You may be wondering what the article below has to do with stregoneria? Read on. ~Rue

RED IS FOR LIFE

An Enquiry into the Taboos Surrounding Woman's Cycle

"Spiritual, consecrated, wonderful, incomprehensible; said also of women at the menstrual period". This is an American Indian definition of tabu, itself a word derived from the Polynesian, and the basic form of the more common English spelling, taboo. And its original form? Robert Briffault suggests it is closely allied to tupua, which means menstruation. Further, another Polynesian word, atus, also applied to menstruation, translated to mean God, and certainly refers to all spirits and supernatural phenomena.

by Sabina Magliocco
California State University, Northridge

The author wishes to thank Ronald Hutton and Chas S. Clifton for their helpful critiques of an earlier draft of this work.

by Sabina Magliocco
California State University, Northridge
 

The expansion of Neopaganism and revival Witchcraft in North America during the last decade has brought about a renewed interest in ethnic forms of folk magic, and a corresponding proliferation of books and websites dedicated to the magical practices of various ethnic groups. Italian folk magic is among those which have received considerable attention. Raven Grimassi, Leo Martello and Lori Bruno are some of the more visible Italian-American Witches who have re-worked elements of ethnic folk magic into vibrant new traditions. The re-discovery (and recent re-publication) of Charles G. Leland's Aradia, or the Gospel of Witches (1890, 1990, 1998), about an alleged Tuscan witch cult in the late 1800s, has also sparked renewed interest in the possible

by Sarah Benelli

Pietro DiDonato’s Christ in Concrete is a powerful narrative of the struggles and culture of New York’s Italian immigrant laborers in the early twentieth century. Jerre Mangione and Ben Morreale, in their historical work La Storia, state that "Never before or since has the aggravation of the Italian immigrant been more bluntly expressed by a novelist" (368).

by Sharon Leggio

Nicknames.  They are something that everyone is familiar with in one way or another.  However, most people have little, if any, personal experience with nicknames.  In Italian-American culture, nicknames play a major role in everyday life.  Nicknames are formed with a certain unspoken format, and they have a particular importance.  In Italian-American culture nicknames, even though to others they may seem harsh and cruel, are terms of endearment and give a sense of belonging.