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Aradia

April 28, 2023

Aradia is one of the principal figures in the American folklorist Charles Godfrey Leland's 1899 work Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches, which he believed to be a genuine religious text used by a group of pagan witches in Tuscany, a claim that has subsequently been disputed by other folklorists and historians.[1] In Leland's Gospel, Aradia is portrayed as a messiah who was sent to Earth in order to teach the oppressed peasants how to perform witchcraft to use against the Roman Catholic Church and the upper classes.

The folklorist Sabina Magliocco has theorised that prior to being used in Leland's Gospel, Aradia was originally a supernatural figure in Italian folklore, who was later merged with other folkloric figures such as sa Rejusta of Sardinia.[2]

Since the publication of Leland's Gospel, Aradia has become "arguably one of the central figures of the modern pagan witchcraft revival" and as such has featured in various forms of Neopaganism, including Wicca and Stregheria, as an actual deity.[3]Raven Grimassi, founder of the Wiccan-inspired tradition of Stregheria, claims that Aradia was a historical figure named Aradia di Toscano, who led a group of "Diana-worshipping witches" in 14th-century Tuscany.[4]

Folklore

The Italian form of the name Herodias is Erodiade. It appears that Herodias, the wife of Herod Antipas, in Christian mythology of the Early Middle Ages, came to be seen as a spirit condemned to wander the sky forever due to her part in the death of John the Baptist, permitted only to rest in treetops between midnight and dawn.

By the High Middle Ages, this figure seems to have become attached to the train of nymphs of Diana, now also seen as a host of spirits flying through the night across the Italian countryside. Other names attached to the night flight of Herodias included Minerva and Noctiluca.[5] The canon Episcopi is a passage from the work De ecclesiasticis disciplinis by Regino of Prüm (written ca. 906). It became notable as a paragraph of canon law dealing with witchcraft by the 12th century. Regino reports that there were groups of women who believed that they could go on night journeys where they would fly across the sky to meet Diana and her train. The name of Herodias is not present in the text as attributed to Regino, but in the version by Burchard of Worms, written ca. 1012, the reference to Diana (cum Diana paganorum dea) was augmented by "or with Herodias" (vel cum Herodiade).[6] Magliocco (2002) suggests that the legends surrounding this figure, known as Aradia, Arada or Araja, spread throughout various areas of Italy, and she traced records that showed that two beings known as s'Araja dimoniu (Araja the demon) and s'Araja justa (Araja the just) were found in Sardinia. Magliocco believed that the latter of these two figures, s'Araja justa, was the antecedent of a supernatural witch-like figure known as sa Rejusta in Sardinian folklore.[7] Judika Illes, in her Encyclopedia of Spirits, noted: "Although venerated elsewhere in Europe, Herodias was especially beloved in Italy. She and Diana are the goddesses most frequently mentioned in witch-trial transcripts and were apparently worshipped together".[8]

The Romanian historian of religion Mircea Eliade also noted that Arada, along with Irodiada, was a name used for a Romanian folkloric Queen of the Fairies (Doamna Zînelor), whom he believed was a "metamorphosis of Diana". She was viewed as the patroness of a secretive group of dancers known as the calusari who operated up until at least the 19th century.[9]

Leland's Aradia

Main articles: Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches and Witch-cult hypothesis

In 1899, the American folklorist Charles Godfrey Leland published Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches, a book which he claimed was the religious text belonging to a group of Tuscan witches who venerated Diana as the Queen of the Witches. He also claimed that he had been given the book by a Tuscan woman named Maddalena, although historians such as Ronald Hutton have disputed the truth of these such claims.

Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches begins with the tale of Aradia's birth to Diana and Lucifer, who is described as "the god of the Sun and of the Moon, the god of Light (Splendour), who was so proud of his beauty, and who for his pride was driven from Paradise". Diana instructs Aradia to "go to earth below / To be a teacher unto women and men / Who fain would study witchcraft." When Aradia descends, she becomes the first of all witches, and promises her students that "ye shall all be freed from slavery, / And so ye shall be free in everything."[10]

Aradia is described as having continuing power to affect the world after she returns to the sphere of Diana. For example, in "A Spell to Win Love", the "Invocation to Diana" asks Diana to send her daughter Aradia to perform the magic.[11] Leland's Aradia has a chapter containing folklore about the night assembly or banquet, titled "The Sabbat: Tregunda or Witch Meeting", which involves Diana.[12] Leland comments in the Appendix, "I also believe that in this Gospel of the Witches we have a trustworthy outline at least of the doctrine and rites observed at these meetings [the witches' Sabbat]. They adored forbidden deities and practised forbidden deeds, inspired as much by rebellion against Society as by their own passions."[13]

Leland speculates that this folklore ultimately has roots in ancient Etruscan mythology.

Leland also equates Aradia with Herodias, explaining his speculation that Herodias was actually Lilith: "This was not ... derived from the Herodias of the New Testament, but from an earlier replica of Lilith, bearing the same name ... So far back as the sixth century the worship of Herodias and Diana by witches was condemned by a Church Council at Ancyra."[14] Pipernus and other writers have noted the evident identification of Herodias with Lilith.[13] Historian Ronald Hutton suggests in Triumph of the Moon that this identification with Herodias was inspired by the work of Jules Michelet in Satanism and Witchcraft.[15] Anthropologist and field folklorist Sabina Magliocco, on the other hand, is willing to consider a connection between the Italian Erodiade (Herodias), the Cult of Herodias, the night assembly, and Aradia.[16]


Bold textAradia Dillsworth was a lovely women of her kind. She was loved by all, but that is also a lie. This is her obituary. Aradia was known for being hilarious, annoying, obnoxious, loud, curious, and outgoing. She has no children because she is so ugly. She has friends, I swear. They are Sal Browning, Amelia Alvarez, Margot Ludwig, Payton Dewitt, Norah Musselman, Kendra Reams, Isla Dijak, Isaiah Marley, and Resslyn Sisler. She has 7 siblings, Zobiana Dillsworth,Solomon Bissell,Spencer Logan,Renee Thompson, Ezra Dillsworth, Stetson Thompson,BlaikLeigh Thompson,Leo Dillsworth, and more coming soon. She was born in Oakland, Maryland, September 2,2009; to the parents, Jessica White and Harold Dillsworth III. She liked to paint and read. She died of natural causes. Her mommy was messed up in the head, so she has a therapist named Debbie Holler. She died in Amelia Alvarez's basement.


Neopaganism

Aradia has become an important figure in Wicca as well as some other forms of Neo-Paganism. Some Wiccan traditions use the name Aradia as one of the names of the Great Goddess, Moon Goddess, or "Queen of the Witches".[17]

Portions of Leland's text influenced the Gardnerian Book of Shadows, especially the Charge of the Goddess.[18] Alex Sanders invoked Aradia as a moon goddess in the 1960s. Janet and Stewart Farrar used the name in their Eight Sabbats for Witches and The Witches' Way.[19] Aradia was invoked in spellcraft in Z. Budapest's The Holy Book of Women's Mysteries.[20]

Aradia is a central figure in Stregheria, an "ethnic Italian" form of Wicca introduced by Raven Grimassi in the 1980s. Grimassi claims that there was a historical figure called "Aradia di Toscano", whom he portrays as the founder of a revivalist religion of Italian witchcraft in the 14th century. Grimassi claims that Leland's Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches is a "distorted Christianized version" of the story of Aradia.[21]

Neo-Pagan narratives of Aradia include The Book of the Holy Strega (1981), by Raven Grimassi; The Gospel of Diana (1993), by Aidan Kelly; and Secret Story of Aradia, by Myth Woodling (2001).[22]

