Book-It '10! Book #52
The Fifty Books Challenge, year two! This was a library request.
Title: Aradia or the Gospel of the Witches by Charles G. Leland, modern introduction and commentary by A. J. Drew
Details: Copyright 1899, with modern introduction and commentary copyright 2003, New Page Books
Synopsis (By Way of Back Cover): "Before Gerald Gardner ever thought to write his first book, there was an explorer named Charles Leland, who felt he could discover and preserve the secrets of Italian Witchcraft. Leland's original quest was to make contact with practicing Italian Witches. After years of trying, he met one by the name of Maddelena, who imparted to him the secrets for which he was searching. These teachings have become Aradia or the Gospel of the Witches. Reportedly handed down in an oral tradition, Leland later translated and published the work in the late 1800s.
Today, a great amount of debate exists over whether Aradia was an authentic representation of Italian Witchcraft at the time Leland published the manuscript. Some go so far as to argue that Maddelena never really existed. While it is true that Maddelena's involvement with Leland cannot be proven, the fact remains that, even with its uncertain origin, Aradia is one of the most important manuscripts available to the Pagan community. Even if it does not reflect the ideology of a hidden tradition of Italian Witchcraft, it most definitely presents such a powerful message that, even today, its words are repeatedly found throughout Pagan literature. In fact, it is the foundation for one of the most powerful and well-known documents in modern Pagan lore, 'The Charge of the Goddess'."
Why I Wanted to Read It: This book is unarguably one of the most influential texts of Paganism.
How I Liked It: Much of the book sweeps like poetry and, if you consider it that way, you remove yourself from the debate over what was truly derived from Italian Witchcraft and what Leland may have fudged. His commentary is enjoyable on a (obviously) historical perspective. The modern commentary and introduction seem necessary, particularly since those making their way in Paganism all too soon forget the accomplishments of Leland over the more famous (or infamous) Gerald Gardner. Also, the modern commentary serves as a sort of historical check on Leland and the Pagan community as a whole.
A must-read (if for nothing other than historical purposes) for any student of Paganism and particularly the Craft.
Notable: Leland takes pains to point out the equal or higher standing of female deity in much of the so-called heathen world. While he falls into traps of his era (""The Emancipated or Woman's Rights woman, when too enthusiastic, generally considers man limited, while Woman is destined to gain on him.", pg 138) which today could be read as the people that believe all feminists (or even the majority of feminists) think that women are superior to men, he nonetheless supports an idea of balance and equality, and none as superior to the other (one could quite easily argue that the obscure worship of the female face of Deity that only became open semi-recently is no threat in anyway to the predominant worship of the male face of Deity and therefore there isn't so much a war for dominance as in recent times a minority's response and search beyond the excluding predominant mindset, but equality is the ultimate goal).
Which, when you get down to it, isn't just revolutionary for 1899, it's a wonder Leland's work got the attention it did.
Title: Aradia or the Gospel of the Witches by Charles G. Leland, modern introduction and commentary by A. J. Drew
Details: Copyright 1899, with modern introduction and commentary copyright 2003, New Page Books
Synopsis (By Way of Back Cover): "Before Gerald Gardner ever thought to write his first book, there was an explorer named Charles Leland, who felt he could discover and preserve the secrets of Italian Witchcraft. Leland's original quest was to make contact with practicing Italian Witches. After years of trying, he met one by the name of Maddelena, who imparted to him the secrets for which he was searching. These teachings have become Aradia or the Gospel of the Witches. Reportedly handed down in an oral tradition, Leland later translated and published the work in the late 1800s.
Today, a great amount of debate exists over whether Aradia was an authentic representation of Italian Witchcraft at the time Leland published the manuscript. Some go so far as to argue that Maddelena never really existed. While it is true that Maddelena's involvement with Leland cannot be proven, the fact remains that, even with its uncertain origin, Aradia is one of the most important manuscripts available to the Pagan community. Even if it does not reflect the ideology of a hidden tradition of Italian Witchcraft, it most definitely presents such a powerful message that, even today, its words are repeatedly found throughout Pagan literature. In fact, it is the foundation for one of the most powerful and well-known documents in modern Pagan lore, 'The Charge of the Goddess'."
Why I Wanted to Read It: This book is unarguably one of the most influential texts of Paganism.
How I Liked It: Much of the book sweeps like poetry and, if you consider it that way, you remove yourself from the debate over what was truly derived from Italian Witchcraft and what Leland may have fudged. His commentary is enjoyable on a (obviously) historical perspective. The modern commentary and introduction seem necessary, particularly since those making their way in Paganism all too soon forget the accomplishments of Leland over the more famous (or infamous) Gerald Gardner. Also, the modern commentary serves as a sort of historical check on Leland and the Pagan community as a whole.
A must-read (if for nothing other than historical purposes) for any student of Paganism and particularly the Craft.
Notable: Leland takes pains to point out the equal or higher standing of female deity in much of the so-called heathen world. While he falls into traps of his era (""The Emancipated or Woman's Rights woman, when too enthusiastic, generally considers man limited, while Woman is destined to gain on him.", pg 138) which today could be read as the people that believe all feminists (or even the majority of feminists) think that women are superior to men, he nonetheless supports an idea of balance and equality, and none as superior to the other (one could quite easily argue that the obscure worship of the female face of Deity that only became open semi-recently is no threat in anyway to the predominant worship of the male face of Deity and therefore there isn't so much a war for dominance as in recent times a minority's response and search beyond the excluding predominant mindset, but equality is the ultimate goal).
Which, when you get down to it, isn't just revolutionary for 1899, it's a wonder Leland's work got the attention it did.