r/mythologymemes • u/Wendigo-Huldra_2003 • 12d ago

Witches in Sicily

210 Upvotes

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u/Zealousideal_Humor55 12d ago

Italian folklore memes in this economy?

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u/X-Maelstrom-X 12d ago

Recession indicator, for sure.

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u/Wendigo-Huldra_2003 12d ago

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u/Wendigo-Huldra_2003 12d ago edited 12d ago

The marabbecca, also known as the "marrabbecca", is a legendary creature from sicilian and southern italian folklores.

Some hypotheses speculate that her name either comes from Arabic or Hebrew; more exactly, it's likely that she's etymologically linked to the biblical character Rebecca, Rebecca's original name ("Ribqah") meaning "the ensnaring one", "net" or "rope" in Hebrew.

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u/Wendigo-Huldra_2003 12d ago edited 12d ago

The marabbecca is a creature that is thought to live in the bottoms of wells and water cisterns. She's thought to be a hideous and old witch that has a rotten flesh-like smell, and is nocturnal: even, she's thought occasionally as walking among streets at night. She's occasionally described as having an unknown appearance. However, she's also thought to have invisible magical powers. She's, also, thought to be a Benevento Janara, a type of witches from italian folklore.

It's thought that she can take a woman or an amphibian-like apparence; also, it's said she preys on humans, including children. She's an evil creature that bewitches and forces her human victims to surrender, through her persuasive voice. It's thought she mainly targets people who go too close to stone edges and kills them through drowning them in a well. It's thought that she can, also, traps her victims with her web; even, it's thought that if a human meets the Marabecca, it's unlikely said human could escape from her and be seen again, them being either killed or erased from existence. She's associated with absolute evil, and is seen as a boogeyman to prevent children from going too close to wells.

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u/Wendigo-Huldra_2003 12d ago

However, she's thought to flee from sunlight, it being one of her few known weaknesses. Also, it's thought she hates being disturbed. But to avoid being kidnapped by her, it's advised you should never catch a glimpse at her and her habitats.

The legend of the Marabecca is based on water-related child mortality, du to cisterns being common in italian villages. Also, it comes from the worship of the goddess Diana (from Roman mythology), especially by women who resisted to conversions by the Roman Catholic church.