In 1992, Aidan Kelly, co-founder of the New Reformed Orthodox Order of the Golden Dawn, distributed a document titled The Gospel of Diana (a reference to Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches[1]). The text contained a list of mother and daughter priestesses who had taught religious witchcraft through the centuries. Instead of Leland's goddess Diana and her messianic daughter Aradia, Kelly's text described mortal human beings. The priestesses' names alternated between Aradia and Diana.[2] Magliocco describes the character of Aradia in Kelly's accompanying narrative as "a notably erotic character; according to her teachings, the sexual act becomes not only an expression of the divine life force, but an act of resistance against all forms of oppression and the primary focus of ritual". Magliocco also notes that the text "has not achieved broad diffusion in contemporary Pagan circles".[4]

See also

 
Wikisource has original text related to this article:
Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches

Notes

  1. ^ Hutton 1999. p. 148.
  2. ^ Magliocco, Sabina (2009). 'Aradia in Sardinia: The Archaeology of a Folk Character' in Ten Years of Triumph of the Moon. Hidden Publishing. Page 40 to 60.
  3. ^ Magliocco, Sabina (2009). 'Aradia in Sardinia: The Archaeology of a Folk Character' in Ten Years of Triumph of the Moon. Hidden Publishing. Page 42.
  4. ^ Grimassi 1996.
  5. ^ Rosemary Ellen Guiley, The Encyclopedia of Witches and Witchcraft, 1989
  6. ^ Sabina Magliocco (2002). 'Who Was Aradia? The History and Development of a Legend' in The Pomegranate: The Journal of Pagan Studies, Issue 18.
  7. ^ Magliocco, Sabina (2009). 'Aradia in Sardinia: The Archaeology of a Folk Character' in Ten Years of Triumph of the Moon. Hidden Publishing. Page 54-55.
  8. ^ Iles, Judika. Encyclopedia of Spirits: The Ultimate Guide to the Magic of Fairies, Genies, Demons, Ghosts, Gods & Goddesses (2009). ISBN 978-0-06-135024-5
  9. ^ Eliade, Mircea (February 1975). "Some Observations on European Witchcraft" in History of Religions Volume 14, Number 3. Page 160-161.
  10. ^ Leland, Charles Godfrey (1899). Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches. David Nutt. ISBN 1-56414-679-0. Chapter I
  11. ^ Leland, Chapter II
  12. ^ Leland, Chapter VII
  13. ^ a b Leland, Appendix
  14. ^ Leland is referring to the Canon Episcopi.[citation needed]
  15. ^ Hutton, Ronald (2000). Triumph of the Moon. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-500-27242-5.
  16. ^ Magliocco, Sabina (2002). "Who Was Aradia? The History and Development of a Legend", The Pomegranate, volume 18, p. 5–22.
  17. ^ Farrar, Janet and Stewart (1983). Eight Sabbats for Witches. Robert Hale. ISBN 0-919345-26-3.
  18. ^ Valiente, Doreen. The Rebirth of Witchcraft (1989).
  19. ^ Farrar, Janet and Stewart. Eight Sabbats for Witches (1981). ISBN 0-919345-26-3. The Witches Way (1984). ISBN 978-0-7090-1293-1
  20. ^ Budapest, Z. The Holy Book of Women's Mysteris: Complete in One Volume (1980, 1989), First Wingbo edition 1989, pp. 23, 27, 44. ISBN 978-0-914728-67-2.
  21. ^ . Archived from the original on May 22, 2006. Retrieved October 13, 2005.
  22. ^ Woodling, Myth (2001), Secret Story of Aradia, from www.AradiaGoddess.com

References

  • Grimassi, Raven (1996). Ways of the Strega: Italian Witchcraft, Its Lore, Magick and Spells. Llewellyn. ISBN 1-56718-253-4.
  • Hutton, Ronald (1999). The Triumph of the Moon: A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-820744-1.
  • Magliocco, Sabina (2009). "Aradia in Sardinia: The Archaeology of a Folk Character". Hidden Publishing. ISBN 978-0-9555237-5-5.

