The village's Grandma

[Quentin88]

The village's Grandma

Everyone have a Grandma, but here little rural village have a kind of "community" Grandma.
She's usually a really old lady, very religious and mother of a numerous family, her house is always open to people from the village that come to her asking for advices and suggestions, even young couples refuse to get married whitout her permission and her blessing. She is often a woman of great knowledge, a knowledge based more on experience that on books, she's the guardian of village's history arts and traditions. The village Grandma isn't only an "expert cook" but also a seamstress, a carpenter, a farmer... even a doctor, she know natural herbs and remedies and can heal almost whatever you have.
This "character" is what remain of ancient rural society in Italy, little villages and communities based on hunt, farm animals and agriculture where to lead the people were the priestess, personification of the goddess of nature, that, in the passage of time, get associeted with witches, and so hunted and persecuted. You can understand how much these "witches" was spread in my region by the fact that the inquisition thought that the "base" of ALL the witches of europe was in the Sannio (how romans called my region) where the "archwitches", the "most evil and powerfull" witches, made their sabbat under a wallnut tree near the river Sabato (for this, say legends, that is called sabbat).
But between valleys and mountains still today survive these "archaic" figures of pagan roots, keepers of time itself. Priestess, Witch and Village's Grandma.

[Shadowman]

Nice portrait.

[Werner]

love that portrait even more in connection with the story.

imho maybe you could do a littel PP and remove those light spots in the background.

[Marie Hass]

Dear Pellegrino,

The way you write and present your images reminds me very much of a dear Internet friend I used to correspond with off list. Colorful, with a lust for life, very much Mother Earth herself. She held more towards pagan beliefs, but had a thirst for knowledge, especially the sciences, astronomy and the arts.

That said, I am enjoying very much your images and descriptions, for with them, the people come alive. Appalachian "witches" are very much present here in West Virginia. We call it "Granny Magic". Like yours, our Grannies are the keepers of folklore, herbalists and healers. They had concoctions for whatever "ailed" you.

With regards to the image itself, can you remove the bright bits in the background? Regardless, it is a good portrait.

Marie

Marie

[GrahamS]

Bravo!

[IzzieK]

These village grandmas are the keepers of the faith borne from the old...very nice..

[Quentin88]

maybe a little bit too bright highlights, what you think?

[flashback]

Ciao Pellegrino; da questa, la storia di Strega Nona?

[Quentin88]

Ciao Pellegrino; da questa, la storia di Strega Nona?

I know strega nona because I had an aunt from USA but here in Italy is mostly unknow =P
Anyway yes, in part the character of Strega Nona is taken from village's grandma, indeed strega means witch and nona is a mispelling of nonna that means grandma. Probably the most famous "village's grandma" and also the one than inspired dePaola is the Befana, what wikipedia don't say (even if you can get it from the pictures in the article) is that the befana is a witch, magical powers, pointy hat, fly on broom, black cat etc. etc. ... in some legends she have a magical bag that can produce infinite sweets, but only for good kids. Kids leave two socks near the fireplace or the head of the bed, the befana come at night and since she have always holed socks she take one of the kid sock and full the other with sweet if the kid have been good or with coal if the kid have been bad.