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Stregheria (Italian pronunciation:[streɡeˈriːa]) is aneo-pagan tradition similar toWicca, with Italian andItalian American origins.[1] While most practitioners considerStregheria to be a distinct tradition from Wicca, some academics consider it to be a form of Wicca or an offshoot. Both have similar beliefs and practices. For example,Stregheria honors apantheon centered on aMoon Goddess and aHorned God, similar toWiccan views of divinity.
AuthorRaven Grimassi has written on the topic. Grimassi taught what he called theAridian tradition from 1980. He discusses elements of 'Italian witchcraft' adopted byGardnerian Wicca with ideas inspired byCharles G. Leland'sAradia, or the Gospel of the Witches (1899). The name "Aradia" (a version ofHerodias) is due to Leland, who claimed she was venerated by a "witch-cult" in medieval Tuscany.
The wordstregheria is an archaicItalian word for "witchcraft", the most used word in modern Italian beingstregoneria.[2]Stregheria is sometimes referred to asla Vecchia Religione ("the Old Religion").[3]
Raven Grimassi is thepen name of anItalian-American author, born in 1951 as the son of an Italian immigrant who was born and raised in the area ofNaples, Italy. He became involved with a coven presenting itself asGardnerian Wicca in 1969 inSan Diego.[4] He is the founder of the Aridian and Arician traditions of Italian-based witchcraft. He stepped down as the directing elder of Arician Witchcraft in 2004. Grimassi currently (as of 2009) lives inMassachusetts and is the directing elder of the Ash, Birch and Willow tradition, and co-director of the Fellowship of the Pentacle. He was formerly co-director of the College of the Crossroads.[5]
His later interest in Neo-paganism began in 1969, and he wasinitiated into a system claiming to beGardnerian Wicca inSan Diego though the tradition's claim eventually proved to be false. Ten years later, Grimassi began teaching the "Aridian Tradition"[1], which he describes as a "modern system"[1] of Italian Witchcraft orStregheria, that he created for non-initiates. Grimassi also studiedKabbalah and other traditions ofWicca such as Brittic and the Pictish-Gaelic system[vague] in which he received third degree initiation in 1983 according to theEncyclopedia of Wicca & Witchcraft.[6]
Grimassi shares in common, in his books, the general "Witch-cult hypothesis" that appears in the writings ofCharles G. Leland (Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches, 1899), a discredited theory thatEuropean witchcraft was the continuation of an ancient pre-Christian religion.
Grimassi describes the roots ofStregheria as asyncretic offshoot ofEtruscan religion that later blended with "Tuscan peasant religion", medieval Christian heresy, andveneration of saints.[7]
Grimassi views Leland's bookAradia, or the Gospel of the Witches as a "Christianized and distorted version" of the original story of Aradia, whom he believes to be a mortal woman namedAradia di Toscano.[7] However, Grimassi does endorse a number of elements from Leland's Aradia material, such as the inclusion of a full moon ritual and a sacred meal at the Tregenda, or Sabbat, along with the pantheon of a goddess and god figure.
Grimassi writes that Aradia di Toscano passed on a religion of witchcraft, based on ancientEtruscan 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".[7]
Reports that Grimassi claims to belong to a "family tradition" of religious witchcraft has attracted criticism.[8] Grimassi responds by saying that, although he wrote about such a family tradition, he intentionally never specifically mentions his own family in his books, but that Llewellyn'smarketing department designed text depicting him as being raised in a family tradition .[9] Grimassi does not deny being the bearer of a family lineage but chooses to protect the privacy of his family by not mentioning or referencing specific members (hence his use of a pseudonym).
Sabina Magliocco, who has criticized some of Grimassi's claims, does point 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".[10] After personally meeting Grimassi, Magliocco writes in her letter to the Pomegranate Reader's Forum:
I had the pleasure of meeting Raven Grimassi during the summer of 2001, unfortunately after the final draft of my article had already been submitted toThe Pom. He was very gracious and helpful to me. From information he revealed during our interview, I can say with reasonable certainty that I believe him to have been initiated into a domestic tradition of folk magic and healing such as I describe in my article.[11]
Grimassi's tradition centers around a duotheistic pair of deities that are regarded as divine lovers, and they may go by many different names, including:Uni andTagni,Tana andTanus,Diana andDianus,Jana andJanus, and more.[12]
According to Grimassi some Stregheria rituals take place in a circle, with analtar facing North. Ritual actions includeprayer, and theblessing of food.[13]
In comparing Stregheria to Wicca, Grimassi notes both similarities between the two and differences. He has defended his material as being significantly different from Wicca[14] at the roots level, and asserts that many of the foundational concepts inGerald Gardner's Wicca can be found earlier in works on Italian Witchcraft and ancient Mediterranean mystery sects.[15][16]
Some academics, such as Ethan Doyle White, consider Stregheria to be an offshoot of Wicca.[17] Professor of anthropology and religionSabina Magliocco has described Stregheria as "a religion similar to Wicca in structure and practice, with Italian flavor added through the names of deities, spirits, and sabbats."[18]
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