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31-608: Author Raven Grimassi has written on the topic. Grimassi taught what he called the Aridian tradition from 1980. He discusses elements of 'Italian witchcraft' adopted by Gardnerian Wicca with ideas inspired by Charles G. Leland 's Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches (1899). The name " Aradia " (a version of Herodias ) is due to Leland, who claimed she was venerated by a " witch-cult " in medieval Tuscany. The word stregheria

62-813: A BA in anthropology . At Indiana University’s Folklore Institute, Bloomington, Indiana , she received her MA (1983) and PhD (1988) in folklore , with a minor in anthropology. After working on post-doctoral research in Italy with a Fulbright fellowship in 1989, Magliocco began her career teaching classes in Folklore and Anthropology. From 1990 to 1994, she taught at the University of Wisconsin–Madison . Her other teaching positions have included UCLA (1994), UC Santa Barbara (1995), UC Berkeley (1995–1997), and her current position at California State University, Northridge, where she taught from 1997 to 2017. She became

93-626: A domestic tradition of folk magic and healing such as I describe in my article. Grimassi won "Book of the Year" and "First Place – Spirituality Book" from the Coalition of Visionary Retailers in 1998 for his book The Wiccan Mysteries , and his book the Encyclopedia of Wicca & Witchcraft was also awarded "Best Non-Fiction". His publisher, Weiser Books, produced the author's biography, Horns of Honor . Patheos listed Grimassi in 2018 as one of

124-468: A domestic tradition of folk magic and healing such as I describe in my article. 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 and Tagni , Tana and Tanus , Diana and Dianus , Jana and Janus , and more. According to Grimassi some Stregheria rituals take place in a circle, with an altar facing North. Ritual actions include prayer , and

155-552: A few Wiccan elements into their ways". 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 to The 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

186-489: A few Wiccan elements into their ways". After personally meeting Grimassi, Professor Magliocco wrote 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 to The 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

217-608: A hair stylist for many years. After that he served as a financial aid counselor, then in the mid-1990s his book publishing income allowed a full-time writing career. Grimassi's first marriage with Patty produced Michelle, born in San Diego, and his second marriage with Diane produced a daughter in 1979 – Brieanna, born in Escondido, California . Grimassi dedicated his book The Wiccan Mysteries to his "beautiful daughters, Michelle and Brieanna...". Grimassi's father died in 2004 and

248-555: A lightning strike in June 2017 which burned down their home and destroyed their business assets. Stephanie announced on her Facebook page that Grimassi died on March 10, 2019, aged 67, following a battle with pancreatic cancer. He was survived by two brothers and three daughters: Kathy, Michelle and Brieanna. A memorial service was held on March 23 in Springfield. Sabina Magliocco Sabina Magliocco (born December 30, 1959),

279-509: 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 ancient Etruscan 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

310-634: A practitioner of witchcraft for over 45 years and was the co-director of the Ash, Birch and Willow tradition. He died of pancreatic cancer on March 10, 2019. Grimassi was born Gary Charles Erbe in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania . His father was Herbert Erbe Jr. (1922–2004), who was of German and Scots heritage, and who served as a sergeant in the United States Army in World War II . His mother

341-460: A psychiatric technician. Grimassi became involved with Wicca in 1969. He created his own system of witchcraft known as the "Aradian Tradition" ten years later, publishing it in print beginning in 1981. He was the co-directing elder of the Ash, Birch and Willow tradition. In 1994, the new age publisher Llewellyn Publications accepted his manuscript for Ways of the Strega , which was reprinted

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372-656: Is a professor of anthropology and religion at the University of British Columbia and formerly at California State University, Northridge (CSUN). She is an author of non-fiction books and journal articles about folklore, religion, religious festivals, foodways , witchcraft and Neo-Paganism in Europe and the United States. A recipient of fellowships from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation , National Endowment for

403-587: Is an archaic Italian word for "witchcraft", the most used word in modern Italian being stregoneria . Stregheria is sometimes referred to as la Vecchia Religione ("the Old Religion"). Raven Grimassi is the pen name of an Italian-American author, born in 1951 as the son of an Italian immigrant who was born and raised in the area of Naples , Italy. He became involved with a coven presenting itself as Gardnerian Wicca in 1969 in San Diego . He

434-857: 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 in Massachusetts 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. His later interest in Neo-paganism began in 1969, and he

465-572: The Carbonari revolutionary movement in the early 19th century, then joined the Masons or other secret societies as a cover for their meetings. After some time in Pittsburgh, Herbert and Flora settled in San Diego, California , where they raised their children. Grimassi attended James Madison High School , advancing to San Diego Mesa College and San Diego City College where he studied to be

496-570: The Padstow May Day celebration was used to produce Oss Tales . Magliocco is currently working on a project based on traditional healing practices in Italy. She has written several journal articles that have had significant impact on modern scholarship about witchcraft and the American revival of Italian-American Stregheria . Magliocco is an initiate of Gardnerian Wicca . From 2012 to 2014, Magliocco made appearances on 17 episodes of

