Glossary - exWitch Australia (formerly 'Born Again Pagan')

ARADIA

Aradia (1) GODDESS:

A Chthonic or Earth Goddess of uncertain provenance invoked by modern witches and modelled on the Greek deityPersephone. The name is of Italian origin and probably derives either from the Greek Mother Goddess, Hera, or from Herodias, the apocryphal wife of the Biblical Herod (alternatively the daughter of Diana), though it must be stated that its appearance is limited to the book of the same name by Charles Leland (see Def. 2).

The legend tells of an incestuous liaison between the Goddess Diana ('Artemis') and the god Lucifer through which Aradia was conceived and was sent to earth to perform as the first witch. The legend stimulated a cult amongsrthe Italian peasants, or 'Pagani' which was in direct conflict with the Christian establishment.

In Leland's 'Gospel' Aradia directs her followers to invoke the Goddess Diana once in the month when the moon is full and that those participating should go naked, dance, sing and partake of a sacred meal after which they are to extinguish lights and enjoy themselves in love-making. These meetings became known as Esbats, from the French Esbattre - 'to frolic'.

The Aradia text refers only to the monthly lunar meetings and omits mention of the four Great Sabbats.

(2) GOSPEL OF THE WITCHES:

Allegedly a work on witchlore, derived from a variety of sources, collected and published by Charles G Leland, the 19th-century occultist. He published the volume in 1899, claiming it to be based on an authentic medieval manuscript setting out the principles of ancient Italian witchcraft, La Vecchia Religione, a handwritten copy of which was supplied to him in 1897 by his folklore collector, Maddelena, a young woman of Italian gypsy stock, who sent it to Leland from Colle, Val d'Elsa, near Siena in Tuscany.

No original manuscript was submitted for inspection or provenancing, and it must be assumed that the exercise was probably a hoax, perpetrated either by Maddalena, or Leland, or both.

Much of the content appears suspect and poorly researched and the material obtained from Maddalena is padded out with an assortment of loosely knit stories focusing on the worship of Diana.

see also: STREGHERIA TRADITION; VECCHIA RELIGIONE.

PLEASE NOTE:
One of the major problems with 'defining' Paganism and/or its beliefs and practices is that it is an 'organic' movement, in that it is undergoing constant change and re-evaluation from within, and as such any 'one-size-fits-all' approach to understanding Paganism will be found wanting.

Due to the very 'organic' nature of Paganism, and the many differing Paths and Traditions within it, in many cases no one defintion may be universally accepted by all Pagans. Therefore, where such cases of possible conflicting and/or contradictory meanings of certain terms occur I have endevoured to give not only the generally accepted meaning, but also any major 'variations' in belief and/or practice.

Christians who believe this difference in meaning of certain key terms, beliefs and practices to be unique to Paganism need to remember that such conflicts also arise within the Body of Christ - the Church. Take for instance the differring practices amongst Christians concerning Baptism and the different attitudes towards women in the clergy.

- Jean-Luc