ABSTRACT
The Italian social construct of coparenthood, represented such an application. Both godfather and godmother promised to act as intercessors for the infant as they stood up for him or her at the baptismal font. In Italy, the jettatore was a mysterious figure, and often a figure of authority: even a papal candidate, in one instance. Just as Beatrice went to Santa Lucia who in turn went to the Virgin on behalf of Dante, in the Italian American community, a healer would call upon Santa Lucia and Santa Lucia would call upon the Virgin. The unbaptized infant is the very model of ambiguity within the context of evil eye beliefs. The condition that renders one susceptible to the dangers of envy, then, is one in which ambiguity is pervasive. The divination and healing ritual charted earlier is rich in allusions to baptism into the Roman Catholic Church.
