She is very facinating. I would love if historians actually took the time to try to prove her existence as they have with other incarnate mythological figures like King Arthur and Jesus. But from what I know, they haven't done much digging. I feel all myth has some truth to it, even if the truth is stretched to become a magnificent legend to awe the reader/listener. There is much to learn though from the Gospel of Witches. Even if the story of Aradia herself is false, the explainations and teachings within reflect the beliefs and practices of traditional Italian witchcraft and some of it has even been taken and transformed into what is now traditional Wiccan practice.
I'd love to learn more about her. She may have been the reason witchcraft madd it through the ages of the Catholic Church, and people don't acknowledge her very much. Is there any thing you think about the legend of Aradia that may be fact or at least part of the original mythology?
An Italian woman gave the author a handwritten book called the Vangel that is what he based the Gospel of the Witches on. That would be the most accurate form of the mythology, but I've never found a copy of this book, apparently it was never published and I don't know what the author did with it.
Is there a link to "Gospel of the Witches", or do you know where I could find this? This is the first I have heard about it but would love to learn more about it after what I have read in the forum :)
First of all I want to comment on the statement that Aradia is the Goddess worshiped in Gardnerian Wicca. The names of the God and Goddess in Gardnerian practice are oathbound and only given to those who have been properly initiated into Gardnerian practice. So if one makes a claim to know the names of the God and Goddess in Gardnerian practice who has not been initiated then it is likely that they are mistaken. Or if they have been properly initiated and taken oaths to never reveal the names of the God and Goddess they must be oathbreakers.
In addition, Lucifer was not a sun god. He was the God of the morning star and considered to be the brother and then consort of Diana.
That being said, Aradia is the central Goddess figure both in forms of Italian traditional Witchcraft and also in "Stregheria" which is a mishmash of Italian folkloric Witchcraft and Wicca created by Raven Grimassi.
On a more academic note, it appears likely that Aradia is not a single Goddess figure but rather a composite of a number of mythological and historical individuals drawn from both pre-Christian and post-Christian Italian folklore. You can find an excellent article about her at http://www.jesterbear.com/Aradia/Aradia.html
The idea that her supposed father was Lucifer is perfectly valid. Lucifer is a Roman personification of light specifically the morning star (Venus).
In Stregheria you see Aradia venerated a lot as the witch hero you described. Also the "Witches Bible" (Gospel of Aradia) is the book written by Leland that describes her. The practices of the stregha are heavily dependent on that book.
In my opinion Aradia is a character made up by Leland. There is no historical reference to her not even by the Church. Generally the Inquisition kept records of "witches" and the like.
Also the female who gave Leland the book has never been proven to even exist. Lastly Stregheria has hints of Catholicism as well as Wicca and faux Religio Romana.
