Religion: The Role Of Magic And Religion In Southern Italian
Many Italies, Other Italies
Emily Cormack
May 3, 2010
Magic and Religion depicted in Southern Italians
Magic and Religion has always had a very prominent and distinct role in the lives of Southern Italians. Magic serves as their form of hope and believing in something bigger than themselves, something they cannot see and that is how it is integrated into religion. In both, Nuovo Mondo and Christ Stopped at Eboli, the role of magic and religion are explored and the impact that it has on their lives. Love also serves as a very strong part of their life and is linked to magic in a certain way. Carlo Levi observes their way of life and forms a very strong opinion about them.
Magic and superstition has always been a stereotype that many people associate with Southern Italian people. There are multiple examples in the Levi’s book that shows how connected and involved magic is to their lives. The peasants use magic to explain a lot of events that have happened to help them deal with loss. These people only have what the earth gives them and this serves as their safety net. They believe that many animals possess a sort of power or magical quality about them. …show more content…
This is true of all the animal world, and of the goat in particular. Not that it is wicked or has anything to do with the devils of the Christian religion, in spite of the fact that they often show themselves in its guise. It is demoniacal like every living thing, and even more so than the rest, because some strange power lurks behind its animal exterior. To the peasants the goat represents the ancient satyr, indeed a living satyr, lean and hungry, with curling horns, a crooked nose, and pendulous teats or male organ; a poor, hairy, brotherly, wild satyr, looking for grass on the edge of a precipice (Levi
Emily Cormack
May 3, 2010
Magic and Religion depicted in Southern Italians
Magic and Religion has always had a very prominent and distinct role in the lives of Southern Italians. Magic serves as their form of hope and believing in something bigger than themselves, something they cannot see and that is how it is integrated into religion. In both, Nuovo Mondo and Christ Stopped at Eboli, the role of magic and religion are explored and the impact that it has on their lives. Love also serves as a very strong part of their life and is linked to magic in a certain way. Carlo Levi observes their way of life and forms a very strong opinion about them.
Magic and superstition has always been a stereotype that many people associate with Southern Italian people. There are multiple examples in the Levi’s book that shows how connected and involved magic is to their lives. The peasants use magic to explain a lot of events that have happened to help them deal with loss. These people only have what the earth gives them and this serves as their safety net. They believe that many animals possess a sort of power or magical quality about them. …show more content…
This is true of all the animal world, and of the goat in particular. Not that it is wicked or has anything to do with the devils of the Christian religion, in spite of the fact that they often show themselves in its guise. It is demoniacal like every living thing, and even more so than the rest, because some strange power lurks behind its animal exterior. To the peasants the goat represents the ancient satyr, indeed a living satyr, lean and hungry, with curling horns, a crooked nose, and pendulous teats or male organ; a poor, hairy, brotherly, wild satyr, looking for grass on the edge of a precipice (Levi