Aradia (goddess)

Aradia is a figure of Italian folklore whose name first appeared in print in Charles Godfrey Leland's "Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches" in 1899. According to Leland's "Aradia", Aradia is the messianic daughter of the goddess Diana who came to Earth to teach witchcraft to her oppressed worshippers.

The name Aradia quite likely is derived from the Italian form of "Herodias," which is written, "Herodiade" or "Erodiade" [Woodling, Myth. "Understanding Leland's Aradia" (2007). [http://www.Aradiagoddess.com/Leland.html] ] .

According to Rosemary Ellen Guiley, the biblical Herodias in medieval Christian folklore was a condemned spirit like the Wandering Jew. Herodias was condemned to wander the sky until the end of time. [Guiley, Rosemary Ellen. "The Encyclopedia of Witches and Witchcraft" (1989). ISBN 0-8160-3849-X.] In the 9th century, Abbot Regino made a reference to the "Canon Episcopi" about the false beliefs of women who profess they follow “Diana the pagan goddess or Herodias.” Sabina Magliocco wrote: “Three centuries later, Ugo de San Vittore, a 12th century Italian abbot, refers to women who believe they go out at night riding on the backs of animals with ‘Erodiade,’ with whom he conflates with Diana and Minerva.” [Magliocco, Sabina. "Who was Aradia? The History and Development of a Legend" (2002) "Pomegranate: The Journal of Pagan Studies 18-".]

In Italian folklore, Erodiade or Herodiade was believed to fly through the air with or without a train of attendant spirits and women. Erodiade was only one of many night-flying spirits in the Middle Ages. The recorded names of night-flying spirits in Europe included Diana, Bensozia, Dame Habonde, Noctiluca, Hodla-Percha, [Pikering, David. "Casell's Dictionary of Witchcraft" (1990, 1998, 2002). ISBN 0-304-36562-9.] Saitia, Holde, Bercha, Minerva, Herodiana, Irodeasa, and Domina Abunda. [Magliocco, Sabina. "Who was Aradia? The History and Development of a Legend" (2002) "Pomegranate: The Journal of Pagan Studies 18-".]

Aradia in Leland

Leland claimed that the majority of the text of "Aradia" was based upon a manuscript given to him detailing the beliefs of an undiscovered religious witchcraft tradition in Tuscany and represented unique Italian folklore.

"Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches" began 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 instructed Aradia to "go to earth below / To be a teacher unto women and men / Who fain would study witchcraft". When Aradia descended, she became the first of all witches, and promised her students that "ye shall all be freed from slavery, / And so ye shall be free in everything" [cite book | author=Leland, Charles Godfrey | title=Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches | publisher =David Nutt | year=1899 | id= ] .

Aradia was 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" asked Diana to send her daughter Aradia to perform the magic. ["ibid" .]

Leland equated Aradia with Herodias, writing "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". [Leland is referring to the Canon Episcopi.] Pipernus and other writers have noted the evident identification of Herodias with Lilith. ["Aradia", .] 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" [cite book | first=Ronald | last=Hutton | authorlink=Ronald Hutton | title=Triumph of the Moon | publisher =Oxford University Press | year=2000 | id=ISBN 0-500-27242-5] . Sabina Magliocco, on the other hand, is willing to consider a connection between the Italian "Erodiade" (Herodias), the Cult of Herodias and Aradia. [cite journal | author=Magliocco, Sabina | title=Who Was Aradia? The History and Development of a Legend | journal=Pomegranate: The Journal of Pagan Studies, | year=2002 | volume=18 | pages= – | url=http://chass.colostate-pueblo.edu/natrel/pom/pom18/aradia.html | format=dead link|date=June 2008 – ^{[http://scholar.google.co.uk/scholar?hl=en&lr=&q=intitle%3AWho+Was+Aradia%3F+The+History+and+Development+of+a+Legend&as_publication=Pomegranate%3A+The+Journal+of+Pagan+Studies%2C&as_ylo=2002&as_yhi=2002&btnG=Search Scholar search]} ]

Sabina Magliocco has also discovered a female figure in Sardinian folklore, Araja, who is another female leader of the night assembly. It is possible that the Sardinian Araja became the Italian Aradia. [Woodling, Myth. "Understanding Leland's Aradia" (2007). [http://www.Aradiagoddess.com/Leland.html] ]

Aradia in Neo-Paganism

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" [cite book | author=Farrar, Janet and Stewart | title=Eight Sabbats for Witches | publisher =Robert Hale | year=1983 | id=ISBN 0-919345-26-3] . Portions of Leland's text influenced the Gardnerian Book of Shadows, especially the Charge of the Goddess. [Valiente, Doreen. "The Rebirth of Witchcraft" (1989).] Alex Sanders invoked Aradia as a Moon Goddess in the 1960's. Janet and Stewart Farrar used the name in their "Eight Sabbats for Witches" and "The Witches Way" [Farrar, Janet and Stewart. "Eight Sabbats for Witches" (1981). ISBN 978091345263. "The Witches Way" (1984). ISBN 9780709012931.] Aradia was invoked in spellcraft in Z. Budapest's "The Holy Book of Women's Mysteries" [Budapest, Z. "The Holy Book of Women's Mysteris: Complete in One Volume" (1980, 1989), First Wingbo edition 1989, pp. 23, 27, 44. ISBN 9780914728672. ] An entire website, the "Goddess Aradia and Related Subjects" [www.Aradiagoddess.com] , is devoted to Aradia as a Wiccan goddess and a powerful spirit in Italian folklore.

Aradia In 21st Century Stregheria

Aradia is a very important figure in Stregheria (some adherents of which prefer not to be categorized as "Neo-Pagan") as practiced in the USA. Raven Grimassi, who has written a number of books on Stregheria, describes Aradia as being both the name of an ancient goddess, and being "the name taken" by Aradia di Toscano, whom he portrays as the founder of a revivalist religion of Italian witchcraft in the fourteenth century. Grimassi claims that Leland's "Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches" is a "distorted Christianized version" of the story of Aradia [cite web | title=Stregheria.com FAQ | url=http://stregheria.com/FAQ.html | accessmonthday=October 13 | accessyear=2005 ] .

Narratives of Aradia

Aside from Leland's "Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches", there have been at least three different written narratives of the life of Aradia printed: Raven Grimassi, "The Book of the Holy Strega" (1981); Aidan Kelly, "The Gospel of Diana" (1993); Myth Woodling, "Secret Story of Aradia", 2001 [Woodling, Myth, "Secret Story of Aradia" from www.AradiaGoddess.com]

Notes and references

External links

* [http://stregheria.com/ Stregheria.com] , which contains an article on the legend of Aradia and its evolution.
* [http://stregoneriaitaliana.com The Stregoneria Italiana Project] , which contains an academic discussion of the history and controversies associated with Leland and Aradia.