My post for this week is late because I was both busy in genreal and my Mom was visiting during the later half of the week and I just hadn’t had a chance to write my post before Friday.  I had a few moments where I didn’t think it was going to get done at all but here we are!  This week my post is about the cimaruta, or cima di ruta.  I decided to write about this during the second of the two C weeks because I only recently started to wear a cinaruta, which I oddly just felt I had to do even though for years I’ve never had any real interest in them.

The cimaruta, pronounced chee-mah-roo-ta, means “sprig of rue” in Italian.  The cimaruta is a protection charm, especially associated with protecting against the Evil Eye, dating back to the 19th century, mostly from southern Italy.  One theory of the charm’s origin is that it evolved from Etruscan amulets used to protect against witchcraft and the Evil Eye.  While today there are a few standard versions of the cimaruta available quite readily, the early charms varied greatly based on the region they originated from.  It’s thought that the cimaruta is a combination of various earlier individual charms.  There are some varients of the charm that starte to surface in 1888 which included the Sacred Heart to honor and represent Jesus Christ.  Even with these variations it’s most common and traditional for the charms to be double-sided and made in pure silver.

The main portion of the charm is a sprig of rue, the charm’s namesake.  Rue, also known as ruta, comes from the Greek reuo and means “to set free”.  Rue was regarded as an anti-witchcraft plant because of some of the physical aliments that it was able to heal, in particular upset stomachs and nervous digestion.  When these symptoms occurred while eating in the presence of strangers it was believed that witchcraft was the cause but rue was able to relieve these conditions.

On the cimaruta the sprig of rue is traditionally divided into three stems coming off the main branch.  There are different ideas as to what this can symbolize. One belief is that the three stems represent a triform of the Goddess Diana, to whom rue is sacred.  Another herb sacred to Diana that often is found on the cimaruta is vervain; a vervain blossom is often one of the many smaller symbols found on the charm.

The symbols found on the cimaruta can vary based on who created it and where it originates.  Some of the symbols found sprouting out at the end of the braches of rue can include a key, dagger, vervain blossom, moon, serpent, hand, fish, heart, frog, and the head of a roaster.

The hand that is often included is usually in one of two positions, either mano fica or mano cornuto.  Mana Fica is also known as “the fig hand” and is a gesture that symbolizes sexual union.  The name of the gesture comes from the Italian fica which is a word referring to the female vulva and also means fig.  The gesture was used to ward off the Evil Eye in the belief that the obscenity of the gesture distracts evil spirits or demons that would come to do harm and they will flee at the sight of the gesture.   Mano Cornuto means “horned hand” in Italian and is another well known gesture to ward off evil.  This gesture’s origins are a little unclear as to whether it’s meant to truly represent horns or if it is meant more as a gesture for poking out the eyes.  Most commonly it’s believed to be a references to animal horns, not Devil horns as it often thought.

So, that’s the basics of the cimaruta.  I’ve never really felt drawn to having one until this past fall.  As someone who is Italian I’ve been quite familiar with many of these various charms for what feels like forever.  The mano cornuto is one that I’ve seen as a necklace for years, worn by all manner of Italian Americans, not just Witches.  The cornicello, which means “little horn” in Italian, is another protection charm used to ward off the Evil Eye and one that is most often worn by males.  As far back as I can recall my uncle has always worn one.  I first really came across actual information about the cimaruta when I read Raven Grimassi’s “Italian Witchcraft” around 1998.  A couple years later while I was working in a small Pagan-ish shop it seemed people were looking for these all the time but we never carried them (we never really had anything people seemed to actually be looking for) and it seemed like they were hard to come by, though you could find them in the AzureGreen catalog.

But after coming back to Salem I decided I wanted to get a cimaruta and I found the perfect one at Hex and have worn it every day since I got it.  I like mine so much because it’s quite different than a lot of the ones that you find.  On mine there is a crescent moon which honors the Goddess (the moon) and the God (horns) and is of course sacred to Diana.  There is also a fish representing fertility and abundance, a vervain flower for protection, a key for access to power and secret knowledge (also sacred to Hecate), and the hand in the mano cornuto position to ward off the Evil Eye.

Protective charms are always a good thing to have and I think it’s so important to find one that really calls to you, not just picking one that ends up being your choice because it’s common.  For whatever reason this one just kept coming back to me in some form again and again, and as a result I finally picked it up and it’s served me quite well so far.  I don’t doubt that Diana has a hand in that since she’s been trying to get my attention for the last few years and I finally started to list six months ago or so.  And now I would say whether it’s around my neck, in my pocket, or in my Witch Bag, you’ll never find me without my cimaruta.