The World of Italian Folk Magic: Magical and herbal cures from the wise women of Italy

by Rose Inserra

Ancient magical practices to integrate into everyday life.

Drawing on her Italian strega (witch) heritage, Rose Inserra's guide to the folk magic of this ancient culture is a treasure trove of Italian folklore, customs, magic and healing practices that will simplify your life and declutter your mind and heart. These practices fulfill the most basic needs of warmth, nourishment and connection to the magical and the spiritual.

Discover unique Italian witchcraft such as spells, charms and curse removal and learn how to make divination tools, protective amulets and invocations. You'll also find kitchen and herbal witchery with natural remedies to create, spells for love and potions, and recipes for food, wine and even beauty. Delve into Italian spiritual practices and learn about dreams, divination and working with your ancestors, saints and angels, deities, fairies and nature spirits.

Brimming with history, culture, remedies, folklore, recipes and – most of all – magic, this book is for anyone fascinated by ancient magical practices with deep connections to nature and the environment – or who wants to discover their Italian heritage.

Genres: Witchcraft, Nonfiction

367 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 3, 2024

Reviews

[Alanna Inserra · Rating 5 out of 5]

A treasure trove of information that is also comforting. I felt nestled into my ancestors and inspired to create my own folk practices. This book covers significant ground and gives an overview of all key magical practices - I found the chapters on saints and ancestor worship particularly detailed and relevant.

[Clara · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fairly comprehensive book on Italian folklore and it touches on a bit of everything: the main figures involved in magic and their roles, love and healing spells, hexes, the use of plants for different purposes, amulets, superstitions, spirits, deities, and various forms of divination. My main issue with it is how repetitive it is. Some concepts are explained right at the beginning and then repeated every time they come up later on. After a while, this started to feel tiring and made the reading drag, especially in the first 200 pages. Surely it needed more editing. Despite this, I found the book useful and interesting, so I'll give 4 stars for the knowledge contained in it.

[Donna Robinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this non-fiction novel, the author discusses Italian folk magic, drawing on folklore, culture, magic, and healing practices to help ease our hearts and minds. These acts help focus on the past and how different acts can build magic into yourself. I enjoyed the fact that some of these acts varied by region. The wise women of Italy provide an excellent source of knowledge from the past. The book also looked into the evil eye, the malocchio, and other folklore. Overall, this was a good book that looked into Italian folklore, witchery, and other customs.

[Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting information. I definitely appreciated the history and regional differences.

Well researched, easily understood sections, and an excellent glossary.

If you’re interested in basic/home/hedge witchcraft, this may be for you. Maybe worth a purchase.

If you’re of Italian heritage and want to understand some of the traditions, also a good read, but maybe not at full price.

[Jay · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5