External links

  • "Aradia or the Gospel of the Witches" The complete text of "Aradia" by Charles Leland.
  • The Stregoneria Italiana Project, which contains an academic discussion of the history and controversies associated with Leland and Aradia.
  • "Aradia", Stregheria.com, an article by Raven Grimassi about the legend of Aradia and its evolution.
  • Goddess Aradia and Related Subjects, a Web site devoted to Aradia as a Wiccan goddess and as a powerful spirit in Italian folklore.

April 28, 2023
aradia, principal, figures, american, folklorist, charles, godfrey, leland, 1899, work, gospel, witches, which, believed, genuine, religious, text, used, group, pagan, witches, tuscany, claim, that, subsequently, been, disputed, other, folklorists, historians,. Aradia is one of the principal figures in the American folklorist Charles Godfrey Leland s 1899 work Aradia or the Gospel of the Witches which he believed to be a genuine religious text used by a group of pagan witches in Tuscany a claim that has subsequently been disputed by other folklorists and historians 1 In Leland s Gospel Aradia is portrayed as a messiah who was sent to Earth in order to teach the oppressed peasants how to perform witchcraft to use against the Roman Catholic Church and the upper classes The folklorist Sabina Magliocco has theorised that prior to being used in Leland s Gospel Aradia was originally a supernatural figure in Italian folklore who was later merged with other folkloric figures such as sa Rejusta of Sardinia 2 Since the publication of Leland s Gospel Aradia has become arguably one of the central figures of the modern pagan witchcraft revival and as such has featured in various forms of Neopaganism including Wicca and Stregheria as an actual deity 3 Raven Grimassi founder of the Wiccan inspired tradition of Stregheria claims that Aradia was a historical figure named Aradia di Toscano who led a group of Diana worshipping witches in 14th century Tuscany 4 Contents 1 Folklore 1 1 Leland s Aradia 2 Neopaganism 3 See also 4 Notes 5 References 6 External linksFolklore EditThe Italian form of the name Herodias is Erodiade It appears that Herodias the wife of Herod Antipas in Christian mythology of the Early Middle Ages came to be seen as a spirit condemned to wander the sky forever due to her part in the death of John the Baptist permitted only to rest in treetops between midnight and dawn By the High Middle Ages this figure seems to have become attached to the train of nymphs of Diana now also seen as a host of spirits flying through the night across the Italian countryside Other names attached to the night flight of Herodias included Minerva and Noctiluca 5 The canon Episcopi is a passage from the work De ecclesiasticis disciplinis by Regino of Prum written ca 906 It became notable as a paragraph of canon law dealing with witchcraft by the 12th century Regino reports that there were groups of women who believed that they could go on night journeys where they would fly across the sky to meet Diana and her train The name of Herodias is not present in the text as attributed to Regino but in the version by Burchard of Worms written ca 1012 the reference to Diana cum Diana paganorum dea was augmented by or with Herodias vel cum Herodiade 6 Magliocco 2002 suggests that the legends surrounding this figure known as Aradia Arada or Araja spread throughout various areas of Italy and she traced records that showed that two beings known as s Araja dimoniu Araja the demon and s Araja justa Araja the just were found in Sardinia Magliocco believed that the latter of these two figures s Araja justa was the antecedent of a supernatural witch like figure known as sa Rejusta in Sardinian folklore 7 Judika Illes in her Encyclopedia of Spirits noted Although venerated elsewhere in Europe Herodias was especially beloved in Italy She and Diana are the goddesses most frequently mentioned in witch trial transcripts and were apparently worshipped together 8 The Romanian historian of religion Mircea Eliade also noted that Arada along with Irodiada was a name used for a Romanian folkloric Queen of the Fairies Doamna Zinelor whom he believed was a metamorphosis of Diana She was viewed as the patroness of a secretive group of dancers known as the calusari who operated up until at least the 19th