During the winter months, when the moon is full or nearly full, its light can be refracted by ice crystals in the upper clouds of the atmosphere, creating a luminous halo around the satellite with iridescent flashes on the sides commonly called “moon dogs.” In popular tradition, this optical phenomenon heralded the arrival of bad weather: by counting the stars within the halo, it was possible to predict the number of days of stormy weather.
Magical practices have always been connected to the moon, so much so that it has been theorized that they derive from ancient ecstatic female cults dedicated to a night goddess often identified with Diana. These cults feature shamanic themes such as ecstasy, magical flight, and metamorphosis into animals, all of which converge in the figure of the witch, the healer, or the magician, as she is called in southern Italy. Cani Lunari aims to be a reflection on magic as an alternative to positive science; an invitation to recover something of the numinous world of witches in our consciousness in order to try to re-enchant the world.