I want to make you aware of my new book!
Guided by the Moon, Wheel of the Year, Pagan Holy Days the Italian American Way
paperback $15.99
Available now through this website or Amazon. You can order it from your local bookstore as well.
About the book:
The Wheel of the Year is an annual cycle honoring eight “holy days” which demarcate the solstices and equinoxes and additional seasonal dates important to our ancestors. These dates remain meaningful for those who wish to observe the natural rhythm of our planet. In Guided by the Moon, Theresa C. Dintino offers rituals to carry out yourself or with a group that celebrate the Wheel of the Year in an Italian American Way.
Between the ritual days, Dintino shares more about indigenous Italian spiritual traditions as well as personal memories of growing up Italian American. A celebration of all things Italian American as well as the traditions of our ancestors makes Guided by the Moon, Wheel of the Year: Pagan Holy Days the Italian American Way a wealth of information and engagement for all.
- February 2-5: Feast of Sant’Agata (Imbolc/Candlemas/Groundhog Day)
- March 20/21: Celebration of the Goddess Proserpina (Spring Equinox/Easter/Passover)
- May 1: Celebration of the Italian Snake Goddess Angitia (Beltane/May Day)
- June 20-24: Celebration of the Feast of San Giovanni (SummerSolstice)
- August 2: Festival of Ops (Lammas/Lughnasadh)
- September 21/22: Celebration of the Goddess Ceres (AutumnalEquinox)
- October 31/November 1: All Souls Day (Samhain/Halloween)
- December 21/22: Manifesting with the Goddess Diana and the Mirror of the Moon (Winter Solstice/Christmas/Hanukah)
Why the Italian American Wheel of the Year?
Though the title of this book is Guided by the Moon, Wheel of the Year, Pagan Holy Days the Italian American Way, it would more accurately be titled Pagan Holy Days the Abruzzese American Way.
But because few people know that the Abruzzo is a region in Italy, I chose to use “Italian American.” I was not born in the Abruzzo. I was born in Keene, NH, the daughter of a second-generation Italian American. I am not Italian but half of my ancestors, and all of my father’s ancestors, are from the same village in the Abruzzo: Torre de’ Passeri. I also chose to stick with the more general word “Italian” because many people of Italian descent who were raised in North America will be able to relate to my stories, even if they’re from regions other than the Abruzzo.
Being Italian American places one in a special category. Special category of crazy, you may be thinking, and yes, I suppose you are right. Italian Americans have a unique heritage and many of us do share much of the same “crazy.” Crying adult men, loud voices, garlic breath, and an extreme love of cooking. Huge, expansive feasts of celebration, hugs tighter than you may have ever received, and most of all, the primary importance of la famiglia. Even if you are not Italian American, once you are in with us, you are in for life (unless you mess with one of our own). I jest and yet, the suffocation is as real as the love that permeates everything.
Many people are familiar with the above stereotypes. But another common thing Italian Americans share is a kind of mysticism that often shows up as superstition. I could define this as psychic knowing and acceptance of the supernatural. It lives in common, passed-down folk traditions and everyday actions. And many of those include spiritual leftovers from pre-Roman times. It is woven into so many of our upbringings as normal that we may not understand that other people don’t hang garlic to keep away the evil eye, make a certain gesture of protection when they feel they have been energetically “slimed,” or make offerings to lawn statues of Jesus, Mary, and the saints in super cultivated yards and gardens. Do we realize this is not allowed in Catholicism? Catholics are not really supposed to be praying to saints or females.
No, you protest, my nonna did it so it must be allowed because she was super Catholic. Yes, Nonna was super Catholic. This is a truth, but her religion was a syncretic one brought over from the Old World on the boat, and is based as much on old Roman and pre-Roman traditions as Catholic traditions. Our ancestors combined and integrated their local customs with the teachings of the Catholic Church way back when, and somehow got away with it. Then, once they arrived in America, they just kept on going with that syncretism, its variety depending on where in the Americas they landed.
The Oxford Dictionary defines syncretism as the “amalgamation or attempted amalgamation of different religions, cultures, or schools of thought.” That is why it is normal for many people of Italian American descent to continue to bring rituals, meditations, and prayers of other denominations (including tarot and mediumship) into their homes without protest from family or friends. Many Italian Americans are used to this open-ended acceptance of what other people may consider “woo-woo.”
When I was tasked in a divination with Amy Tanzman Palmer with creating eight rituals for the Pagan Wheel of the Year with an emphasis on my Abruzzo heritage, it felt perfectly doable to me. And I was sure other Italian Americans would enjoy carrying it out as well. Of course, you do not have to be of Italian descent to engage in these ritual days. Many of us come from traditions that incorporated these seasonal holy days into their belief systems. We all live on the Earth. Except for those who live on the equator, we all experience seasonal shifts. Moon cycles are shared by the global population. For most of human existence, gathering or growing food was something our lives focused around, and that work was intricately tied into these cycles that are honored in the Pagan Wheel of the Year.
Excerpted from Guided by the Moon, Wheel of the Year, Pagan Holy Days the Italian American Way
I hope you enjoy the book and carry out the the rituals alone or with friends.
Theresa
