FORTUNE-TELLING ITALY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIX, Issue 18224, 18 October 1922, Page 12

FORTUNE-TELLING ITALY.

" WITCHCRAFT " RAMPANT.

TRAGEDIES AND CRIME.

The police at Florence have josfc arrested "Professor " Mazzetti, a fortune-teller and! clairvoyant, -who has driven a thriving trade there for some yfiars. He claims to predict the fnture infallibly and to have control over the la\ra of time and space. He also—and herein lies the secret of his popularity—undertakes to bring about a happy ending to any love affair. Women of all classes visited his consulting room and wrote to him for advice. The police have seized over 500 letters, mostly from young girls, enckeiivg money and N begging for help in turning the hearts of recalcitrant admirers.

The exact charge on which Maazetti has been put in prison this time is not, yetknown, but it seems that before the war he underwent a term of imprisonment at Brescia for extorting thousands of francs from a very rich girFwhose fiance had left her, and who was willing to pay anything to get him back again. Fortune-telling looms large in the life of the average ItaSan woman, and comes to thm fore in sensational trials and love-tragedies. A few months ago a pretty young widow committed suicide because a clairvoyant had told her that her lover would prove faithleas. Ho was being bewitched, she declare*!, by another girl who had found means to inter his room secretly and sprinkle a love-powder over the furniture. To counteract this spell the widow was supplied by tho fortnne-teller with a magic ointment which she was to rub on the hands of the young man next time he oame to visit hex. Thia. was duly done, but apparently failed of success, for the widow took a dose of poison. Men and women of every class consult fortune-tellers in Italy, and believe implicitly in their predictions, especially as regards love and marriage. Cards are the favourite means of divination, and many women are adepts at telling the cards for themselves and do so regularly every Friday—the lucky day—to see what will befall them during the coming week. Love-philters, magic powders, and amulets are much in request. There is a very useful powder which, if sprinkled into the envelope of the letter you are sending off, is warranted to ensure a speedy and satisfactory answer. But it is not enough to secure good influences; you must guard against bad ones. In the country the oxen—the peasant's most precious possession—wear red ribbona in their tails or on their horns to protect' them against the evil eye; but in spite of this, an enemy sometimes manages to bewitch them, the symptoms being that the animals mope and refuse to eat in their own stable. Tho only reu.edy for this is to get the priest to come and perform an exorcism. Some priests are credited with special powers of driving out evil spirits, and their services are much sought after. Tragedies and crime are frequently connected with witchcraft, which rouses uncontrollable primitive passions of fear and revenge. Last year, in the district near Pisa, a little peasant boy fell ill. The parents consulted the stregone (witch-doctor), who told them that the child was bewitched. He advised them to boil the boy's clothes in a pot and the first person to come to the house during the process would be the one •who had dono the harm. The pot with the clothes was set on the fire and after a little while an old beggar-woman knocked at the door. This was proofpositive, and the poor creature was seized by the family and so severely beaten that she died.