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The tradition of the Mazzeri - Soul night hunters

Corsica has been a slow converter into Christianity, and many Corsicans still believe that a host of immaterial beings surround them, ghosts, spirits, often seen as the harbingers of death. Underlying these ancient beliefs is the concept of a dual universe - physical and spirit realm. Unlike Christianity, many Corsicans believe that the spirit is taken up to a year before death occurs.

One of the agents of death are believed to be the mazzeri, derived from ammazza, to kill. They are said to become so if they were not baptised or christened improperly. At night they dream they go into the maquis, and then their spirt is said to depart from the body, and kills the first animal it sees, a wild boar, goat, sheep, dogs, etc... Then they roll the animal on its back and recognise in it the face of someone in their village, who is set to die within a year.

A mazzere is said to be unable to choose his/her victim, and acts through a trance like state, and is thus not held responsible. They are not malicious by nature and often the prophecy greatly disturbs them. There are more women mazzeri believed than men, and are said to be more ferocious. There are still quite a few mazzeri in Corsica who are esteemed in their villages.

Corsicans keep these traditions quiet, and if you want to find out then listen with an open heart. The traidition may partly derive its force from the particular family structure in Corsica, and pre christian, animistic beliefs. Just try to listen, Corsicans are very sensitive about value judgements, especially in this case. For a bit more information in French see the web site below.

The Corsican Lanugage

Before the Romans came along, according to archeologists, Corsican was a non-indo-European language that resembled Basque. Over the generations Latin evolved into a langauge close to medieval Tuscan Piestoain - Corsu. It was mostly conserved in oral traditions and had very little written tradition The north and south now differ in their dialects. It has nothing to do with French, and has some similarity to Italian ( beware! it is not Italian and Corsicans are sensitive to such comments).

The French have been doing their best to destroy this language, it was forbidden until 1974 to... spit and speak Corsican by law! Now they have loosened up a bit, but still restrict the language from obtaining a more institutional position. 70 percent of the Island speak it fluently, mostly between themselves. Dont try speak a few words you read in your travel guide to Corsicans, they dont like it.

There are now theatre shows in Corsican, the best group isU Teatrinu, The director, Guy, is a knowledgable chap and has a great sense of homour!

Pascal Paoli and the Corsican Nation

Pascal who? The French destroyed the 1st secular republic, & tried to erase traces of it & its founder. As J.J.Rousseau said: I have a certain presentiment that one day this little island will astonish Europe (1769 The Social Contract)!

All this due to Pascal Paoli, in Corsican, Pasquale; the younger (of 4) born in humble Morosaglia (see section) 1725. His childhood dominated by the war of independence, the bourgeois landowners, like father, Dr. Giacinto Paoli, had enough of the greedy Genoese oppressing and exploiting Corsica. In Boziu villages chased the Genoese tax men away, & Corsica waged the first anti-colonial struggle. When Pasquale was 6, his father was elected to the triumvirate of primates, to head Corsica. In 1735 Corsica declared its independence & the beautiful Dio Vi Salvi Regina, a hymn for the Virgin, its national anthem. Genoa tried to starve the population, and in 1739, asked France to help by an army to squash the patriots. Pasquale was exiled to Napolis military academy where he was influenced by the enlightenment philosophies.

Eventually the Genoese assassinated father Paoli, and his sons elected Pasquale in 1755 to be the General of the Corsican Nation. He wrote a constitution, under the influence of Rousseau, that included the 1st human rights charter (copied by the USA). He opened public secular education, a university open to all (women and Jews!), set up printing press, and a tiny navy that surfed past a Genoese blockade to liberate the island of Capraia, & he ended that vendetta (ahem! by killing all the murderers). He became friendly with Rousseau, James Boswell, as well as the king Napoli (then the most enlightened kingdom of Europe). Try as the might the Genoese couldnt retake it, and in 1768 they got fed up and sold it for 2m lire to France. The French have been eying this little cookie for a long time, initially pushed out of the island, then arriving with a huge fleet. Little Corsica didnt have a chance, at Ponte Nuovo, 1769, it was defeated, & Paoli went to exile in London.