La magia senza mistero: letterature classiche vs folklore moderno

The connection between modern folklore and ancient magic bears evidence of forms of continuity in today imagery and leads the discussion about the coercive power of words in what we can consider as the 'mirage' of mankind, that is a recondite desire of giving birth - by a magic formula, a potion or a spell - to a reality more consonant with each person's aspirations. Yet the language of magic definitely runs the risk of doggedly displaying the heart of both primitive mentality and remote culture, unless it is identified as common heritage: such an eventuality may happen when a 'creed' of this kind takes part in the life experience of men such as Carlo Levi (the author of "Cristo si è fermato a Eboli"), who ran across a set of beliefs and superstitions, whose analogous records are found both in a truly ancient popular culture and in the magic reports dated back to 2000 years ago (e. g. the tabellae defixionum). As soon as men thought to alter and subvert the order of things, even forcing the supernatural power, they started to recur to classical practices, on the ground of paradigms that the art of rethoric would consider as both immutable and fully successful, also on the ground of a “cliché” which would act as “trait d’union” between literature and everyday life. So, the connection between two seemingly remote cultural realities can light up some dark areas in modern psyche, furthermore ensuring classical culture an important part in understanding mankind’s thought and writing.