The Vendetta Tradition and Its Spirits

Corsican vendetta—blood feuding between families—created a unique supernatural ecosystem. When violence becomes generational, when every death demands another, the boundary between justice and curse dissolves.

The Weight of Blood

Vendetta operates on principles deeper than simple revenge: - Blood spilled on earth cries out until answered - The dead cannot rest while their killers live - Honor exists independently of life—better to die upholding it than live without it - Most crucially, vendetta creates its own spirits that perpetuate cycles

These spirits manifest as: - Muvrini (mouflons/wild sheep) appearing where murders occurred - Black dogs following vendetta participants - Birds (especially ravens and eagles) gathering before violence - Shadows moving independently of their sources

Families in vendetta report phenomena: - Weapons moving overnight to accessible positions - Ammunition misfiring when vengeance would be unjust - Dreams shared between enemies showing resolution paths - Dead vendetta participants appearing to living relatives with instructions

The Voceri: Songs for the Dead

Corsican funeral traditions include voceri—improvised laments sung over the dead. But voceri for vendetta victims differ from natural death laments. These songs don't merely mourn but invoke: - Calling the dead to witness their killer's identity - Binding the living to vengeance obligations - Creating spiritual contracts enforceable beyond death - Most powerfully, awakening the corpse temporarily to speak final words

From a voceru recorded in Sartène, 1889: "Rise, my brother, rise once more, Name him who spilled your blood on stone. Your voice shall echo through their door, Until his blood pays for your own."

Professional mourners (voceratrici) possessed the skill to craft these songs, but families feared their power. A well-constructed voceru could bind generations to violence. Some voceratrici reputedly could make corpses sit up, point at hidden killers, or speak prophecies about the vendetta's course.

Breaking the Chains

Ending vendetta required supernatural intervention equal to its origins: - Ritual meetings at crossroads under specific moon phases - Exchange of blood mixed with wine, drunk by both parties - Calling ancestors to witness peace (requiring necromantic rites) - Most effectively, appealing to the Madunnuccia (the Little Madonna, Corsica's particular aspect of Mary)

The Virgin of Corsica differs from mainland manifestations. She understands honor, accepts the necessity of violence, but offers maternal authority to override vendetta obligations. Shrines to the Madunnuccia often stand at vendetta boundaries, neutral ground where enemies might meet.