The Inquisition accused Benandanti, a Northern Italian shamanic community, with witchcraft. Benandanti translates to "excellent walkers."
- The records of the Inquisition for the Benandanti span the years 1575 to 1647, and they include the majority of information on the Benandanti.
- The Inquisition was irritated by the Benandanti because they did not deny conducting shamanic, plainly Pagan ceremonies; in fact, they originally expounded on their activities, but they denied being "witches"—at least not nasty, diabolical, wicked "witches" as described by the Inquisition.
- Instead, they saw themselves as magical practitioners who fought other practitioners to serve God and their community.
- The Inquisition's notion of witchcraft was contested by these Northern Italian peasants.
- Their nocturnal warfare in the Friuli District are said to have lasted until 1610. During the Ember Days, the Benandanti said that they were driven to assist their communities.
- They were called by angels or drums at midnight.
- They stated that if they refused to obey the summons, they would be brutally punished.
- Their bodies didn't travel; instead, the Benandanti went into trances so that their spirits might leave to fight the Malandanti ("evil walkers") in ritual warfare.
- They did not choose to become Benandanti; rather, they were predetermined from the moment they were born, their identity revealed by a caul.
- The Benandanti went into trances that resembled comas.
- Their spirits journeyed in this stage, generally in the shape of an animal that emerged from the mouth, such as cats, bunnies, butterflies, or mice.
- They traveled to the core of the Earth in this shape, where they confronted an opposing shamanic army. It was perilous to engage in shamanic combat.
- The body perished if the soul and body were not joined, and the soul was condemned to roam Earth until the person's predetermined lifetime expired.
- If the spirit takes the form of an animal, the Benandanti is cursed to live the remainder of his life in that shape.
- The Benandanti fought with fennel stalks, while their opponents used sorghum stalks.
- Rue, the most potent herb in the Italian magical arsenal, was also carried by the Benandanti.
- They enlisted the help of Saint Lucy.
- Both rue and Saint Lucy give psychic visions and protect from the Evil Eye, which has a comparable withering effect to what would happen if the Benandanti were defeated.
- If the Benandanti prevail, harvests and animals will be plentiful the next year, but if they do not, local plenty will dwindle.
- The Benandanti intrigue contemporary anthropologists as much as they enraged the Inquisition: their evidence demonstrates European shamanism's long existence.
LITERATURE:
Carlo Ginzburg's The Night Battles (Penguin Books, 1983) and its sequel, Ecstasies, are recommended reading (Penguin Books, 1999). Caul, Ember Days, Fetch, Kresnik, Soul-journey, Táltos;
BOTANICALS: Rue;
CALENDAR: Saint Lucy's Feast.
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