The Dream-Hunters of Corsica

Corsica: a wild, intransigent land isolated by sea and mountains.

Here are the mazzeri, dream-hunters who can foresee death.

At night they go hunting — or dream they do — and kill an animal in the face of which they recognise the face of a living person. Once pinpointed by the dream-hunter, that person will not have long to live.

Unlike the mazzeri, the signadori are guardians of life, practising folk medicine, securing release from the curse of the ‘Evil Eye’ and casting spells infused with light and hope.

With characteristic elegance and clarity, Dorothy Carrington investigates these extraordinary phenomena, unique forms of magic which probably date from prehistoric times. The Dream-Hunters of Corsica provides a fascinating insight into a forgotten corner of civilisation, where the occult has retained its everyday place as an explanation of the mysteries of life and death.

‘An engaging compendium of folk tradition, fables and superstition. Carrington’s accessible book, obviously a labour of love, will appeal not only to travellers, but to anyone interested in the psychological landscapes of the imagination’ - THE EUROPEAN

‘The book is a scoop — a fascinating story never before told’ - EVENING STANDARD

Dorothy Carrington read English at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, and lived in France, Austria, East Africa and London before settling in Corsica with her late husband, the painter Sir Francis Rose. She has written many books in English and in French on Corsican subjects, and has contributed to reviews and learned journals in England, France, Italy and Sweden. Her second book, Granite Island: A Portrait of Corsica, won the Heinemann Award in 1971 and Napoleon and his Parents was awarded the literary prize of the Napoleonic Society of America in 1993. In 1968 and 1971 she was appointed visiting Assistant Professor of Social Anthropology at Queen’s College, City University of New York, and she is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and the Royal Historical Society and a member of the International Commission for Representative and Parliamentary Institutions. She has lectured and participated in congresses in England, mainland France, Italy, the USA and Russia. Dorothy Carrington has received numerous awards and decorations including the Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, the title Doctor Honoris Causa from the University of Corsica, the Prix Spécial du Jury de Livre Corse for the totality of her work in Corsica over the last forty years. She was decorated with the MBE in 1995.

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