ARADIA: Gospel of the Witches

ARADIA: Gospel of the Witches
by Charles Godfrey Leland

ARADIA:  Gospel of the Witches
List Price: $8.99
Our Price: $5.05
You Save: $3.94 (44%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions


or

Book Summary Information

Author: Charles Godfrey Leland
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2009-04-03
ISBN: 1615340246
Number of pages: 108
Publisher: ezReads LLC

Book Reviews of ARADIA: Gospel of the Witches

Book Review: Italian Magic and Witchcraft
Summary: 4 Stars

In Northern Italy there are vestiges of an ancient faith that maybe still practiced by the common people. It is a vestige left over from the ancient Etruscan religion. The Etruscans lived in Tuscany, Italy. The main Goddess for the practitioners of this faith is the Goddess Diana. She is the Goddess of the moon, queen of the fairies and protector of the down trodden. She is also the goddess of witchcraft.

Charles Godfrey Leland traveled to Italy in the Mid to late 1800's and gather all this material about the ancient Etruscan religion.. It was gathered from local sources and he was helped by a young female. In Northern Italy there are Strega or Italian witches who still practice Etruscan magic and are expert in it's ways.

The book is very simple to read filled with stories and some rather easy to do spells. The spells are not at all complicated and there is no circle casting as one would find in Wicca or Ceremonial Magic. Usually a spell is something as simple as making an invocation to the goddess and leaving an offering. For example take the family that is poor and is in need of money. They leave an offering to Diana of flowers and leaving them by her statue. The family becomes wealthy as a result. many of the invocations also threaten the deity if there request is not met. This seems to be a common motif even in Italian Christian practices. Much different from Wicca. If one wants a fuller representation of the Italian witch faith then one can read further in the author's other works such as "Etruscan Roman Remains" and "Legends of Florence"

Aradia who is called the Queen of Witches was sent down to help the suffering people of Italy who were oppressed by the nobility and the clergy men. Often time they were forced to work as slaves and their property was confiscated arbitrarily by the Church of oppressive noblemen. The people were not strong enough to fight back so Aradia taught them magic witchcraft and the use of poison to counter the oppression.

Aradia was also the daugher of Diana and Lucifer (not to be confused with Satan). The elder gods created Diana and from her other half came the sun god Lucifer. In Roman legend he is called Apollo. After separating from Lucifer Diana suddenly has a longing for him. She tries to persue him but he only succeeds in evading her. Finally while down on Earth she couples with him by disguising herself as a cat. From that union came Aradia.

The Witches gather together monthly on the full moon, their celebration a sabbat. There is feasting on wine, moon cakes and their is ecstatic gathering and breaking of the overly strict laws of modesty.

For those looking for a more simple magic to follow this book maybe a start to something that you are looking for. To do Stregeria all one needs is intent, invocation and then maybe the offering or spellcraft. Many people like me get swallowed up in the long complicated rituals and lose focus of the objective.
The book is also a window into the lost world of Etruscan, Roman magic and religion.

Summary of ARADIA: Gospel of the Witches

The text is a composite. Some of it is Leland's translation into English of an original Italian manuscript, the Vangelo (gospel). Leland reported receiving the manuscript from his primary informant on Italian witchcraft beliefs, a woman Leland referred to as "Maddalena" and whom he called his "witch informant" in Italy. The rest of the material comes from Leland's research on Italian folklore and traditions, including other related material from Maddalena. Leland had been informed of the Vangelo's existence in 1886, but it took Maddalena eleven years to provide him with a copy. After translating and editing the material, it took another two years for the book to be published. Its fifteen chapters portray the origins, beliefs, rituals and spells of an Italian pagan witchcraft tradition. The central figure of that religion is the goddess Aradia, who came to Earth to teach the practice of witchcraft to peasants in order for them to oppose their feudal oppressors and the Catholic Church.