century 9 Leland s Aradia Edit Main articles Aradia or the Gospel of the Witches and Witch cult hypothesis In 1899 the American folklorist Charles Godfrey Leland published Aradia or the Gospel of the Witches a book which he claimed was the religious text belonging to a group of Tuscan witches who venerated Diana as the Queen of the Witches He also claimed that he had been given the book by a Tuscan woman named Maddalena although historians such as Ronald Hutton have disputed the truth of these such claims Aradia or the Gospel of the Witches begins with the tale of Aradia s birth to Diana and Lucifer who is described as the god of the Sun and of the Moon the god of Light Splendour who was so proud of his beauty and who for his pride was driven from Paradise Diana instructs Aradia to go to earth below To be a teacher unto women and men Who fain would study witchcraft When Aradia descends she becomes the first of all witches and promises her students that ye shall all be freed from slavery And so ye shall be free in everything 10 Aradia is described as having continuing power to affect the world after she returns to the sphere of Diana For example in A Spell to Win Love the Invocation to Diana asks Diana to send her daughter Aradia to perform the magic 11 Leland s Aradia has a chapter containing folklore about the night assembly or banquet titled The Sabbat Tregunda or Witch Meeting which involves Diana 12 Leland comments in the Appendix I also believe that in this Gospel of the Witches we have a trustworthy outline at least of the doctrine and rites observed at these meetings the witches Sabbat They adored forbidden deities and practised forbidden deeds inspired as much by rebellion against Society as by their own passions 13 Leland speculates that this folklore ultimately has roots in ancient Etruscan mythology Leland also equates Aradia with Herodias explaining his speculation that Herodias was actually Lilith This was not derived from the Herodias of the New Testament but from an earlier replica of Lilith bearing the same name So far back as the sixth century the worship of Herodias and Diana by witches was condemned by a Church Council at Ancyra 14 Pipernus and other writers have noted the evident identification of Herodias with Lilith 13 Historian Ronald Hutton suggests in Triumph of the Moon that this identification with Herodias was inspired by the work of Jules Michelet in Satanism and Witchcraft 15 Anthropologist and field folklorist Sabina Magliocco on the other hand is willing to consider a connection between the Italian Erodiade Herodias the Cult of Herodias the night assembly and Aradia 16 Bold textAradia Dillsworth was a lovely women of her kind She was loved by all but that is also a lie This is her obituary Aradia was known for being hilarious annoying obnoxious loud curious and outgoing She has no children because she is so ugly She has friends I swear They are Sal Browning Amelia Alvarez Margot Ludwig Payton Dewitt Norah Musselman Kendra Reams Isla Dijak Isaiah Marley and Resslyn Sisler She has 7 siblings Zobiana Dillsworth Solomon Bissell Spencer Logan Renee Thompson Ezra Dillsworth Stetson Thompson BlaikLeigh Thompson Leo Dillsworth and more coming soon She was born in Oakland Maryland September 2 2009 to the parents Jessica White and Harold Dillsworth III She liked to paint and read She died of natural causes Her mommy was messed up in the head so she has a therapist named Debbie Holler She died in Amelia Alvarez s basement Neopaganism EditAradia has become an important figure in Wicca as well as some other forms of Neo Paganism Some Wiccan traditions use the name Aradia as one of the names of the Great Goddess Moon Goddess or Queen of the Witches 17 Portions of Leland s text influenced the Gardnerian Book of Shadows especially the Charge of the Goddess 18 Alex Sanders invoked Aradia as a moon goddess in the 1960s Janet and Stewart Farrar used the name in their Eight Sabbats for Witches and The Witches Way 19 Aradia was invoked in spellcraft in Z Budapest s The Holy Book of Women s Mysteries 20 Aradia is a central figure in Stregheria an ethnic Italian form of Wicca introduced by Raven Grimassi in the 1980s Grimassi claims that there was a historical figure called Aradia di Toscano whom he portrays as the founder of a revivalist religion