Histories of witches and ancestral fears on Monti della Laga

In the suburbs of Monti della Laga the population is deeply hooked up to legends and superstitions Among these there is the "breve", a small pouch made against the invoices that contains the earth of three different masters, the salt against the hex and pieces of blessed candle. In the countries of Laga the histories of witches and wizard have a long tradition: still today, also in the torrid nights in summer, the windows are shut at night, even ornate of cloves of garlic, to prevent the witches in the form of bugs from entering and to suck the blood of the dormant children. The trees of walnut-tree of which the territory is rich is considered chosen for the "sabba" places and assemblies of magic. According to legends in this area was found  mares with manes admirably woven, naturally work of wicked spirits. Always to the connection between witches and the walnut-tree there are the unbelievable histories of Fonte della Noce to Teramo, where all the witches assembled here twice a year to depart from here and to go toward Benevento, city in which, already during emperor Domiziano's age, cults were developed. According to the tradition the most experienced women must picked the walnuts, they were experts of grass and berries of the actual area of the Park. They called them "Herbarie". They go up on foot to the walnut-trees to detach from the tree the best fruits and expose them to the dew for the whole night. From here was prepared the liqueur, the so called nocino, anciently used for divinatory purposes. In the popular simbolism  bringing a walnut in pocket protects from the bad fate. Some elderly custodian of the memory of the places also advises to meticulously avoid the wide crossroads between Tuesday and  Friday from midnight to the first lights of the morning to avoid undesirable meetings with disheveled creatures, dressed in black and with red eyes. There is a long-lived Resigns of theater-nature in the Park "La Notte delle Paure" that is devoted to this patrimony of terrorizing histories of a mountain populated of raiders, malefic spirits and creatures.