Codex Seraphinianus, the Bizarre Encyclopedia by Luigi Serafini

On September 28, 1583, Menocchio, an Italian miller, was denounced to the Holy Office on the charge of having uttered and attempted to spread “heretical and impious” words about Christ. The trial brings to light the complex cosmogony and worldview of a miller who stunned the inquisitors. This epis…

The Sator Square has been the subject of frequent archaeological discoveries, both in stone epigraphs and in graffiti, but the sense and the symbolic meaning still remain obscure, despite the numerous hypotheses formulated. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://weirditaly.com/2021…

A trial for heresy of two peasants reveals a pagan-shamanic  peasant cult based on the fertility of the land widespread in Friuli,  northern Italy, around the 16th-17th centuries. The Benandanti was an agrarian cult with shamanic characteristics that  gradually transformed under the …

The DNA of the Romans has changed over time following the evolution of the historical phases that have marked the life and growth of the city. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://weirditaly.com/2022/01/13/the-genetic-profile-of-the-ancient-romans/