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Summary: Wiccan histroy for a religous education.
Review: Charles Leland was an ethnographer in the 19th century. He traveled around finding and documenting folkways of minority groups, Gypsies, for example. While on travel in Italy he met an old woman who told him tales of witchcraft and gave him some of their words. Aradia is a short little book containing translations of the words that Leland got from the old woman. It contains the oldest known version of what pagans now call "The Charge of the Goddess," although it was not called that in this book. It also advises witches to be naked in their rites, and after the feast is over to make love in the darkness. First published in 1890, Aradia is must reading for anyone who is studying pagan or Wiccan traditions. Its not the cookbook approach to magick like so many Wiccan books today. Its honest history of nineteenth century witches as told to a wandering ethnographer.
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Summary: Italy's "strege" provide early inspiration to modern Wiccans
Review: First published over 100 years ago this little book probablywould have vanished into obscurity like Leland's other works if ithadn't been one of Gerald Gardner's sources for building up his Wiccan traditions. While Leland claims to be presenting us with an authentic ancient, or at least medieval, treatise on the religion of the "strege" or Italian gypsy/witches, the text's validity is questionable. Leland claims to have obtained the manuscript from an Italian witch named Madellana who was the most recent witch in a long family line of witches. Critics have challenged the vailidity of the text & even Leland admits his manuscript is in Madellana's own handwritting. However, he attributes this to the fact that she had commited to paper what was a mostly oral tradition & not to the idea that she intentionally decieved him. Aradia contains little material that is recognizable as typical Wiccan doctrine but behind the corrupted Latin invocations & spells lie the inspiration behind "The Charge Of The Goddess". There are no mention of familar elements such as the pentagram & the word "Wicca" is never used. However, we find traces of what would become the ritual of "drawing down the moon" & the idea that meetings, or esbats, should be determined by a lunar calander & meetings were preferably held on nights of the full moon. We also encounter the requirement of ritual nudity. Besides the invocations, spells & rituals Aradia also offers a fair portion of witch mythology or witch-lore. There is the standard mother/moon goddess & father/sun god story. They differ from typcial Wiccan myth in the fact that their union produces a divine daughter instead of a divine son. This divine daughter (Aradia) is sent to Earth "to be a teacher unto women & men who fain would study witchcraft". While there are some respemblances between this "gospel" & modern Wiccan traditions in the area of ritual, they're hardly alike in intent. The main deities of Aradia are the mother goddess Diana & her husband the father god Lucifer. While Lucifer is clearly not synonymous with the biblical Lucifer it's obvious that some confusion between the two has occured. Aradia herself seem primarily to be goddesses of ill intent & protectors of genrally unsavory people. She teaches all the stock medeval maleficarum such as poisoning, blighting crops & man, determining future lovers & casting love spells. In the end Aradia is a combination of witch-lore, occultism, demonology & traces of Greek mythology & mystery religions. Such a unusual mixture of sources leads many to discredit Aradia as a fake. Leland never did produce the handwritten manuscript & even failed to produce Madellana herself as evidence. However, the mixture found in Aradia could also be the result of a long hidden & garbled oral tradition which had been corrupted over time by supersition & other religions. Either way, Aradia remains a forerunner of the Wiccan religion.
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Summary: Whoops! Which Craft?
Review: I bought this book after quickly skimming a couple of pages, and as a language buff, grabbed it for the prayers in Italian. Was I surprised to find Diana sleeping with her "brother," Lucifer (yes, the Christian lord of Hell- talk about a mixed mythology!), spells powered by threats to the divinities invoked, encouragement of curses and poisoning, among other strangeness. Now, I'm sure many Strega in Northern Italy did practice this mix of old religion and twisted Christianity, but this is neither "gospel" nor representative of modern Witches. It's like saying Native South Americans practiced Santeria as a pure derivation from their ancient religions. This has a lot of interesting historical implications about the mutations of myth, and is great as a comparison to Strega and Wicca, but should be read with a critical eye. This is a compilation of Northern Italian folk tales, charms, and invocations. The tradition is maybe best described as Italian Voodou- a mix of ancient religions and Christianity, but so different from either as to be something entirely unique. An excellent read for the advanced practitioner, but probably confusing for the novice, and potentially misleading for the non-witch. Also, this may be one of the sources the fundamentalists use to "prove" that Witchcraft is satanic in nature, because of the title. Sigh. Overall: myth/historically fascinating, but confusing and potentially troublesome.
