Stregheria
430320
226182854
2008-07-17T05:36:37Z
201.74.0.137
/* External links */
[[Image:Ways of the Strega book cover.jpg|thumb|''Ways of the Strega'' published in 1994, described [[Raven Grimassi]]'s view of Stregheria and popularized Italian-based witchcraft. Cover shown is from the 2000 edition.]]
'''Stregheria''' is an archaic [[Italian language|Italian]] word meaning "[[witchcraft]]",<ref name="ndil">''Nuovo Dizionario Italiano-Latino'', the Società Editrice Dante Alighieri (1959)</ref> that has been revived, principally by [[Raven Grimassi]], to refer to an [[Italy|Italian]]-based tradition of witchcraft. It is sometimes called ''La Vecchia Religione'' (the Old Religion). The word for 'witchcraft' in modern Italian is ''stregoneria''.
Italian witchcraft was a focus of the work of folklorist [[Charles Godfrey Leland|Charles G. Leland]] who interviewed people in old Italy claiming to be witches (as evidenced in his books ''Etruscan Roman Remains'', and especially ''[[Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches|Aradia: Gospel of the Witches]]''). Stregheria practitioners hold ''Aradia'' and the work of other historians as a work of interest, but many question the validity of the work. Unlike most other witchcraft traditions, with the exception of [[Gardnerian Wicca]], Stregheria has received attention from the [[academia|academic]] community.
Stregheria has both similarities and differences with [[Wicca]], and in some ways resembles other culturally-based [[Neopaganism|Neopagan]] religions. Practices include the celebration of seasonal [[holidays]], [[ritual magic]], and reverence for Gods, ancestors and tradition-specific spirits. Stregheria itself has variant traditions, and individual practices may vary considerably.
== Origins and history ==
As described in Grimassi's books, especially ''Ways of the Strega'', Stregheria claims an ancient history. This history incorporates historical and anthropological evidence from [[History of Italy|Italian history]] with a religious origin [[mythology|myth]] unique to the tradition. Girolamo Tartarotti, in his 18th century work titled Apologia della Congresso Notturno Delle Lamie, refers to "Stregheria" in the context of a cult devoted to the goddess Diana. Modern Italian uses ''stregoneria'' as the word for witchcraft, but the word ''stregheria'' appears in a variety of dictionaries and other sources from the last three centuries.
=== Usage of the word ===
The word "stregheria" is used almost exclusively in ''Apologia della Congresso Notturno Delle Lamie'', by Girolamo Tartarotti (1751) and also appears as an entry in ''Vocabolario piemonteno-italiano del professore di gramatica italiana e latina'' - by Michele Ponza (1860), ''Vocabolario Bolognese Italiano'' - by Carolina Coronedi Berti (1874), and ''Nouveau dictionnaire italien-francais et francais-italien'' - by Costanzo Ferrari, Arthur Enkenkel (1900) - where both "stregheria" and "stregoneria" appear as separate entries with slightly different meanings; the entry on stregoneria refers strictly to [[Magic (paranormal)|sorcery]], whereas the entry on stregheria refers to organized witchcraft in connection with the [[Wheel of the Year|Sabbat]]. The word "stregheria" also appears in a modern Italian dictionary as a rare usage in place of the modern word "stregoneria" (''Vocabolario della Lingua Italiana'', edited by Nicola Zingarelli, 1970). [[Charles Godfrey Leland]]'s nineteenth-century books on Italian witchcraft survivals, ''Etruscan Roman Remains'', and ''[[Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches]]'' are both cited extensively by contemporary practitioners but the word ''stregheria'' is found only twice in ''Etruscan Roman Remains'' (on pages 237 & 238). In the book Materials toward a History of Witchcraft, by Henry Charles Lea (published in 1890) the author refers on page 1447 to an anonymous collection of stories (titled il Compendio storico della Stregheria) that was written in 1751. Another example is found in Lettere Famigliari - by Giuseppe Baretti (1760), and in Arte magica dileguata, by Scipione Maffei, published in 1750.
Contemporary usage of "stregheria" was revived by Raven Grimassi with his publication of ''Ways of the Strega'' in 1994.
