“The Motherline: Laundry, Lunedi and Women’s Lineage,” Association for the Study of Women and Mythology, Tucson, Arizona, March 28, 2025.

What connects us to our ancestral past? For me, it has been a lifetime journey, informed by many ways of knowing and deepened by walking on the paths of my grandparents’ villages in northern Italy. The stories of my ancestors are held in the landscape, rocks, trees, and sky, and offer clues about women’s spiritual roles and sacred rites. The agency of the magical women in the folk stories is echoed in the everyday rituals of women as they utilize and transform the sources of life in cyclic harmony with nature.

In this visual presentation, I pay homage to my motherline, my line of female ancestors, with a focus on the ritual of laundry and the cycles of life. In the folk stories, magical women dance on the full moon and know how –and when — to wash their clothes to make them luminous. My mother, like her mother, did laundry on Monday, lunedi, a day dedicated to the moon. Lunar consciousness permeates folk wisdom.

My clotheslines are held by two carved sculptures in the shape of the Goddess Tanit, an invitation to remember and experience a deeper ritual of renewal when hanging my clothes. The laundry line connects me to nature, to my female lineage and to the stories that gather around women in the creation and care of clothes. As we retrieve women’s stories and rituals, we reclaim the value of women’s history and restore our inner connection with the timelessness of the cycles of life.

To view a recording of this and other presentations of scholars from around the world, please join ASWM (https://womenandmyth.org/).

“Listening to Ancestral Voices: Folk Stories of Resilience and Renewal in the Italian Alps,” American Folklore Society, Albuquerque, NM, November 7, 2024

In the mountains and valleys of Trentino, villagers once gathered at night in the barn for the filò, a word related to the verb filare, to spin. In these communal gatherings, families shared stories while the women spun. These folk stories, told orally over the generations, not only provided entertainment but also transmitted a code of ethics, values, and everyday folk wisdom. They give us insight into the lives of people who were in close contact with the natural world.

In this visual presentation, I draw from the rich body of folk literature in the Italian Alps to highlight themes of resilience and renewal in the lives of Trentino people. I survey the folk stories to listen to what they tell us about resilience in times of challenge. Whom did my ancestors turn to? What everyday practices of renewal did they utilize to move forward? What values guided them? How can this knowledge inform our lives today?

Join me on this journey of imagination across time to listen to ancestral voices. We’ll see how the stories and folk traditions illuminate the close relationship of people and nature working together to restore the balance. Trees, plants, and animals are active sources of healing and knowledge. Magical women, known as Anguane, embody the wisdom of the water and forests and demonstrate everyday actions of renewal in cyclic harmony with nature. Values of sharing and caring, along with expressions of gratitude, offer a way forward.

“The Art of Gratitude: The Enduring Value of Ex-votos to the Black Madonnas of Italy,” PNW American Academy of Religion, George Fox University, Newberg, Oregon, May 20, 2023.

At major sanctuaries to the Black Madonna throughout Italy and beyond, devotees over the centuries have made offerings known as ex-votos, Latin for “out of a vow,” to give recognition for healing received at a time of great need.

This art of gratitude often takes the form of a narrative painting with the words “PGR,” per grazia ricevuto – for grace received –along with an inscription of the specific details of the circumstances of the event.

These testimonies of divine connection provide a fascinating insight into the past. They offer a historical record of everyday dangers and communal catastrophe. At the same time, they tell of survival, resilience, and collective action. Making offerings at sacred sites is an ancient practice, as evidenced by devotional items found throughout Italy.

In this visual presentation, I share images of some of the ex-votos still in existence at Marian sanctuaries. More than 10,000 ex-votos in Italy have survived the ages, although many have been lost, stolen, or destroyed.

The viewing of ex-votos invites us into conversation across time and suggests a meaningful spiritual practice that can be utilized today. They ask us to pay attention to not only what has happened in the places we inhabit, but also to what is happening. They encourage us to ask: What am I grateful for? Who is helping me? How am I acknowledging that? What am I giving back in return for the gift I received?

As we seek deeper connections that carry us forward into uncertain times, creating expressions of gratitude offers a practice of relationship and reciprocity with the natural world.

Presentation by Mary Beth Moser of her dissertation, The Everyday Spirituality of Women in the Italian Alps, to the Centro Studi per la Val di Sole, April 30, 2023.

“Ten years ago, I fulfilled an important goal – the completion of my dissertation, The Everyday Spirituality of Women in the Italian Alps, about my ancestral heritage, with a focus on women and folk wisdom. On April 30, 2023, I had the opportunity to publicly thank the very people who helped me along the way. I’m honored to have been invited by the Centro Studi per la Val di Sole in Trentino, Italy to introduce my dissertation. It feels especially meaningful because my maternal grandmother, Edvige Albasini, emigrated from the Val di Sole in 1906 to “L’America,” never to return. It feels like a cycle completed to be recognized in this way.