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Summary: Why do witches give this praise?
Review: I have been a witch over 13 years and I am a big fan of Charles Leland. This book I am not. It has very little truth to it. Mr. Leland got the text from someone who wanted to abuse the craft with lies. This is a Christian book. That is put in a way to please the church. Witches do not belive in satan, though to this book. The horned god is satan himself. Aradia is said to make comments that would have gotten her killed on the spot. I NEVER threaten the goddess. Again we have many areas saying we do this. There is not enough room to go through it all. You can get free copies from websites all over if you must read it. If you do think about what it is saying and you can easy see it for what it is. A preverted vesion of what should of been sacred.
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Summary: a wonderful example of pre wiccan witchcraft
Review: i recomend this to all who are wondering what was witchcraft before wicca like. well heres one answer
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Summary: This Is What I Cut My Teeth On
Review: I've always said I was Witch first, Wiccan second and Pagan last. This book is the root for so much of Gardner's stuff it shouldn't be ignored. Granted, you'll not find me petitioning the Gods and not giving them peace until they answer, but it WAS interesting, and Leland, if he didn't actually KNOW this woman, had an incredible imagination. I find some of the practices in the book have more in common with say Santeria than Witchcraft...although Strega does come to mind. Still, there's no concrete outline that can be found in any modern practice of Witchcraft that really correlates to this volume. Interesting enough to have on the shelf for reference from time to time. Has the Charge of the Goddess in it, in a slightly different form.
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Summary: a wild spirit
Review: OK, since I've gotten several "not helpful" votes, I'm retooling my review. I like _Aradia_ for the mood it puts me in when I read it; it has a very wild and anarchic feel, and I find that it boosts my self-esteem. One of the major ideas contained in _Aradia_ is that money is not the only kind of power, that our power comes from ourselves and the Gods, if we dare to grasp it. I also like _Aradia_ for its weird spells. Yes, there are some cursing spells here, which I wouldn't recommdn using except in dire circumstances, but that's my own opinion. There are also spells for gaining beauty, comminucating with a lover through dreams, and (something most Pagans can appreciate) finding cheap used books. There is also an absolutely beautiful invocation to Diana the moon goddess. Many of the spells and incantations are embedded in folk tales; some are moving, others are just plain entertaining. This book is also historically interesting; it's where Doreen Valiente got many of her ideas when she was writing the early Wiccan liturgy. Highly recommended.
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Summary: Interesting
Review: The Gospel of witches is something to truly read. However, its complex understandings and its lack of the image of Aradia failed through out the book. Eventhough, there were the rituals that were very interesting, because, you can see how the Charge of the Goddess was formed..that was really interesting to see. Anyhow, this book was very good, please remember that the book does drag and has more "ritual sense" than what the book was suppose to do...to tell you what Aradia was.
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Summary: A must-read
Review: This book by the noted scholar Charles G. Leland sheds light on the ancient and much misunderstood religion of southern Europe. With the help of a strega, an Italian witch, Leland collected and compiled stories which he would form into te Witches Gospel. Used by many witches, both practitioners of the old religion and of more modern nature based faiths, this text is a must read for anyone interested in the origins of witchcraft in today's world.
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Summary: This Just Says It All
Review: This book, written in the late 1800's, is the answer to those in the Craft who believe all modern witchcraft stems from Gerald Gardener. It is clear from this book that although Doreen Valiente is credited with the Charge of the Goddess and other staples of modern witchcraft, these credos had their origins in Strega, and Strega is witchcraft that has fragments that have survived from Etruscan times. Strega survived the Inquisition. (See "Night Battles.") True, modern witchcraft has a strong connection to Gardener, Valiente, Crowley, Fortune and the Golden Dawn, which has its roots in Masonic practices. Gardnerian witchcraft is a hybrid religious practice, and even Gerald Gardener never made any claims to the contrary. The newer version, edited by an Itallian folklorist, claims that the original Italian-English translation misinterprets some idioms and that may be true. In order to keep the meter and rhyme of the verse, some poetic license had to have been taken, and in looking at the Italian, I think that this is probable. I have not yet read the newer version, but look forward to doing so for the editorial comments. This book is a must for any British traditionalist.
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