=== Witchcraft in Italy ===
In the [[late medieval]] period and early [[Renaissance]] Italy was a stronghold of [[Roman Catholic]]ism, and was less affected than other countries by the [[witchhunt|witch craze]] that gripped much of [[Europe]] during that period.<ref name="barstow">{{cite book | author=Barstow, Anne | title=Witchcraze | publisher =HarperSanFrancisco | year=1995 | id=ISBN 0-06-251036-3}}</ref> For that reason, it was somewhat overlooked by mainstream witchcraft historians, such as [[Jeffrey Burton Russell|Jeffrey Russell]].<ref name="russell">{{cite book | first=Jeffrey | last=Russell | authorlink=Jeffrey Burton Russell | title=Witchcraft in the Middle Ages | publisher =Cornell University Press | year=1984 | id=ISBN 0-8014-9289-0 }}</ref> [[Witchcraft trial]]s nevertheless took place in Italy, where witchcraft was largely conflated with [[heresy]] in the [[Christian views on witchcraft|view taken by Inquisitors]].
After studying [[manuscript]]s of these trials, [[Microhistory|microhistorian]] [[Carlo Ginzburg]], discerned an unusual constellation of beliefs about witchcraft amongst some of the accused. In his two books on the subject, ''Ecstasies: Deciphering the Witches' Sabbath'' and, especially, ''Night Battles'', Ginzburg described the beliefs of a group of people called the [[Benandanti]]. While the [[Inquisition]] treated the Benandanti much the same as it did others suspected of [[European witchcraft|witchcraft in Europe]], the Benandanti themselves believed that they were [[Christian]]s engaged in a supernatural fight against witches (or the "Malandanti").<ref name="ginzburg">{{cite book | first=Carlo | last=Ginzburg | authorlink=Carlo Ginzburg | title=Ecstasies: Deciphering the Witches' Sabbath | year=1991 | id=ISBN 0-226-29693-8 }} {{cite book | first=Carlo | last=Ginzburg | authorlink=Carlo Ginzburg | title=The Night Battles: Witchcraft and Agrarian Cults in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries | year=1983 | id=ISBN 0-8018-4386-3 }}</ref> Grimassi views the Benandanti as secretly being part of the witches' sect.<ref name="faq">{{cite web | title=Stregheria.com FAQ | url=http://stregheria.com/FAQ.html | accessmonthday=October 14 | accessyear=2005 }}</ref>
[[Image:Aradia-title-page.jpg|thumb|The title page of ''Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches''.]]
[[Anthropology|Anthropologist]] Sabina Magliocco has criticized interpreting Italian folk traditions as a religious survival of pagan elements as doing "violence" to the way practitioners perceive themselves. It is important to remember that practitioners think of themselves as Catholic."<ref name="magliocco">{{cite journal | author=Magliocco, Sabina | title=Spells, Saints, and Streghe: Witchcraft, Folk Magic, and Healing in Italy | journal=Pomegranate: The Journal of Pagan Studies, | year=2001 | volume=13 | pages= – | url=http://chass.colostate-pueblo.edu/natrel/pom/old/POM13a1.html | format={{dead link|date=June 2008}} – <sup>[http://scholar.google.co.uk/scholar?hl=en&lr=&q=intitle%3ASpells%2C+Saints%2C+and+Streghe%3A+Witchcraft%2C+Folk+Magic%2C+and+Healing+in+Italy&as_publication=Pomegranate%3A+The+Journal+of+Pagan+Studies%2C&as_ylo=2001&as_yhi=2001&btnG=Search Scholar search]</sup>}}</ref> However, some Italian scholars, such as David Gentilcore, view elements of Italian folk traditions and folk magic "as a surviving pre-Christian magical formula on to which has been tacked the Christian historiola".<ref name="gentilcore">{{cite book | first=David | last=Gentilcore | title=From Bishop to Witch: The System of the Sacred in Early Modern Terra D'Otranto | pages=134 | publisher = Manchester University Press| year=1992 | id=ISBN 0-7190-3640-2 }}</ref>
In 1899 [[Charles Godfrey Leland]] published ''[[Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches]]''. Leland claimed that the material in the book, which describes a secret [[messiah|messianical]] [[Paganism|Pagan]] religion, was found for him by his assistant Maddalena in the course of studying Italian [[folklore]]. In the myths given in the text, the [[goddess]] [[Diana (goddess)|Diana]] has a daughter named [[Aradia (goddess)|Aradia]], who comes to [[Earth (planet)|Earth]] to teach witchcraft to the oppressed. Other major characters in the myths include [[Lucifer]] and [[Cain]]. Leland's claims of authenticity have been disputed, but the book became very influential, fifty years after its publication, as a primary source for [[Wicca]] and other [[Neo-paganism]]. Grimassi's position on ''Aradia'' is that Leland's published version is a "distorted version"<ref name="faq" /> of the story of Aradia, and that, instead, there really had existed a mortal woman named [[Aradia di Toscano]].
