Masche (witches)

Masche

Legends and superstitions about the witches  in Piedmont. Witches are still a vivid part of folk memory and the Langhe has its very own variety called “masche”. Stories about old women who could transform themselves into a devilish creature and send curses. These legends have been passed on from generation to generation in farmsteads in the Langhe. The “masche” were often blamed for disease or natural disasters by local peasants who could not find any logical explanation for their misfortune. If a witch did not want to die a horrible death she had to hand on her power to another woman so the tradition could be carried on.

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