Need a good book on Strega, Italian Witchcraft

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 31 May 2003, and now archived in the Forum Library.

cjtarot	31 May 2003
H, Just bout the book Italian Witchcraft - the old religion of Southern Europe by Raven Grimassi because it was the only one I found in the book store on Italian Witchcraft. Was hoping someone would suggest a book..is this a good one...or even a site that would help me understand this form of witchcraft. Thanks for your advise.. Cj

Pollux	01 Jun 2003
1) "Strega" means Witch, it's the italian word for it. 2) "Strega" is not a form of religion or a practice, as "Stregoneria" is instead (= Witchcraft). I don't about conventions and inventions made by american authors, but that's the way it is. Stop now, I am not going to add more to that. ;) If you can speak Italian, or read it, I can help you. Otherwise, I'd say... buy books by Leland (author of "Aradia, The Gospel..."), any or all of them. Back then, he carried out his research in middle Italy, one of the few places where nowadays traditions are alive still. :) Sometimes, as in this case, being Italian DOES make me feel elitist. :cool: *LOL*

Hedera	01 Jun 2003
Mmm, yes, mr Grimassi seems to have cornered the market a bit... There's his site: http://www.stregheria.com/ And this one (which doesn't seem to have a lot of information): http://www.witchery.ca/stregheria/ I ran into another site when I did a search on Aradia a while ago, I'll see if I can find that one again. They did recommend 'Witchcraft - The Old Religion' by Dr Leo Louis Martello there, which I bought but haven't read yet. Also, Ann Moura / Aoumiel's books, 'Green Witchcraft' etc, seem to have a lot of the same material, if I remember correctly. Ha, I found the site I was looking for: http://www.fabrisia.com/aradia.htm has a lot of information, and doesn't keep referring to Raven Grimassi. Edited to add: you can find the whole book 'Aradia, gospel of the witches' by Leland here: http://www.sacred-texts.com/pag/aradia/ Yes, strega is Italian for witch, but the witchcraft of that region (I've often seen it called stregheria) does seem to be slightly different from the Anglosaxon, Gardnerian / Alexandrian / wiccan variations.

Pollux	01 Jun 2003
Hedera: of course it is, it's not a re-invention in modern key, with Ceremonial, Kabala, Teosophic and other infuences. None of these. It's people trying to bring forth the Old Ways... Personally, I don't like Raven Grimassi's stuff, and Ann Moura's books are not that hot either. Leland rules, really! ;)

cjtarot	01 Jun 2003
WOW, Lots and Lots of info..Thanks. Pollux, I'm 3rd generation italian and the only way I could learn would be thru school...It stinks.. Hendera, Thanks for the links.. I will check them out. Blessings to both of you.. CJ

Kyrielle	03 Jun 2003
I'm curious about this subject, also. I have only seen the name of the tradition as Stregheria -- is Stregoneria a more authentic term, or just a variant spelling? I've looked through Grimassi's books, but I haven't bought them, since I don't know how accurate they are and the ceremonies he gives are too ceremonial-magic for my taste. But then I've heard that Leland was a gullible person, and the woman he interviewed was leading him on, giving him silly and inaccurate information to make fun of him. Then she and all the other real Stregas giggled at him behind their hands. Celtic-based paganism is so popular and well-written-about. What about the Old Ways from other parts of Europe? -- Kyrielle

The Need a good book on Strega, Italian Witchcraft thread was originally posted on 31 May 2003 in the Spirituality board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Spirituality, or read more archived threads.