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Pope Pius IX

Pope Pius IX, a Jettatore?

Pope Pius IX, a Jettatore?

Catania, Sicily



“In Catania there was once a man with the “the evil eye,” a jettatore. He was almost the most terrible jettatore who had ever lived in Sicily. As soon as he shown himself on the street, people hastened to bend their fingers to the protecting sign. Often it did not help at all; whoever met him could prepare themselves for a miserable day. He would find his dinner burned and the beautiful old jelly-bowl broken. He would hear that his banker had suspended payment, and that the little note that he had written to his friend’s wife had come into the wrong hands.

Most often a jettatore is a tall thin man, with pale, shy eyes and a long nose, which overhangs and hacks his upper lip. God had sent the mark of a parrot’s beak upon the jettatore.”

The above paragraph is from:

“The Miracles of Antichrist”, by Selma Lagerlof and P B Taylo, Kessinger Publishing, LLC (June 17, 2004) Second Book, passage VIII. Page 184, “A Jettatore” (See link below)


Evil Eye

Jettatore or jeturra, is defined as “a thrower”, and pronounced in the Sicilian dialect of the Italian, n. (jet-ta-tor-ay or jet-oorr-ah). With a hard “J” as in “jay”. In southern Italy, the mainland, Naples, its iattatore or iaturra, (yat-ta-tor-ay or yat-your-ra). In Spain its also jettatore, but pronounced n. (yet-ta-tor-ay), silent “j”, but as a “y.” In France it’s iettatore (i-et-tah-tor). The jettatura, definition is “action of throwing”, is the power of the jettatore’s “evil eye”, or their glance or throwing of the glance, if your eyes meet it. This evil power is also known as “malocchio” (mal-oak-yo) or “bad eye” in northern Italy. A jettatore is a male witch or a “stregone.” n. (stray-gone-ay).

Male bewitching, jettatura, of the “evil eye” is also attributed to female witches as well, of course. But the male version is the topic at hand. Pope “Pio Nono”, known as Pope Pius IX, 1846-1878. Was supposedly considered a jettatore! Pope Pius IX was reputed to be a jettatore, not so much because it was thought he was malevolent but rather because it seemed that disasters fell upon persons and places he had blessed. And Pius the IX’s treatment of local Jews and more directly, Italian Jews living in Rome turned out to be very much disturbingly horrific! And his longest pontificate in history of 31.5 years, ungodly, pre-longed their cruel suffering. Also, another Pope more recently, Pius XII 1939-1958, during the Holocaust could lightly be interpreted as a jettatore, but only he wasn’t directly involved with assigning cruelty as Pius IX was. And 20th Century folklore was definantly not as strong as the 19th Centuries olden day mentality. Because of less media involvement, Pio Nano’s bad luck rule was clouded in mystery and 30 years of the public’s misery. The media back then of course, relied totally on word of mouth and the printed page. Pius XII (20th Century), even with limited electronic media, nonetheless, now, is referred to as the Nazi Pope. Seems, he turned a blind eye to the evil world because of Nazi control and dominance.

There are others of course in history, the renaissance group of criminally religious, the intriguingly sinister, the politically backstabbing, illegitimate family, along with their Papal relatives. Known as the infamous Borgia Popes. They must certainly be categorized as jettaturistic, to say the least. But we aren’t just dwelling on Papal jettatore. I just used Papal examples of a known, famous jettatore and other possible Papal jettaturistical samples. Jettatori are not antichrists by any means, in the sense of Adolph Hitler, Saddam Hussein or Osama Bin Laden, but on a much, much smaller scale. They usually never directly kill anyone; they are simply mean, cause misery and cast evil spells consciously and unconsciously. And their steel, beady pale blue eyes, seemingly gaze, hypnotically and magnetically with their laser-like jettatura right through you and subconsciously make you obey!

Nowadays anybody can be given the title jettatore, especially if they had done you wrong, ripped you off or even just mentioned the term “evil eye”! For instance, my Sicilian grandmother, Nonna Josephine, would say, “No, no, don’t buy at Calo’s butcher…..HE IS A JETTATORE!” Oh my God, as kids we’d cringe and cross the street to the other side in order to avoid Calo’s. He seemed a nice man, but bad luck seemed to follow him and those who he dealt with. This tribulation and its stigma carried obvious prejudice. He oozed the malocchio it seemed; all that pig blood on his smock and shoes only accentuated his legendary evil mystique. As kids it was sometimes nightmarish to watch Warner Bros.’ cartoons, “Porky Pig®” and his slaughtered buddies dancing around and teasing and taunting Calo, “The Big Bad Wolf!” As they sang, “who’s afraid of the big bad wolf…..the big bad wolf…”? Poor Porky®, at least the sausages were good, mmmmm! But unknowingly, still a kid, I had Calo’s sausages at a friend’s, Billy C’s, house (the C’s are no relation). So now, looking back, maybe Mr. Calo had over charged Nonna on a purchase on purpose, gave her some bad meat, butchered too fatty or perhaps she knew gossip and explosive dirt about his love life! WOW! Whatever the reason, maybe her animosity, jealousy and that of others toward him, had just simply, only been a simmered, smoldering misunderstand. The smoke never cleared but grew and grew clouding every one’s vision and feeding the paranoia of ancient folklore. Or maybe not, grandma’s are never wrong! But Mr. Calo still had a seemingly and somewhat successful butcher shop, besides all this hoopla. So who knows?!

