magic they are usual referring to the purpose towards which they are setting magical forces at work: destruction, passion, love or healing. These are reductionist definitions, as life is much more complex in reality. For example, sometimes a destructive work is necessary to restore a solution to a previous, healthy, condition or to eliminate dangerous forces. Is this black or white magic?  ^ back to top
 

7. I heard of the Law of Three, that everything good or bad shall return three times back

That is Wicca. Wiccan practitioners believe that any magical action will return to the practitioner multiplied by three times. However, wiccan practitioners also admit that this ‘law’ was deliberately introduced by the funder of their movement, Mr Gerald Gardner, and that it is a reformulation of the concept of karma. There are no ‘laws’ in witchcraft, and the law of three represents a very mechanical view of how magic (and karma) works. Most witchcraft practitioners will admit that there is ‘blow of return’ when practising magic in most cases, but to say that it always happens and it is always threefold is pure abstraction. The most common witness of such blow of return is seen in people who practice particular forms of magical healing, who seem often to gain in health and longevity as they practice them. Practising sex magic may also strongly affect one’s sexuality.  Practising aggressive magic can bring blows of return. However, sometimes these are just little bothering consequences, at times they might be more serious. The experienced witch should know how to take precautions against undesired ‘blows of return’ and to act pre-emptively.  
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8. Do you worship the devil?

No. Witches do not worship the devil. ^ back to top

9.Is witchcraft a religion?

For some people it is, for others it is not. Many practitioners of witchcraft are agnostic. Many are pagans, especially wiccans. Gods are for wiccans as one would think of Gods in a religion. For many others they are just a convenient, human way, of attracting natural forces.  ^ back to top
 

10. What is the difference between wicca, witchcraft and Italian witchcraft (or stregoneria)?

I wrote a post on the matter, which you can find here, but to make a long story short:
Wicca is a religion which incorporates a particular form of witchcraft. Witchcraft is a form of natural magic. Italian witchcraft or stregoneria is a term used to indicate the practices of Italian witches (streghe), rooted in Italian folk magic and lore. The term Italian witchcraft , in my opinion, should not be used as one uses 'Alexandrian wicca', for example, as it does not indicate a variant of one tradition, but rather an ensemble of such.  ^ back to top

11. So what do wiccan and streghe have in common?

They both practice witchcraft, although their forms of witchcraft may often differ in form and purpose. Other than that, they may share the same names for the gods. Given the widespread diffusion of wicca, many Italian witches have adopted a number of wiccan practices.
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12. If you are Italian, why is this blog in English ?

I was born and raised in Italy, where I lived until five years ago, when I moved abroad. Since then, I have been living in different countries, mainly in Northern Europe and Africa. I have my good bunch of Italian streghe I can discuss with, or call if I need help. However, living abroad, I am interested in the ways of witches living close to me, as well as in discussing the (mis)conceptions that foreigners often show towards Italian witchcraft. ^ back to top

13. What are your witch credential? Who initiated you? Where is your certificate?

I was not formally initiated in any tradition, nor did I followed any formal training. My knowledge of witchcraft comes from personal research, and the practices and teachings that witches kindly shared with me. I will never thank all these people enough, so I will not do it. In their heart they know. There are classes to become a witch out there, nowadays. You can spend thirty euro on a book, and you will have a ready-made course in witchcraft, which you can even follow over the traditional thirteen months. And it comes complete with a self-initiation ritual. If you get bored easily, then you can even attend one of the many seminars which will teach and dedicate you in one week. You'll have a knife, a cup and they will call you witch. Witches do not value title, they value the craft. ^ back to top