Buying yourself an Italian horn
Buying yourself an Italian horn, the red cornicello from Naples, is often said to weaken it, since the charm should come as a gift. Old Neapolitans went further and held that just saying the word corno could protect you.
What it may mean
In Naples, according to Daniels and Stevans' encyclopedia of superstitions, horns were so trusted against the evil eye that if no horn was at hand, simply saying the word corno was believed to protect you. That detail takes the pressure off the question of who bought the charm. The red horn on a chain, in coral or gold, is a reminder of a wish to be kept safe, and the words carry that wish as well as the object does. Most people have protective phrases of their own: "knock on wood," "God willing," "fingers crossed," a quick text that says "get home safe." They are said almost without thinking, and they still say something about what worries you and whom you care for. Whoever paid for your horn, listen for the words you reach for when you want someone kept safe.
Depending on how you saw it
Receiving one as a gift
In Naples the horn is traditionally given, a gesture of affection and protection from the giver, and buying it for yourself is called unpropitious. A gift adds a person to the charm. Who would you most like to hear wish you well this week?
Hanging in the car
Many Italian American families hang a small red horn from a car mirror or above a doorway, where it is seen every day. Protection placed in plain sight becomes part of the routine. What small object in your daily path reminds you of the people looking out for you?
Red coral or gold
The classic horn is long, curved, pointed and red, often made of coral; gold and silver ones are common too. Some families care more about the shape than the material. Which part of an old tradition do you keep strictly, and which part do you let change?
Why it happens in nature
The cornicello, curniciello in Neapolitan, is a small twisted horn charm, classically red and made of coral, and today also of gold, silver, ceramic or plastic. It is sold widely in Naples and in Italian American neighborhoods as protection against the malocchio, the evil eye, and is often worn on a necklace or hung in homes and cars.
What folk beliefs say
Italy (Naples)
In Naples, a 1903 collection says, horns in one form or another were the most common defense against the evil eye, so much so that people believed that, without a horn at hand, merely saying the word corno or corna would protect them.
Source: Cora Linn Daniels; C. M. Stevans (eds.), Encyclopaedia of Superstitions, Folklore, and the Occult Sciences of the World, vol. 3 (1903), vol. 3, p. 1270. View the page
Italy (Naples)
Among Neapolitans, the same collection says, everyone wore an amulet against the jettatura, generally of silver and often in the form of an antelope horn.
Source: Cora Linn Daniels; C. M. Stevans (eds.), Encyclopaedia of Superstitions, Folklore, and the Occult Sciences of the World, vol. 3 (1903), vol. 3, p. 1278. View the page
Italy (Sicily)
A Sicilian proverb quoted in the same collection says: "A pair of horns guard us from the evil eye."
Source: Cora Linn Daniels; C. M. Stevans (eds.), Encyclopaedia of Superstitions, Folklore, and the Occult Sciences of the World, vol. 3 (1903), vol. 3, p. 1266. View the page
To reflect on
Which words do you say for protection or comfort without thinking about them?