Aradia the Healer

In Aidan A. Kelly's 1991 book, Crafting the Art of Magic, Book I, A History of Modern Witchcraft, 1939-1964, he reprinted and examined the text of what are apparently the earliest versions of the Gardnerian BOS. In a section titled, "The Book of Shadows in 1953," on pages 79-80, there is a passage which relates to the Wiccan tradition of Aradia the Healer.

Prayer may be used to good result if the patient believes it can and will help. Many believe it can, but do not believe their God or saint will help. Prayers to the Goddess help, especially the Amalthean Horn Prayer, as it causes stimulation to the body as well as to the mind.

Myth's Notes

The prayer that this passage is referring to is also known as the famous Hail Aradia! invocation. There appear to be several versions of this floating around the Wiccan community, just as there are several versions of the EKO EKO chant and Charge of the Goddess.

Hail, Aradia! From the Almathean Horn
Pour forth thy store of love; I lowly bend
Before thee, I adore thee to the end,
With loving sacrifice thy shrine adorned.
Thy foot is to my lip my prayer upborn
Upon the rising incense-smoke; then spend
Thine ancient love, O Mighty One, descend
To aid me, who without thee am forlorn.

The version above is one of the most well known versions and is found in the Farrar-Alexandrian Invocation of Aradia page of my website.

On page 81 of Kelly's book, he gives a slightly different version of Amalthean Horn Prayer.

1953

     Hail, Aradia, from the Amalthean horn
         Pour forth they store of Love. I lowly bend
     Before Thee! I invoke thee at the end
         When other Gods are fallen and put to scorn.
     Thy foot is to my lips! My sighs inborn
         Rise, touch, curl about thy heart. Then spend,
         Pitiful Love, loveliest Pity, descend

     And bring me luck who am lonely and forlorn.

Since there are already several versions of the Hail Aradia! invocation or prayer, I'm going to put in my two cents and give my own version.

Hail, Aradia! From the Almathean Horn
Pour forth thy store of love; I lowly bend
My prayer upon the rising incense upborn;
To touch and curl about thy heart ascend
Give thy blessing, Lady of Night,
To aid me, child of your spirit bright.

For another versions of this invocation to Aradia, you may wish to visit my page, Wiccan Offering for Aradia, on this website.

Returning to the discussion of Aradia the Healer in Wicca, the above passage from Kelly's book comes from a long section discussing healing from pages 77-80 which discusses techniques for faith healing and use of "drugs." Apparently "drugs" referred to herbal medicine as would have been practiced the cunning men, wise women, and faerie doctors in the British Isles. There is, however, no specific information about what sort of drugs, herbs, or healing cures would have been used by these traditional healers.

Aidan's book is out of print. The book is very scholarly, focusing on comparing sundry texts. It is valuable, as it reconstructs early Wiccan history, applying scholarly techniques to available documentary evidence. At the time of its publication in 1991, some people reviled it for his free-wheeling expression of opinions and speculations about the sexual preferences of Gerald Gardner.

Whether because of low sales, due to its scholarly focus, or the reactions of people who disliked Kelly's speculations, Llwellyn did not publish the rest of the series. Kelly self-published them as books-on-disk.

I eventually hope to locate more spells relating to Aradia as the Healer.

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