Ye Shall Be Happy
Let’s face it: most of the time, witches get a bad rap. Some witches, however, are famous gift-givers, protectors, healers, and liberators. In this episode, we’ll travel from the first century to the twenty-first and meet La Befana, Arima, Aradia, and many of the other good witches of Italy. Who doesn’t need a bit of magic now and again?
Researched, written, and produced by Corinne Wieben, with original music by Purple Planet. Special thanks to this episode’s sponsor, The Haunting, Unearthly & Paranormal Stories Podcast.
Music
Purple Planet - Dawn of Time
Purple Planet - Introspection
Purple Planet - Running with the Horses
Purple Planet - Spiritual Moment
Purple Planet - Shadowlands
Sources
Primary
Leland, Charles Godfrey. Aradia: Gospel of the Witches. London: David Nutt, 1899.
Manzoni, Alessandro. I promessi sposi. Vol. XXI. The Harvard Classics. New York: P.F. Collier & Son, 1909–14; Bartleby.com, 2001.
Secondary
Alfani, Guido and Marco Percoco. "Plague and long-term development: the lasting effects of the 1629–30 epidemic on the Italian cities." The Economic History Review 72, no. 4 (2019): 1175–1201.
Arbusti, Nicoletta. "Milan 1630, the plague, the food of witches and Gerolamo Cardano." Di che cibo 6? Magazine. March 22, 2021.
"The Attitude of Great Writers Towards Disease: XX. the Plague at Milan, 1630." The Hospital 13, no. 332 (1893): 295-296.
Bonvinci, Alice. "The Befana Comes by Night." iItaly. January 2, 2011.
Ciulla, Michele M. "History repeating. The plague of 1630 in Milan and the COVID-19 pandemia." Acta Biomedica 91, no. 2 (2020): 234–235.
Cohn, Jr, Samuel K and Guido Alfani. "Households and Plague in Early Modern Italy." The Journal of Interdisciplinary History 38, no. 2 (2007): 177-205.
"The curious history of the Milan area that remained immune to the plague: an eccentric marquis, a witch or simply coal?" Random-Times.com. April 4, 2020.
Dickie, Jane R., Anna Cook, Rachel Gazda, Bethany Martin, and Elizabeth Sturrus. "The Heirs of Aradia, Daughters of Diana: Community in the Second and Third Wave." Journal of Lesbian Studies 9, no. 1-2 (2005): 95-109.
"First Night Binghamton 2007. Italy: La Befana, the original Good Witch." SuperiorConcept.com.
Grimassi, Raven. Italian Witchcraft: The Old Religion of Southern Europe. Woodbury, MN: Llewellyn Publications, 1995.
Guellil, Meriam, Natascia Rinaldo, Nicoletta Zedda, Oliver Kersten, Xabier Gonzalez Muro, Nils Chr Stenseth, Emanuela Gualdi-Russo, and Barbara Bramanti. "Bioarchaeological Insights into the Last Plague of Imola (1630-1632)." Scientific Reports 11, no. 1 (2021): 22253-22253.
Henderson, John. "The Invasion of Plague in Early Modern Italy." In Florence Under Siege 23: Yale University Press, 2019.
Howell, Francesca Ciancimino. "Bellisama and Aradia: Paganism Re-Emerges in Italy." In Contemporary Pagan and Native Faith Movements in Europe, edited by Kathryn Rountree. 1st ed. Oxford: Berghahn Books, 2015.
Kohn, George C. Encyclopedia of Plague and Pestilence: From Ancient Times to the Present. 3rd ed. New York: Facts on File, 2007.
Lollini, Massimo. "Re-Reading Manzoni at the Time of COVID-19: Contagion, Ethics and Justice." Forum Italicum 56, no. 1 (2022): 38-75.
Marchetti, Silvia. "Paroldo: The magical Italian village that 'witches' call home." CNN Travel. April 18, 2019.
Renzo Villata, Maria Gigliola di. "The Trial Against Plague-Spreaders According to Manzoni (Or Two Aspects of Human Justice)." Acta Historiae 19, no. 3 (2011): 419-452.
Sabbatani, Sergio, Sirio Fiorino, and Roberto Manfredi. "The Plague which Hit the City of Bologna in the Year 1630." Le Infezioni in Medicina 29, no. 1 (2021): 145-156.
Tuscano, Pasquale. "Un Tragico 'Delirio' Collettivo: La Peste Del 1630 in Un Romanziere Umbro Del Seicento e Nei 'Promessi Sposi'." Italianistica 17, no. 2 (1988): 215-224.
Vicentini, Chiara Beatrice and Carlo Contini. "Control Measures of a 400-Year-Old Plague Epidemic: An Example of Past Efficiency at Controlling Disease and Similarities with Current Epidemics." Le Infezioni in Medicina 28, no. 4 (2020): 621.
"Witches in Milan." Maxomano Milano.
