Our requests for help pay homage to our grandparents’ old-world beliefs, whether we believe them or not. Last week, I inquired about a headache after a stressful day at work a few days ago, Louie called when his body felt stiff and sore. And yet for years, we have willingly asked her to “check us” when we feel unwell, a kind of ritual in our own right. Our high-school science classes dispelled superstition. We grew up with the internet we could Google any ailment within seconds. Brought up in homes where the only book was the Bible and where prayer trumped science, my dad’s side of the family never thought to question the validity of their ancestors’ evil-eye claims, even as they shifted into a world so predicated on modern medicine.īut my brother and I don’t seriously ascribe to Nonna’s do-it-yourself witchcraft-we know no virus can be cured by ritualistic prayer, nor can oil in water save her rotting cucumbers. Throughout my father’s childhood, for instance, my grandmother’s healing ritual was the answer to every ailment. Growing up, the tradition of warding off the evil eye was as commonplace as saying grace before a meal or telling a story at bedtime. Most older generations of my family are true believers in malocchio. She would continue to ward off the bad vibes throughout the day, performing the ritual every half-hour. Twenty minutes later, she had an answer: Louie, by her discretion, was not sick with a virus but instead ailing from malocchio. She closed her eyes and repeated a prayer as the oil dispersed to the edges of the bowl. She grabbed her bottle of Unico olive oil-the same one she uses to fry up her family-famous fettina (chicken strips)-and poured a few drops into the water. She filled a pasta bowl with tap water and signed herself in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. So when she heard of Louie’s affliction, Nonna got to work. Two summers ago, Nonna even blamed her wilting garden, usually a lush green space filled with homegrown vegetables, on malocchio from a jealous neighbour. According to Nonna, malocchio, “the evil eye,” has been the culprit behind everything from everyday ailments such as headaches and nausea to my father’s more serious heart condition. My grandparents deem any illness or discomfort a symptom of envy-a neighbour or colleague or acquaintance has wished them bad luck or, worse, cursed them. My nonni, as we call them, have always expressed their love in overprotection. They phoned our house that day, worried when they’d noticed Louie’s car in the driveway. Both hail from the southern coastal region of Calabria, Italy, and now reside across from my childhood home in north Toronto.
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