=== Grimassi's history ===
Grimassi describes the roots of Stregheria as a [[syncretism|syncretic]] offshoot of Etruscan religion that later blended with "[[Tuscany|Tuscan]] peasant religion", [[medieval]] Christian heresy, and [[Saint]] worship.<ref name="faq" />
Grimassi writes that Aradia di Toscano passed on a religion of witchcraft, based on ancient [[Etruscan mythology|Etruscan]] Paganism, to her followers (whom Grimassi calls "The Triad Clans"). The Triad Clans are referred to as "an alliance of three related Witch Clans known as the Tanarra, Janarra, and Fanarra"<ref name="faq" /> that in turn, passed on the myths and practices until the modern day, when Grimassi published a modernized version of them in ''Ways of the Strega''.
Along with references to Ginzburg and Leland, Grimassi points to a number of historians, anthropologists and other scholars who have mentioned witchcraft beliefs in Italy as demonstrating the survival of Aradia di Toscano's religion.<ref name="history">{{cite web | title=History of Stregheria | url=http://stregheria.com/History.html | accessmonthday=October 14 | accessyear=2005 }}</ref>
=== Stregheria popularized ===
[[Italian-American]] [[Leo Martello]] claimed to belong to a "family tradition" of religious witchcraft in his 1970s book ''Witchcraft: The Old Religion''. Martello does not use the word "Stregheria" when referring to his personal practice, but refers to it as "the Strega tradition".
Grimassi began teaching the "Aridian Tradition", a modernized public system presented in his published works, in 1980 in the [[San Diego, California]] area. He currently teaches the Arician tradition, an initiate level variant of Stregheria that he describes as based upon an older system taught to him.<ref name="arician">{{cite web | title=Arician tradition | work=Witchvox | url=http://www.witchvox.com/va/dt_va.html?a=usca&c=trads&id=3644 | accessmonthday=February 7 | accessyear=2006 }}</ref> Regarding his published material, Professor Sabina Magliocco points out that "Grimassi never claims to be reproducing exactly what was practiced by Italian immigrants to North America; he admits Italian-American immigrants "have adapted a few Wiccan elements into their ways".<ref name="magliocco" />
After the release of ''Ways of the Strega'', people who had not studied under Grimassi began to adopt Stregheria practices, using the book as either a guide or as an addition to [[Eclectic Wicca]]n practice. Grimassi published additional books on the topic, such as ''Hereditary Witchcraft'', now manages an annual [[spiritual retreat]] for practitioners, and is developing a "mystery school".
== Practices ==
[[Image:Crotona Pentagram ring.png|thumb|left|Drawing of a pentagram ring from [[Crotone]], Italy, taken from ''IMAGINI DEGLI DEI ANTICHI'' (V. Catari, 1647)]]
Like Wicca, most systems within Stregheria use a [[pentagram]] as an important symbol. The pentagram is often worn in the form of ring or necklace piece, and this symbol was also used by [[Pythagorean]]s. Most traditions of Stregheria use the [[ritual tool]]s of [[Chalice (cup)|cup]], [[wand]], [[pentacle]] and [[athame|blade]], which are seen in the suits of occult or divinatory [[tarot]] cards and amongst many systems of Western [[occultism]].<ref name="tools">{{cite web | title=Tools and Symbols of Stregheria | url=http://stregheria.com/ToolsandSymbols.html | accessmonthday=October 14 | accessyear=2005 }}</ref> Some Stregheria rituals take place in a [[circle]], with an [[altar]] facing North. Ritual actions include [[prayer]], and the [[blessing]] of food.<ref name="ways">{{cite book | first=Raven | last=Grimassi | authorlink=Raven Grimassi | title=Ways of the Strega| publisher =Llewellyn Publications | year=1994 | id=ISBN 1-56718-253-4 }}</ref>
Like Wicca, many groups within Stregheria celebrate eight holidays, called "''Treguenda''s", while others celebrate the Catholic holidays or the ancient Roman holidays. One unified practice among Streghe is "ancestor reverence through spirits known as ''[[Lares (Roman deities)]]''". Some Stregheria groups (a Stregheria group, according to Grimassi, is called a ''Boschetto'') practice their religion [[Skyclad (Neopaganism)|skyclad]].<ref name="faq" /> The Aridian tradition contains a rite of [[initiation]], similar to some [[Wicca#Wiccan traditions|Wiccan traditions]].