Amulets, Charms, Religious Medals & Sign Language

To define the “evil eye” more precisely with different examples. The old-timers, although it is known in other cultures too, do not take this Sicilian and Neapolitans superstition, lightly. According to the Native American version and the Italian, a person who stares fixedly at a pregnant woman or a child or who is too admiring or physically affectionate with children may produce a malicious (malocchio) effect on their lives, whether or not by intent. In rural Sicily any person or animal was considered vulnerable to the evil eye, and many individuals wore protective amulets or charms to nullify its effects. These Italian amulets are of ancient origin. The charms ranged from the little inverted gold horn or corno (cornuto). The devil’s horn, an upside down horn. Other charms were to protect sexual organs from the jealous evil glance. For men it’s the inverted “mano cornuto” or hand horns, two fingers the pinky and the index finger, in the position of the inverted devil’s horns is used to protect men’s sperm. Another representation of a pair of devil’s horns pointing down. This hand gesture is similar to the one used by the Texas Longhorns, U. of Texas’ fans who use it during football games. Only theirs is not inverted. Another amulet with finger/hand representation is also used to protect women and men’s genitalia, the “mano fico”. This is a fist with fingers and the thumb intertwined as a phallus in penetration. The “la fica”, the fig, is Italian slang for the vagina. These amulets and others were and are supposed to ward off evil, similarly to the wearing of a crucifix around the neck. Real physical hand gestures and finger manipulations are too used, in order to ward off the jettatore and his presence. These dozens of intricate hand gestures are in the realm of Italian sign language.

The amulet’s ancient heritage pre-date Christianity too. The “evil eye” is believed, as I mentioned, to harm nursing mothers and their babies. Also bearing fruit trees, milking animals, and the sperm of men -- the forces of generation. The Neapolitan custom of making cornuto charms from silver (formerly sacred to the moon goddess Luna) and blood coral (formerly sacred to the sea goddess Venus) hints at the cultural survival of a link between the horned animal head and ancient worship of a Neolithic-era mother- or fertility-goddess whose consort was a male deity sometimes called the Horned God. Whether or not this is the case, the cornuto is still a popular amulet worn by Italian men to protect their genitalia from the ”evil eye.” In Marian Theology of the Catholic Church the image of the Blessed Virgin Mary called the “Immaculate Conception” has both a lunar/horned symbolism in it as well. The “Miraculous Medal” depicts this image and the imprinted stamped medal is supposedly worn to bestow great blessings to its wearer.

Although today, in modern society the folklore continues, whether its folklore or not depends on what you believe. But if you think about it, a jealous, hateful, envious, litigious, law-suite driven, spiteful, revengeful, angree and stubborn person or group can manipulate and poison the air if you let them. Then in a way they are modern day jettatore. So hopefully we can use our subconscious and conscious amulets to avoid the jettatore, of the world and only then through faith, religion, spirituality and peace can we live in calm serenity?

Common Situations In Which You Are Likely To Get “The Evil Eye”:

Ø Gazing or fixating too long upon and admired person or coveted possession

Ø Projection from the mind’s eye

Ø Refusing to accept a friendly gesture or one’s friendship

Ø Refusing to accept praise on behalf of child

Who Are You Most Likely To Cast “The Evil Eye” From?

Ø Those you outcast

Ø Envious people

Ø Those who overly praise children

Ø Childless women

Ø People born with the unfortunate propensity to inadvertently project the eye

Ø Newborns (with the negative energy conducted through the mother)

Ø Fathers who have lost a son envying sons of other men

Ø Orphans who have lost a father envying father and son relationships

Ø Adult men who are impotent

Who Is Most Vulnerable To “The Evil Eye”?

When someone is jealous, he subconsciously is making a complaint that is heard by God (or the universal creative energy). If the person who is the focus of the jealousy is a proud or ungenerous person, then God (or the universal creative energy) will judge him and lower him through impact on materialistic, emotional, physical and other aspects of the person’s life.

How do you if you have the Evil Eye?

The following are indications that you may have the evil eye:

Ø generally bad luck

Ø low physical or mental energy

Ø unexplainable illness (such as cancer)

Ø migraines and regular headaches

Ø accidents, especially in multiples

Ø bad relationships

Ø business failure

Ø career struggle

Ø lack of success

Ø difficulty focusing

Ø plans being sabotaged

Ø For young children: very high fever, lack of appetite and sleep, and usually a swelling on some part of the body.

Hand Sign Language to protect from the Evil Eye

Evil Eye protection

Evil Eye protection

Amulets & Charms

Mano Cornuto

Mano Cornuto

Italian Horn

Italian Horn

Mano Fico (Fig)

Mano Fico (Fig)

Miraculous Medal

Miraculous Medal

Immaculate Conception

Immaculate Conception

The Cimaruta Italian witch charm

The Cimaruta Italian witch charm


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Alejandro on November 09, 2016:

Pope Francis is the new "mufa" or "jettatore".

He fail in this cases:

Peace between Syria and Israel

No to Brexit

Peace in Colombia

Scioli loose election in Argentina

Hillary loose election in USA

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