The Book of the Holy Strega

by Raven Grimassi

Old legends tell of a powerful witch who lived and taught in 14th century Italy. She was known as Aradia, and by the titles The Beautiful Pilgrim, and The Holy Strega. But was Aradia a real person, and is there any true basis for her legends? Pagan scholar Raven Grimassi explores this and many other questions in this new revised edition (greatly expanded from the 1981 published version of The Book of the Holy Strega).

The Book of the Holy Strega is a seminal work that brings together historical and folkloric sources. Grimassi delivers a ground-breaking view of the misconceptions of “historical witchcraft” and presents a refreshing approach to understanding how fantasy became regarded as fact. Revealed in this one volume is the role of the Church in distorting witchcraft and promoting its contrived vision for political purposes.

Discover the truth about the denied culture of the witch. Examine the elements that joined together to form the witches’ gospel. The journey of exploration in the sub-culture of the witch is well guided in this pioneering text.

Grimassi reveals his own hand in assembling the published versions of the Book of the Holy Strega, and he provides the reader with an overview of the evolution of these writings. Here you will see the gospel of the witches through the eyes of those who have honored it in the past, and how it continues to speak to each new generation.

Genres: Witchcraft

300 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Raven Grimassi was an American author of over 20 books, and a scholar of paganism with over 40 years of research and study in the genre of Wicca, Stregheria, witchcraft and neo-paganism.

Reviews

[Steve Cran · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unknown to many outside of Italy and the Pagan world there was a female holy person in the 14th century named Aradia. In reading her biography one will find her to be like a female counter part to Jesus, or even a Mother Theresa. In the 14th century she wandered the Italian Countryside helping the poor, and healing the sick. Aradia was often persecuted herself by the Catholic clergy. She and her followers were hounded and torn. The Savior herself was imprisoned many times before she fled the country to Serbia or Albania. This is the story of the real Aradia.

There is also a mythological Aradia who was born from the union of the Goddess Diana and her brother Lucifero. Diana, the Italian Lunar Goddess, brought Aradia down to earth to help save the poor. They were enslaved by the rich land owners and often very cruelly treated. Aradia was sent to earth to teach them the ways of herbs, magic and how to poison their oppressor. Italian witch lore is markedly different from Graeco_Roman Mytholgy.

The Author, Raven Grimassi, wrote this book some thirty years. This book is a total overhaul of the original. Raven is a priest in several Wiccan traditions as well as having a family tradition of witchcraft that goes back some five or six generations. His critics have accused him of making the story of Aradia up. He has also been accused of making an Italian form of Wicca. He spent the chapter of his book refuting this and explaining his position. I say no need his book convinced me of he is sincerity and scholarship. In the late 1800's it was American folklorist Charles Leland Godfrey who brought Aradia to world attention. He too was accused of making it up or his information source was accused of making it up to bilk him for money. Of course a careful review of the story will tell you that his informants were speaking the truth as they knew it.

Raven Grimassi launches into a detailed history of witchcraft in general and how the church has maligned it's practice by aligning it with Satan worship. The Devil is a Christian concept and there have been witches around since ancient time that preceded the birth and rise of Christianity. It was through the efforts of the Church inquisitors that things got twisted up. Witches of old used to call upon the the powers of the night, the stars and various goddesses. The one most frequently called upon was "Diana" other Goddesses who were called upon were Hekate and Prosperina. It should be noted that the Italian inquisition was not out to kill witches rather it wanted them to repent. Only if they were part of an organized group would they be burned at the stake.

The name Aradia is thought to be a transmutation of the name Herodias , who was the woman who wanted John the Baptist beheaded. How an Italian Goddess could send a savior with such a name is mysterious. Certain authors believe that ARadia is a corruption of the name Her Diana. The rights of Diana included skyclad gathering under a full moon with dancing eating and drinking. Everyone was equal. The Walnut tree was central and there are woodcuts showing the witches plucking the walnuts. Walnuts are a fruit of Jupiter. It is also said that Walnut trees will not allow anything else to grow near them. People threw stones at Walnut trees an beat them with sticks. this could be used to help fertility There are legends surrounding this concept.

Diana is called Queen of the Fairies and Queen of the Witches. It is thought that when people die they become fairies. Fairies often times take up habitation in trees and sometime souls are born into the world from trees. Diana was believed to have triple forms. Her first form is Diana of course but her second form is that of Hekate and thirdly either Prosperina or Luna. With the introduction of Artemis from Greece it has been thought that Diana was the Roman form of that Lunar Goddess. While both are Lunar Goddess there are several key differences. The most notable is that Artemis was never considered a Goddess of Witchcraft. Diana was! Artemis was a virgin goddess who never took a lover. Diana consorted with other males. Diana took on attributes of Artemis when her statue was brought from Greece to Lake Nemi in Italy. There seems to have been separate worship of Diana in Italy and Greece.

Raven Grimassi thank you for making this book available on Kindle. Information like this needs to be made more accessible. THe book is well researched and there is a sizeable bibliography for further research if you want to probe even further. The footnotes offered rich explanation of concepts and there are books mentioned there for even further research

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would recommend this little book to anyone who is interested in Aradia or is reading Leland's 'Gospel of the Witches.' This is a wonderful supplementary text that complements the Gospel and has actually enriched my understanding of that work and its significance to modern day witches. The first few chapters meander a bit and can be dry at times, but the later chapters which address the myth of Aradia make the slog through the beginning worth it. I've highlighted my Kindle edition to heck and back. There are plenty of snippets in here that I want to include in my own personal devotional practice. Some of the writing is just beautiful.
The appendices are also worth a look, as they contain more information on Leland and Maddalena.

[Aradia Erin O'Brian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you very much

Thank you so very much! This offers invaluable information and as I walk my path helps me to help my pupils. Thank you!

[Cristina Lewis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book of history, references and info on Italian witchcraft

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really wanted to love this book. I greatly enjoyed the beginning few chapters, but was annoyed by Raven’s sort of pandering approach to expressing how his views changed through time, or how he misrepresented himself in previous editions. I felt that too much of this book was him trying to explain himself and it took away from the nuggets that made this book worth reading.

I also didn’t love his rendering of the teachings of Arcadia/witchcraft as tenets to be followed unquestioningly. I suppose he has found them to be true in his own practice, but I found myself skimming the last few chapters a lot.

Overall, still a good read, but could have been better.