Stregoneria is the word in Italian that is commonly translated into English as the word witchcraft. In the Italian dictionary—Vocabolario della Lingua (Nicola Zanichelli, 1970)—stregoneria is defined as a magical practice intended to produce harm or illness. The statement that stregoneria refers to a harmful magical practice is supported by ethnologist Elsa Guggino, who states that words related to stregoneria are always used disparagingly to describe someone practicing malevolent magic (Stregoneria: The "Old Religion" in Italy from Historical to Modern Times, by Marguerite Rigoglioso, 2000). This is also noted by scholar Gary R. Varner, in his book Charles G. Leland: The Man & the Myth, in which he states that the word strega (witch) is a disparaging term used to denote those who practice