Skip to main content

femina agabbadòra hammer

“In Sardinia, the use of the "femina agabbadòra hammer" was a women's practice. 



Whenever an elderly man or woman of a given family was dying and in great pain, the family would call for the Accabadòra or Lady of the Good Death. 

She would usually be a widow dressed entirely in black, who likely inherited her role from her own mother or grandmother.

The title Accabadora means "She is the One Who Ends." She arrives with a large hammer of carved olive wood wrapped in heavy wool, and is left alone with the individual who may yet be screaming in agony and terror.

A witness testimonial of the practice translates: "It was dark. The room was illuminated by a single wick in mastic oil. 

The Accabadòra entered the house -- the door had been left open for her. She passed no one as she enters her patient's room at at the bedside. 

"She caressed the face of the dying person, chanted the rosary, sang one of the many lullabies usually sung to children. Finally she raised her hammer wrapped in thick, black wool, and gave a quick sharp blow on the skull.

"She then left the bludgeoned patient in quiet peace, and our family blessed and thanked and paid her for her good work as she was leaving. It is a hard job. 

The Accabadòra may herself be feeble, and is often a friend of the ailing individual. So you must always respect her.

"We do not consider her a murderer. In our village she is known as compassionate, a holy assistant in fulfilling the final destiny. Her act is loving and benevolent. She is our Last Mother."

Though usually done with a hammer, each Accabadòra may have her own technique, including smothering with a pillow, or climbing atop the sufferer to wrap her legs around the neck to squeeze the throat closed.

The last recorded Accabadòras went about their missions of euthanasia in 1929 in Luras and in 1952 in Orgosolo. 

But a recent work of fiction about the life of a modern Agabbadòra alleges that the ancient practice still exists in rural parts of Sardinia, where there are no physicians or any other help for the suffering.”


Photo: An Accabadòra ready to serve, though her hammer is considerably larger than would be used by a real Accabadòra . Inset: An actual femina accabadòra hammer in a Sardinian museum.

Don't forget to leave your thoughts in the comment on the comment section below.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A great story about a little bit of 'humanity' during a terrible war.

A great story about a little bit of 'humanity' during a terrible war.                                                                                      In April 1945, 2nd Lt. Peter During was a South African fighter pilot (N.7 Squadron) running missions over Italy when his Spitfire was shot down by German AA fire. He managed to crash land his plane behind enemy lines where he was immediately captured.   Whilst been escorted to a German Lufwaffe Prisoner of War (POW) camp (he was a pilot and thus his interrogation and imprisonment was the responsibility of the German airforce), he opened a conversation with his captors. He was quickly able to establish that they could already see the writing on the wall, that the war was at an end and Germany would lose it. ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Battle of Hat Dich Begins.

 Battle of Hat Dich Begins On the 3rd of December 1968, Australians from the 1st Australian Task Force participated in the Battle of Hat Dich as part of Operation GOODWOOD.  This operation involved the clearing of Hat Dich and its surrounding areas in a three month operation which would involve Australian, New Zealand, American and South Vietnamese forces. The battle was marked by sustained Australian patrols throughout the Hat Dich area and ambushes on tracks used by the enemy. American, South Vietnamese and Thai forces also operated in direct support of the ANZACS as part of the division-sized action. Under the codename Operation GOODWOOD, the battle of Hat Dich lasted 78 days, and saw 21 Australians, one New Zealander and 31 South Vietnamese killed.  The Royal Australian Regiment, the 3rd Cavalry Regiment and 1st Armoured Regiment were subsequently awarded the battle honour award “Hat Dich”, one of only five presented to Australian units during the war. don't forget to...
Post a Comment
Read more

He said the family were "acutely aware" there were "extremists of all sides who are keen to hijack this incident for their own ends".

The family of a man who was kicked in the head by police at Manchester Airport has appealed for "calm in all the communities", an MP has said. Paul Waugh, Rochdale MP, said the "traumatised" family wanted to make it clear they had "no political agenda whatsoever" and did not condone political violence. Anger over the video led to protests outside Rochdale police station on Wednesday and Thursday nights, with another protest also held in Manchester city centre on Thursday. Mr Waugh said the family would not be attending any protests or giving any media interviews as they wanted their privacy protected. "The strong message they wanted to give is that they have no political agenda whatsoever," he told BBC Breakfast. "They wanted me to issue an appeal for calm among all sorts of different communities in Rochdale. "We've had a history of unfortunate division in our town and we do not want to go back to those days." He said the famil...
Post a Comment
Read more