Nov 29, 2025 02:17 AM
https://publicdomainreview.org/essay/rom...er-aradia/
INTRO: In 1899, Charles Godfrey Leland published Aradia, “the gospel of the witches”, containing a goddess-orientated creation and saviour narrative, purported to descend from an ancient, hermetic tradition of witchcraft in Italy. A. D. Manns explores this text via an enchanting conjecture: that the writer, medium, and witch Roma Lister played a pivotal role in the formation of both Aradia and, therefore, a new form of paganism called Wicca.
EXCERPTS: Throughout his colourful life, Leland had frequently been known to break with tradition and social convention. He dined with pirates on the high seas, fought against monarchists in the 1848 French Revolution, railed against the American Confederacy and slavery as an editor of and contributor to pro-Union broadsheets, collected and utilised magical amulets, and even developed an arts and crafts–focused educational system that received praise from Oscar Wilde. The witches’ gospel, however, took him to stranger, uncharted territory. Its rousing, witchcraft-centric, and anti-authoritarian message was different from anything with which Leland had been previously associated.
[...] Even though Wicca has become one of the fastest growing and culturally influential modern religions, the true source of the “gospel” in Aradia remains a mystery. Some of the spells and recipes mentioned in the text may have their origins in genuine Italian folk magic traditions; no evidence has emerged, however, to support the contention that groups of nineteenth-century Italians were practising an organised pagan religion with pre-modern origins.
[...] Roma Lister first elaborated her unique connection to Italian witches at the Collegio Romano in November 1893, at the inaugural conference of the Italian Folklore Society. As both the youngest person and the only woman invited to present a paper, Lister was treated like a celebrity; newspapers announced her arrival in Rome, and she was greeted with applause “at all events”. The content of her lecture, however, likely went far beyond anything the audience was expecting. In the first few moments of her speech, Lister declared that her entire life had “been spent among witches and wizards”.
Growing up in the Roman countryside and surrounded by local women who sometimes treated her with magical remedies, Lister herself had been “lulled with magical invocations” and “made to memorise spells and legends more or less of classical origins”. In her talk, she expressed dismay that certain folkloric traditions and the “names of spirits” were fading from public memory. Supernatural beings, for instance, were becoming scarcer and scarcer: “A close friend assures me that there are now no more than two werewolves left in her village; witches too have decreased in number.”
One can only imagine the looks of amazement or incredulity on the faces in the audience... (MORE - missing details)
INTRO: In 1899, Charles Godfrey Leland published Aradia, “the gospel of the witches”, containing a goddess-orientated creation and saviour narrative, purported to descend from an ancient, hermetic tradition of witchcraft in Italy. A. D. Manns explores this text via an enchanting conjecture: that the writer, medium, and witch Roma Lister played a pivotal role in the formation of both Aradia and, therefore, a new form of paganism called Wicca.
EXCERPTS: Throughout his colourful life, Leland had frequently been known to break with tradition and social convention. He dined with pirates on the high seas, fought against monarchists in the 1848 French Revolution, railed against the American Confederacy and slavery as an editor of and contributor to pro-Union broadsheets, collected and utilised magical amulets, and even developed an arts and crafts–focused educational system that received praise from Oscar Wilde. The witches’ gospel, however, took him to stranger, uncharted territory. Its rousing, witchcraft-centric, and anti-authoritarian message was different from anything with which Leland had been previously associated.
[...] Even though Wicca has become one of the fastest growing and culturally influential modern religions, the true source of the “gospel” in Aradia remains a mystery. Some of the spells and recipes mentioned in the text may have their origins in genuine Italian folk magic traditions; no evidence has emerged, however, to support the contention that groups of nineteenth-century Italians were practising an organised pagan religion with pre-modern origins.
[...] Roma Lister first elaborated her unique connection to Italian witches at the Collegio Romano in November 1893, at the inaugural conference of the Italian Folklore Society. As both the youngest person and the only woman invited to present a paper, Lister was treated like a celebrity; newspapers announced her arrival in Rome, and she was greeted with applause “at all events”. The content of her lecture, however, likely went far beyond anything the audience was expecting. In the first few moments of her speech, Lister declared that her entire life had “been spent among witches and wizards”.
Growing up in the Roman countryside and surrounded by local women who sometimes treated her with magical remedies, Lister herself had been “lulled with magical invocations” and “made to memorise spells and legends more or less of classical origins”. In her talk, she expressed dismay that certain folkloric traditions and the “names of spirits” were fading from public memory. Supernatural beings, for instance, were becoming scarcer and scarcer: “A close friend assures me that there are now no more than two werewolves left in her village; witches too have decreased in number.”
One can only imagine the looks of amazement or incredulity on the faces in the audience... (MORE - missing details)