527-722: The blessing of food. 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 at the roots level, and asserts that many of the foundational concepts in Gerald Gardner 's Wicca can be found earlier in works on Italian Witchcraft and ancient Mediterranean mystery sects. Some academics, such as Ethan Doyle White, consider Stregheria to be an offshoot of Wicca. Professor of anthropology and religion Sabina Magliocco has described Stregheria as "a religion similar to Wicca in structure and practice, with Italian flavor added through

558-500: The 1980s, studying the effect of socio-economic transformation on the traditional festivals of a pastoral highland community. The Two Madonnas and Le due Marie di Bessude were the result of this research. Magliocco's studies of contemporary Neopagans in the San Francisco Bay Area provided the subject material for Witching Culture and Neo-Pagan Sacred Art and Altars . In Cornwall, England , her fieldwork on

589-457: The 25 most influential living pagans. In the 1970s, Grimassi recorded a garage rock song with Ritchie Brubaiter, called "Brat". After studying psychology in college, he worked for a few years for San Diego County Mental Health Services inside a secure psychiatric facility. He shifted to a center for abused children, then worked as a counselor for drug and alcohol abuse patients. The stress of these jobs moved him to study cosmetology and become

620-696: The Humanities , Fulbright Program and Hewlett Foundation , Magliocco is an honorary fellow of the American Folklore Society . From 2004 to 2009, she served as editor of Western Folklore , the quarterly journal of the Western States Folklore Society. At CSUN, she was faculty advisor for the CSUN Cat People, an organization dedicated to humane population control and maintenance of feral cats on

651-513: The Pictish-Gaelic system in which he received third degree initiation in 1983 according to the Encyclopedia of Wicca & Witchcraft . Grimassi shares in common, in his books, the general " Witch-cult hypothesis " that appears in the writings of Charles G. Leland ( Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches , 1899), a discredited theory that European witchcraft was the continuation of an ancient pre-Christian religion. Grimassi describes

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682-502: The Tanarra, Janarra, and Fanarra". Reports that Grimassi claims to belong to a "family tradition" of religious witchcraft has attracted criticism. 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's marketing department designed text depicting him as being raised in a family tradition . Grimassi does not deny being

713-409: 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

744-917: The chair of the Department of Anthropology at Northridge in 2007. In 2017 she joined the Anthropology Department at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, where she is Professor of Sociocultural Anthropology . Her teaching and research focuses on ritual, festival and religion; folklore and expressive culture (narrative and belief, vernacular healing, material culture); magic and witchcraft; modern Pagan religions; narrative; ethnic/regional/national identity issues; gender; cultural studies and critical theory; animal studies; and ethnographic methodology and writing. Magliocco did fieldwork in northwestern Sardinia (Italy) during

775-457: The following year as Italian Witchcraft: The Old Religion of Southern Europe . Reports that Grimassi claimed to belong to a "family tradition" of religious witchcraft had opened him to criticism. Professor Sabina Magliocco , a critic of some of Grimassi's claims, however points 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

806-453: The names of deities, spirits, and sabbats." Raven Grimassi Gary Charles Erbe (April 12, 1951 – March 10, 2019), known as Raven Grimassi , was an American author of over 20 books, including topics on Wicca , Stregheria , witchcraft and neo-paganism . He popularized Stregheria , the religious practice of witchcraft with roots in Italy. Grimassi presented this material in the form of neo-paganism through his books. He had been

837-427: The roots of Stregheria as a syncretic offshoot of Etruscan religion that later blended with " Tuscan peasant religion", medieval Christian heresy, and veneration of saints . Grimassi views Leland's book Aradia, 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 named Aradia di Toscano . However, Grimassi does endorse

868-863: The university’s campus. Magliocco was born December 30, 1959, in Topeka, Kansas , the daughter of Italian immigrants. Her father first arrived in the United States in 1953 on a Fulbright Fellowship specializing in psychiatry and neurology. Her mother joined him after they were married in 1958. From 1960 to 1976, her family spent summers living in Italy , specifically Rome , San Felice Circeo , Lazio and Castiglione della Pescaia , Tuscany . Her family moved from Topeka to Cincinnati in 1966, where Magliocco graduated from Walnut Hills High School (Cincinnati, Ohio) in 1977. She graduated magna cum laude from Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island , in 1980 with

899-406: Was initiated into a system claiming to be Gardnerian Wicca in San Diego though the tradition's claim eventually proved to be false. Ten years later, Grimassi began teaching the "Aridian Tradition", which he describes as a "modern system" of Italian Witchcraft or Stregheria , that he created for non-initiates. Grimassi also studied Kabbalah and other traditions of Wicca such as Brittic and

930-633: Was Flora Gemma Erbe (1915–2011), born in Pagani, Campania . Herbert and Flora met in Italy during his military service, and they married in 1944. Flora's father was Giovanni Rescigno, a train station master in Naples, a Freemason, and an Italian witch. He entered the Order of the Pentagram in 1930. Grimassi wrote that his maternal grandfather was part of a tradition of Italian witches who were associated with

961-468: Was buried at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery in San Diego. His mother died in 2011 and was buried with her husband. Grimassi's third marriage was to Stephanie Ann Zarrabi, pen-name Stephanie Taylor. From 1998, they operated a magick shop in Escondido called Raven's Loft, closing the physical store in 2002 to run it as a website. The couple moved to Springfield, Massachusetts , in 2009, but suffered

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