A big thank you to Marcello Liboni, president of the Centro Studi per la Val di Sole, who invited me, to Anna Benedetti for your outstanding real-time translation, and to Michele Bezzi for technical support; and to Andrea Lazzaroni, the mayor of the Comune di Dimaro Folgarida, and to Armando Maistri, president of Trentini nel Mondo, for your kind words.

I know I speak for so many of us descendants when I say that Trentino is very important to us. Noi discendenti siamo grati per i nostri legami con voi.”

To view a recording of the presentation click here: https://youtu.be/MVtugVG1-sE
To view a recording of the entire event and the presentation click here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVJ_Wh4ekBs

“Listening to Ancestral Voices: Folk Stories of Resilience and Renewal in the Italian Alps,” The International Tyrolean Trentino Organization of North America (ITTONA) 2022 Convention, Albany, NY August 6, 2022. Recording available at: https://youtu.be/HxtsON__wuA

“Sacred Stones and the Immanence of Life in the Alps” Association for the Study of Women and Mythology, March 24, 2021, Monthly Speaker for Scholar Salon. Recording is available for ASWM Members: https://womenandmyth.org/2021/03/24/scholar-salon-24/

“She Who Shows the Way: Agency and Awe in the Miracle Stories of Black Madonnas of Italy,” Monastery of St. Gertrude, Online L.I.V.E. Art Series, September 2020. Recording available at: https://deamadre.net/videos/

“Submerged Spirituality in the Italian Alps: Goddesses, Ancestresses, and Women’s Ritual in the Archaeological Evidence,” American Academy of Religion Pacific Northwest Region, Central Washington University, Ellensburg, WA, May 2019

“The Everyday Spirituality of Women in the Italian Alps: A Trentino American Woman’s Search for Spiritual Agency, Folk Wisdom, and Ancestral Values,” presentation to the American Academy of Religion National Meeting, Denver, Colorado, November 2018

“Old Wives’ Tales: Folk Wisdom, Women’s Spiritual Agency and Ancestral Values in the Folk Stories of the Italian Alps,” Women’s Spirituality Conference, California Institute of Integral Studies, San Francisco, CA, October 2018

“Magic and Wonder in the Land of the Pale Mountains: Folk Stories of Trentino and the Italian Alps,” International Tyrolean Trentino Organization of North America, Cleveland, OH, August 2018

“She Who Shows The Way: Agency and Awe in the Miracle Stories of Black Madonnas of Italy,” American Academy of Religion, Tacoma, WA, May 2018

“When There Were Anguane: The Wild, Divine, and Magical Women of the Waters in the Italian Alps,” Association for the Study of Women and Mythology, Las Vegas, NV, March 2018

“When the Trees Could Speak: Folk Stories of Nature as Ally in the Italian Alps,” Association for the Study of Women and Mythology, Las Vegas, NV, March 2018

“The Madonna and the Breath of Life: Sanctuaries of the Respirò in the Italian Alps,” American Academy of Religion, Moscow, ID, May 2016

“Sacred Landscapes: Folk Stories, Ancestral Values and the Importance of Place,” Association for the Study of Women and Mythology, Boston, MA, April 2016

“Flowing Across Time: Women, Water, and the Sacred in the Italian Alps,” Association for the Study of Women and Mythology, Boston, MA, April 2016

“Magic and Wonder in the Land of the Pale Mountains: Folk Stories of Trentino and the Italian Alps,” Dante Alighieri Society, Seattle, WA, May 2015. Recording available at: https://youtu.be/1TuI8zJ1auM

“Moonbeams of Mystery, Cycles of History: Lunar Presence in the Folk Wisdom of the Italian Alps,” Association for the Study of Women and Mythology, Portland, OR, April 2015

“Upon This Rock: Sacred Stones and the Immanence of Life in the Alpine Folk Traditions,” American Academy of Religion, Portland, OR, March 2015

“Frozen: The Creative Power of the Winter Goddesses in the Italian Alps,” American Academy of Religion, Calgary, Canada, May 2014

“Wild Women of the Waters: Remembering the Anguane of the Italian Alps,” Association for the Study of Women and Mythology (ASWM) National conference, San Antonio, TX, March 2014

“Black Madonnas,” ASWM Panel, San Antonio, TX, March 2014

“The Healer, the Sibyl and the Wife of the Devil: Magic and Spirituality in the Italian Alps,” American Academy of Religion, Seattle, WA May 2013

“Spirited Women of the Sacred Waters: Goddesses, Anguane, Grandmothers, and Madonnas in the folk traditions of the Italian Alps,” American Academy of Religion, Portland, Oregon, May 2012

“Moonbeams of Mystery, Cycles of History: Lunar Presence and Metaformic Themes in the Folk Traditions of the Italian Alps,” graduate lecture for Metaformic Theory class, Institute of Transpersonal Psychology, Palo Alto, CA, February 2012