Benandanti

Region: Southern Europe
Location:Friuli region of northeastern Italy (16th–17th century records)

The *Benandanti* — “Good Walkers” — were individuals in Friulian folklore who believed their spirits left their bodies at night to battle malevolent witches and protect their community’s crops and wellbeing. Historical records from the Venetian Inquisition describe men and women who claimed they were born with a caul (a birth membrane), marking them for a supernatural vocation. On certain nights of the year — especially the Ember Days marking seasonal transitions — their spirits journeyed in dreamlike or astral form to fields, crossroads, or hidden places where they fought witches who sought to blight harvests.
  Benandanti said they fought with fennel stalks while witches fought with sorghum. They described these nighttime battles as real but invisible to waking eyes; the outcome determined the prosperity of the coming season. Unlike stereotypical witches, Benandanti were community protectors, healers, and seers. They practiced blessing rituals, dream interpretation, and folk healing. However, because their beliefs involved spiritual journeys and battles, inquisitors eventually interpreted them as witches themselves, leading to interrogations, trials, and the gradual disappearance of the tradition.
  The Benandanti represent a rare European counter-narrative: people who saw themselves not as sorcerers or devil-servants, but as *defenders* of the community against malign forces. Their folklore blends shamanic elements, agrarian rituals, and dream-based spirituality. Their story reveals how medieval Europe interpreted supernatural experiences — and how easily protectors could become persecuted when official doctrine collided with folk belief.

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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. All characters appearing in this work are fictitious or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

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