"Masche", spells and "Book of command"

In some areas of Piedmont, particularly in the Langhe area, in the Cuneo area, in the Canavese area, in the Alessandria area and in the Biella area, up to and including Liguria, for many centuries stories were told of characters who committed evil acts. The Piedmontese term, originates from ancient Lombard and appeared for the first time on 22 November 643 AD. in the Edict of Rotari. The Masche were associated with the figures of witches. They were, in fact, protagonists of legends with disturbing controversies, cruel and very frightening.

The Masche, also called Piedmontese witches, were generally ugly old women with magical powers, capable of evil and disturbing spells.

Among the powers attributed to the Masche according to popular tales, there was that of being in two different places at the same time and the ability to transform into animals, especially cats. This is where the bad thought against cats was born, especially the black ones, as they were thought to bring bad luck. Another very particular ability is to make the soul separate from the body and fly in a tangible way in space.

"Book of command" is the name used to indicate the black magic texts, containing the description of the methods for knowing and distinguishing benign and evil spirits and the magical formulas, to make them happen, in order to obtain their help by means of "answers and revelations", whose circulation was fought by the authorities. The mention of the Books of Command recurs in literature and takes on a particular value in some Italian folkloric traditions, in which those texts are represented as attributes of necromantic and witchcraft characters and figures.

Book of popular magic

In Piedmont it represents a book written by the devil himself, used by Masca to evoke spirits and cast curses of all kinds. In folklore representations, it is a book of generous dimensions, handed down from person to person, on the first page of which is written: "command, command, command" and thanks to the text it would be possible to achieve anything.

The command book could coincide with the "secret" diary of women of the time, in which recipes and natural remedies were jotted down to defeat diseases or to make rudimentary cosmetics. The witch's book, even in the imagination, often coincides with the collection of her magic formulas.

In the Piedmontese variant, however, the book has a dubious origin. Typically it would have been the devil who wrote it, but various attestations expressly indicate that it was possible to "order and buy it" together with a related talisman. Mediators of this transaction were the so-called "settimini", children born seven months premature and therefore considered endowed with powers of clairvoyance and sensitivity, a sort of magicians who still - in popular belief - although elderly and have become very rare, are esteemed and respected on the whole territory.

THE STORIES

Once upon a time there was a gentleman in Diano named Carletto. He was a bit strange: he never wanted to work and in his presence mishaps always happened in the fields. For example, one day the scissors broke and he had to go and buy new ones, or the plow broke and he had to go home to fix it. Thus he always found a way not to work. One day his boss, fed up with these constant inconveniences, dismissed him. He probably made a big mistake, because from then on the inconveniences that had previously been occasional became continuous and more serious.

Precisely on that day of dismissal, while they were returning home with the ox cart, an incredible thing happened. Suddenly, just before the Tunnel, the oxen stopped and no one could make them move. They looked like stone. Someone made sure they were breathing, they were so still. Hearing all that noise, Carletto went down the street with his stick that he always carried with him because he was lame and went up to the oxen. He made to touch them with the stick which shortened without touching them and the oxen set off immediately.

Once upon a time there was an elderly lady who lived in a building in Diano. The woman never left food for her sons and daughters-in-law, so with the little money they earned at work they bought biscuits and herbal teas, which they hid. In the evening they got together, when the mother had already gone to sleep and they ate them, but every time, in the morning, the elderly lady knew perfectly what flavor the herbal tea was and how many biscuits she had eaten each.

So they decided to go and eat them in the courtyard, but, as every time, the woman knew perfectly well what they had eaten and drank. One evening, while they were eating, they noticed a black cat lying on the windowsill. The next evening and the one after that they saw him again and so they organized a prank on him: they filled a basin with boiling oil and secretly waited for the cat to arrive. As soon as he arrived they threw oil at him and hit him on the left side. The next day the old woman didn't get out of bed and her eldest son went to check. As soon as he arrived in her mother's room he saw her all burned on her left side. Only then did he understand. Her mother was a "Masca". The woman wanted to die, but she couldn't because she had to leave The Book of Command in someone's custody before. Unfortunately she had no one who wanted to take it and the parish priest advised to get rid of it by burning it. Despite the fire, the book did not burn. Having asked the parish priest of Diano again, through the knowledge of a friend he sent for a "masca" who took the book. Immediately after this act, the elderly lady managed to die.

Once upon a time there was an old lady who had few sheep, but she sold a lot of milk and exceptional "tomes" (Piedmontese cheese). The lady let the sheep wander around on their own and they returned when she called. One day a gentleman, to celebrate Easter, decided to get her a lamb; but along the way the lamb began to weigh more and more, until it fell to the ground. That evening she let the lamb go. The following morning, with three friends, she returned to look for the lamb, they managed to find it, they took it and, along the way, it became heavier and heavier again. Even though there were four of them, they had to let him go again.

From this event it is said that the old woman was a "Masca". In 1929 was built "Salda" a New Dairy and everyone said that the old one would lose all its customers, but things went differently because it is said that the new dairy's "tomes" were not as good as theirs. The dairy had to close and therefore the Masca "tomes" continued to be the best in the area.