Aradia, mia Aradia,
You, with the moon in your step,
You, with the moon in your feet,
clad in the sky, covered in starlight,
grant me this favor benevolent spirit,
Altar of Diana, daughter of the moon,
I will walk in your moon steps;
I will dance; I will leap;
I will eat; I will drink;
I will learn your mother's craft,
the witch's craft, the crafty knowledge.
I drink, as you drank, the milk of wisdom
from your mother's breast.
Pure spirit, mortal spirit,
Woman and Goddess both,
walk in my circle.
Aradia, beautiful Aradia.

Myth's notes:

Aradia, as Charles Godfrey Leland introduced her to us, was 100 years old in 1999. Truly a Maiden Goddess, this witchy spirit in Leland's text has proven an inspiration in some of the most beautiful rituals of Wicca; the Charge of the Goddess, for example, borrowed from Leland's Aradia Gospel of Witches.

Mario Pazzaglini and Dina Pazzaglini have just recently (1998) put out a new translation of the Italian text Leland received from his primary source, Maddalena. The book is fascinating, and well worth a read, if you are of a scholarly bent.