Della Medicina: The Tradition of Italian-American Folk Healing

by Lisa Fazio, MaryBeth Bonfiglio (foreword)

• Details the healing techniques and folk wisdom the author learned from her Italian grandparents and from healers in Southern Italy, including plant preparation methods, medicines, rituals, recipes, kitchen magic, and protective magic• Provides a materia medica of plants important in this tradition, sharing each plant’s history, mythology, and both practical and magical uses• Reveals how working with traditional plant medicines can help us connect to and revitalize our own ancestral traditions for deep inner healingBuilding upon the in-depth folk wisdom she learned from her immigrant grandparents as well as from local healers in Southern Italy, second-generation Italian-American and experienced herbalist Lisa Fazio shares herbal traditions and practices from the Italian diaspora and reveals how working with traditional plant medicines can help us connect to ancestral traditions for deep inner healing.She explains how the herbal healing practices of her Italian ancestors were simply a part of everyday life, what they called Benedicaria, which literally means “the Blessing Way” but is more often translated as “the things we do.” Examining how plants are not only food and medicine but a vital yet invisible part of traditional communities, she describes how working with and communicating with plant allies awakened her epigenetic and ancestral links to them, which included experiencing memories of plants she had never worked with. Looking at the origins of Southern Italian folk healing practices, she details the techniques of Benedicaria, folk Catholicism, and the animistic traditions of her ancestors, including plant dialects, preparation methods, rituals, and recipes. Discussing the relationship between Italian folk medicine and Italian witchcraft, she explores kitchen magic and protective magic, including practices for warding off the adverse effects of the evil eye. The author provides a materia medica of plants important in the healing traditions of the Mediterranean, sharing each plant’s history, mythology, and both practical and magical uses.Sharing valuable and nearly forgotten teachings from the Italian herbal tradition, the author also shows how her journey to reconnect with her family’s healing practices offers guidance for anyone seeking to reconnect with their ancestors.

448 pages, Paperback

Published October 8, 2024

Reviews

[Christina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great info but I didn't love the focus only on Southern Italy. It is not a complete tradition without the North. Also, although the author criticizes Grimassi, I found this to be just the same - an outsider's perspective. Also, the comments about the Irish immigrants not understanding the Italian immigrants and thinking they were so pagan is laughable. Both were people reconciling pagan traditions with Catholicism. The focus should have been on the Institution of the church maligning both peoples. Overall good information but still not close to a complete version of Italian folk healing.

[Beth K Stamper · Rating 5 out of 5]

Della Medicina is wellspring of information about herbs and their magic. Lisa Fazio is a gifted writer who shares the wisdom of generations of ancestors both of lineage and of affinity in this book. I feel blessed to have access to this portion of her knowledge. I have been waiting for this book since I took classes with Lisa in 2020. I soaked up as much as I could but wished for a book I could refer to. Finally, here it is!

[Jacquelyn Fusco · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has a lot of really intersting information. I found the author to be credible and the information to be well-researched and respectful to other cultures. I have read a few similar-ish books, but I definitely learned a lot from this one as well.