Moon, Moon, beautiful Moon! Fairer far than any star; Moon, O Moon, if it may be, Bring good fortune unto me! Luna mia, bella Luna! Piu di una altra stella; Tu sei sempre bella! Portatemi la buona fortuna!
And then, if thou has money in thy pocket, thou wilt have it doubled during one month. Aradia would aide thee also if thou were hungry and poor. Help she will provide, when you have done your good work. One must labor to have things go well. Diana does much for those who do much for themselves.
I have largely lifted this spell from the story, "The Children of Diana, or How the Fairies Were Born" in Leland's Aradia. I have added the brief reference to Aradia simply because it seemed appropriate. After all, Aradia is the Goddess of the poor, as well as the oppressed.
In Leland's text, a young man learns he is one of the children of Diana, because he was born during a full moon. Though the fairies teach him this spell, the story stresses that the magic to increase money cannot work if the spellcaster takes no action in the physical world.
Leland's translation of the Italian verse is beautiful and powerful, though not literally accurate. Below is the Pazzaglinis' new translation of the verse:
560. My moon, beautiful Moon! 561. More than another star; 562. You are always beautiful! 563. Bring to me good fortune. (338)
The Italian word for moon is "luna." Capitalized "Luna" is the name of the ancient Roman moon Goddess. I have wondered if this verse should more properly be considered an invocation of Luna, who could be viewed as a form of Diana or a Goddess in her own right. If so, the first line could possibly be read as:
560. Luna mia, bella Luna! 560. My Luna, beautiful Luna!
In any case, the spell is interesting, especially when compared to "Increase Silver Money." One is performed at the new moon, during which the lunar powers are beginning to grow and the other is performed at the full moon, when the lunar powers are at their peak.