e-rhizome 2019, 1(1):107-111 | DOI: 10.5507/rh.2019.005

The Relics of Witchcraft in Italy in the Work of Charles Godfrey Leland (Comments on the Origin of WICCA)

Giuseppe Maiello
University of Finance and Administration
Estonská 500, 101 00 Prague 10, Czech Republic
27773@mail.vsfs.cz

The study presents the activities of the American folklorist Charles Godfrey Leland (1824-1903) in Italy. Leland's aim was to find relics of the ancient religion of the Etruscans and the ancient Romans among the peasants and shepherds living in the upper regions of Apennine, between Florence and Bologna. Collections of legends and tales of the local inhabitants of Apennine published by Ch. G. Leland in the 1890s, became the primary sources which the current representatives of the Wicca religious movement refer to. Leland's ethnographic activities can be described as quite controversial, and have found very little response not only in the Italy at the time, but also in the American academic space. The contribution does not attempt to give Wicca followers any answer to the question if the current Wicca may still refer to Leland's work or not, but wants to provide a critical view of his personage and his method of collecting data.

Keywords: Charles Godfrey Leland, Witchcraft, Italian Folklore, Wicca

Accepted: February 22, 2019; Published: February 22, 2019  Show citation

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Maiello, G. (2019). The Relics of Witchcraft in Italy in the Work of Charles Godfrey Leland (Comments on the Origin of WICCA). e-rhizome, 1(1), 107-111. doi: 10.5507/rh.2019.005
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