Paganism Books

Book Subjects
Most talked about in Paganism Books
Whispers from the Woods: The Lore & Magic of Trees ImageWhispers from the Woods: The Lore & Magic of Trees
by Sandra Kynes
Llewellyn Publications; Published: 2006-02-08; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.99
Price in other shops: $17.95
A Year of Ritual: Sabbats & Esbats for Solitaries & Covens ImageA Year of Ritual: Sabbats & Esbats for Solitaries & Covens
by Sandra Kynes
Llewellyn Publications; Published: 2004-09-08; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.97
Price in other shops: $16.95
Sticks, Stones, Roots & Bones: Hoodoo, Mojo & Conjuring with Herbs ImageSticks, Stones, Roots & Bones: Hoodoo, Mojo & Conjuring with Herbs
by Stephanie Rose Bird
Llewellyn Publications; Published: 2004-06-08; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.92
Price in other shops: $17.95
Ostara: Customs, Spells & Rituals for the Rites of Spring (Holiday Series) ImageOstara: Customs, Spells & Rituals for the Rites of Spring (Holiday Series)
by Edain McCoy
Llewellyn Publications; Published: 2002-02-08; Paperback; Book
Best price: $32.99
Principles of Wicca (Thorsons Principles Series) ImagePrinciples of Wicca (Thorsons Principles Series)
by Vivianne Crowley
Thorsons; Published: 1998-02-25; Paperback; Book
Best price: $12.03
Pagan Resurrection: A Force for Evil or the Future of Western Spirituality? ImagePagan Resurrection: A Force for Evil or the Future of Western Spirituality?
by Richard Rudgley
Random House UK; Published: 2006-09-07; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $19.49
Price in other shops: $38.95
Pagan and Christian Creeds ImagePagan and Christian Creeds
by Edward Carpenter
BiblioLife; Published: 2008-08-18; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $30.96
Price in other shops: $30.99
Hellenism in Late Antiquity (Thomas Spencer Jerome Lectures) ImageHellenism in Late Antiquity (Thomas Spencer Jerome Lectures)
by Glen W. Bowersock
University of Michigan Press; Published: 1990-07-15; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $14.01
Price in other shops: $34.50
Goddess Worship, Witchcraft and Neo-Paganism ImageGoddess Worship, Witchcraft and Neo-Paganism
by Craig Hawkins
Zondervan; Published: 1998-03-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.54
Price in other shops: $7.99
Druid Priestess, New Edition ImageDruid Priestess, New Edition
by Emma Restall Orr
Thorsons; Published: 2001-05-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $431.32
Similar Books and other products
Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner ImageWicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner
by Scott Cunningham
Llewellyn Publications; Published: 1989; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.44
Price in other shops: $14.95
Old World Witchcraft: Ancient Ways for Modern Days ImageOld World Witchcraft: Ancient Ways for Modern Days
by Raven Grimassi
Weiser Books; Published: 2011-10-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $11.75
Price in other shops: $19.95
Cunningham's Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs (Cunningham's Encyclopedia Series) ImageCunningham's Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs (Cunningham's Encyclopedia Series)
by Scott Cunningham
New Age; Llewellyn Publications; Published: 1985-10; Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.49
Price in other shops: $16.95
The Witches' Goddess: The Feminine Principle of Divinity ImageThe Witches' Goddess: The Feminine Principle of Divinity
by Stewart Farrar, Janet Farrar
Phoenix Publishing (WA); Published: 1987-08-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $14.99
Price in other shops: $26.95
The Witches' God: Lord of the Dance ImageThe Witches' God: Lord of the Dance
by Stewart Farrar, Janet Farrar
Phoenix Publishing (WA); Published: 1989-04-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $15.09
Price in other shops: $22.95
A Witches' Bible: The Complete Witches' Handbook ImageA Witches' Bible: The Complete Witches' Handbook
by Stewart Farrar, Janet Farrar
Phoenix Publishing; Published: 1996-07-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $18.72
Price in other shops: $28.95
Italian Witchcraft: The Old Religion of Southern Europe ImageItalian Witchcraft: The Old Religion of Southern Europe
by Raven Grimassi
Llewellyn Publications; Published: 2000-02-08; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.87
Price in other shops: $17.95
Hereditary Witchcraft: Secrets of the Old Religion ImageHereditary Witchcraft: Secrets of the Old Religion
by Raven Grimassi
Llewellyn Publications; Published: 1999-09-08; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.50
Price in other shops: $17.95
An ABC of Witchcraft Past and Present ImageAn ABC of Witchcraft Past and Present
by Doreen Valiente
Phoenix Publishing (WA); Published: 1988-07-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $21.00
Price in other shops: $21.95
The White Goddess: A Historical Grammar of Poetic Myth, Amended and Enlarged Edition ImageThe White Goddess: A Historical Grammar of Poetic Myth, Amended and Enlarged Edition
by Robert Graves
Farrar, Straus and Giroux; Published: 1966-01-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.85
Price in other shops: $18.00