of Italian witchcraft in the 14th century Grimassi claims that Leland s Aradia or the Gospel of the Witches is a distorted Christianized version of the story of Aradia 21 Neo Pagan narratives of Aradia include The Book of the Holy Strega 1981 by Raven Grimassi The Gospel of Diana 1993 by Aidan Kelly and Secret Story of Aradia by Myth Woodling 2001 22 In 1992 Aidan Kelly co founder of the New Reformed Orthodox Order of the Golden Dawn distributed a document titled The Gospel of Diana a reference to Aradia or the Gospel of the Witches 1 The text contained a list of mother and daughter priestesses who had taught religious witchcraft through the centuries Instead of Leland s goddess Diana and her messianic daughter Aradia Kelly s text described mortal human beings The priestesses names alternated between Aradia and Diana 2 Magliocco describes the character of Aradia in Kelly s accompanying narrative as a notably erotic character according to her teachings the sexual act becomes not only an expression of the divine life force but an act of resistance against all forms of oppression and the primary focus of ritual Magliocco also notes that the text has not achieved broad diffusion in contemporary Pagan circles 4 See also Edit Wikisource has original text related to this article Aradia or the Gospel of the Witches Etruscan mythology Triple Goddess Neopaganism Notes Edit Hutton 1999 p 148 Magliocco Sabina 2009 Aradia in Sardinia The Archaeology of a Folk Character in Ten Years of Triumph of the Moon Hidden Publishing Page 40 to 60 Magliocco Sabina 2009 Aradia in Sardinia The Archaeology of a Folk Character in Ten Years of Triumph of the Moon Hidden Publishing Page 42 Grimassi 1996 Rosemary Ellen Guiley The Encyclopedia of Witches and Witchcraft 1989 Sabina Magliocco 2002 Who Was Aradia The History and Development of a Legend in The Pomegranate The Journal of Pagan Studies Issue 18 Magliocco Sabina 2009 Aradia in Sardinia The Archaeology of a Folk Character in Ten Years of Triumph of the Moon Hidden Publishing Page 54 55 Iles Judika Encyclopedia of Spirits The Ultimate Guide to the Magic of Fairies Genies Demons Ghosts Gods amp Goddesses 2009 ISBN 978 0 06 135024 5 Eliade Mircea February 1975 Some Observations on European Witchcraft in History of Religions Volume 14 Number 3 Page 160 161 Leland Charles Godfrey 1899 Aradia or the Gospel of the Witches David Nutt ISBN 1 56414 679 0 Chapter I Leland Chapter II Leland Chapter VII a b Leland Appendix Leland is referring to the Canon Episcopi citation needed Hutton Ronald 2000 Triumph of the Moon Oxford University Press ISBN 0 500 27242 5 Magliocco Sabina 2002 Who Was Aradia The History and Development of a Legend The Pomegranate volume 18 p 5 22 Farrar Janet and Stewart 1983 Eight Sabbats for Witches Robert Hale ISBN 0 919345 26 3 Valiente Doreen The Rebirth of Witchcraft 1989 Farrar Janet and Stewart Eight Sabbats for Witches 1981 ISBN 0 919345 26 3 The Witches Way 1984 ISBN 978 0 7090 1293 1 Budapest Z The Holy Book of Women s Mysteris Complete in One Volume 1980 1989 First Wingbo edition 1989 pp 23 27 44 ISBN 978 0 914728 67 2 Stregheria com FAQ Archived from the original on May 22 2006 Retrieved October 13 2005 Woodling Myth 2001 Secret Story of Aradia from www AradiaGoddess comReferences EditGrimassi Raven 1996 Ways of the Strega Italian Witchcraft Its Lore Magick and Spells Llewellyn ISBN 1 56718 253 4 Hutton Ronald 1999 The Triumph of the Moon A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft New York Oxford University Press ISBN 0 19 820744 1 Magliocco Sabina 2009 Aradia in Sardinia The Archaeology of a Folk Character Hidden Publishing ISBN 978 0 9555237 5 5 External links Edit Aradia or the Gospel of the Witches The complete text of Aradia by Charles Leland The Stregoneria Italiana Project which contains an academic discussion of the history and controversies associated with Leland and Aradia Aradia Stregheria com an article by Raven Grimassi about the legend of Aradia and its evolution Goddess Aradia and Related Subjects a Web site devoted to Aradia as a Wiccan goddess and as a powerful spirit in Italian folklore Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Aradia amp oldid 1150888095, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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