Most practitioners of Stregheria think of themselves as [[witch]]es and believe that magic can have an effect upon [[reality]]. Some see their practice as more shamanic in nature. The more hermetic traditions of Stregheria contain a specific belief about the influence of [[spiritual being]]s on magic. They believe that beings known as the [[Grigori]], or "Watchers" witness the "ritual display of prescribed signs and gestures", and that they have the power to "negate magickal energy" from the "[[astral plane]]". Not all traditions of Stregheria work with the Grigori or any angelic beings. Some traditions of Stregheria incorporate elements of Christianity into their practice, which establish non-pagan themes and concepts.
== Relationship with other traditions ==
While Grimassi, whose books on the subject have been through a number of reprints, remains the principal name associated with Stregheria, there are also people who identify with the tradition, and Grimassi's history of it, but do not recognize him as a religious leader. Some other parties interested in Italian witchcraft have been critical of both him and his writing.<ref name="stregoneria">See, for example {{cite web | title=The Stregoneria Italiana Project | url=http://www.stregoneriaitaliana.com/ | accessmonthday=October 14 | accessyear=2005 }}</ref>
Stregheria shares commonalities with both Wicca and [[polytheism|polytheistic]] [[Reconstructionism]]. Stregheria is one of a number of [[ethnicity]]- or culture-oriented traditions of witchcraft, such as [[Celtic Wicca]], [[Kemetic Wicca]], or [[Seax-Wica]]. Some Stregheria members attempt to distance themselves from Wicca<ref name="Clarian Stregheria">{{cite web | title=Clarian Stregheria | url=http://www.religioterranova.org/AboutUs/index.php#tradition | accessmonthday=October 14 | accessyear=2005 }}</ref>, in a manner similar to Pagan Reconstructionism, or argue that their belief system pre-dates it. Some adherents of these traditions also reject the label of "Neopaganism", preferring to emphasize a cultural continuity with the past.<ref name="notneo">See, for example {{cite web | title=Sgath | url=http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:_LAJcNqlCx4J:sgath.envy.nu/faqs.html+%22not+Neopagan%22&hl=en | accessmonthday=October 14 | accessyear=2005 }}, and [[Asatru]].</ref> While those interested in the pre-Christian belief systems of the [[Celts]], "Kemetic" ([[Ancient Egypt|Egyptian]]) religion, or the beliefs of the [[Norsemen|Norse]], can readily find information on either associated Wiccan traditions or as Reconstructionist projects in books and websites, information on Etruscan or [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] Reconstructionism has yet to become available through book publishing.
In comparing his version of Stregheria to Wicca, Grimassi notes both similarities between the two and differences. The differences include holiday names and the element of "ancestor reverence".<ref name="faq" /> Grimassi has defended his material as being significantly different from Wicca<ref name="notice">{{cite web | title=Common misunderstandings about my works | url=http://www.ravengrimassi.com/notice.htm | accessmonthday=October 14 | accessyear=2005 }}</ref> at the roots level, and asserts that many of the foundational concepts in [[Gerald Gardner]]'s Wicca can be found earlier in works on Italian Witchcraft and ancient Mediterranean mystery sects.<ref name="iw">{{cite book | first=Raven | last=Grimassi | title=Italian Witchcraft | pages=281-285 | publisher =Llewellyn Publications | year=2000 | id=ISBN 1-56718-259-3 | authorlink=Raven Grimassi}}</ref><ref name="hw">{{cite book | first=Raven | last=Grimassi | title=Hereditary Witchcraft | pages=13-22 | publisher =Llewellyn Publications | year=2001 | id=ISBN 1-56718-256-9 | authorlink=Raven Grimassi}}</ref>
==See also==
* [[Dianus]]
== Notes and references ==
{{reflist}}
== External links ==
* [http://stregheria.com/ 'Authentic Italian Witchcraft']
* [http://www.religioterranova.org/ Clarian Stregheria]
* [http://chaliceandserpent.com/ Order of the Chalice and Serpent]
* [http://www.stella-luna-terra.net/ Stella-Luna-Terra]
* [http://www.trinacrianrose.org/ Trinacrian Rose Church]
* [http://www.stregoneriabr.com]
{{witchcraft}}
{{Neopaganism}}
[[Category:Neopaganism]]
[[Category:Religion in Italy]]
[[Category:Witchcraft]]
[[es:Stregheria]]
[[eo:Stregheria]]
[[it:Stregheria]]
[[pt:Stregheria]]