Moon, Moon
It was clear to the ancient agricultural peoples that crops grew seasonally in
tune with the cycles of the moon, and that women's menstrual cycles and animals'
mating cycles were also on a lunar rhythm. The moon was the ultimate principle of
fertility in the universe. The moon brought dew in the night to moisten plants after a
day's drying. The moon presided over the darkness in which plants germinated. The light
of the moon drew life out of seeds as they slept underground; it drew plants up with
the same force with which it drew the tides, and with which it drew monthly blood
from women in an earthly replica of its own cyclical growth and replenishment. The
necessity of the moon and its cycles to all fertility and its regulation was
indisputable.
--Anne Kent Rush, Moon, Moon, 1976 (pp. 53-54)
Luna and Lunus
The moon, this other, celestial earth, is androgynous, Luna and Lunus in one, feminine
in relation to the sun, but masculine in relation to earth; but its masculine nature is
secondary, it is first woman, afterwards man. It is fecundated by the sun and passes
this fecundation on to the earth. Thus it maintains the order of the cosmos; it is the
interpreter between mortals and immortals.
--Plutarch, Roman writer
Venus and Proserpine
Therefore among the Assyrians or Phoenecians, the goddess [Venus] is represented in
mourning when, in its annual course following the 12 signs of the zodiac, the Sun
enters the lower hemisphere...The days shorten and Venus is believed to be in
mourning, as if the Sun were lost, carried off by a temporary death and held by
Proserpine, goddess of the lower hemisphere and the antipodes.
--Porphyry, Saturnalia (I, 21, 1-6)
Herodias and Diana
Certeine wicked women following sathans prouocations being seduced by the illusions of
diuels, beleeve and professe, that in the night times they ride abroad with Diana,
the goddesse of the Pagans, or else with Herodias, with an innumerable multitude...
--Reginald Scot, Discoverie of Witchcraft, 1584, quoting the Council of Ancyra
Herodias, Minerva, and Diana
Certain women, converted to Satan, believe and confess that in the night hours they ride
with Diana, the goddess of the pagans, or with Herodias and Minerva and a numberless train
of women and obey their commands. But you are crassly stupid to believe that these acts,
which are imaginative, actually occur.
--12th century tract, authorship uncertain.
DIANA: the Moon goddess synonymous with Herodias.
MINEREVA: Pallas Athene, Greek goddess of wisdom.
--Harry E. Wedeck, Treasury of Witchcraft, 1960, p. 127.
Dia Ana
In all of northern Italy Diana is still venerated, if at times only by the intertia
of tradition. Her cult extends back into the depths of time and tradition. She
exists ad Dia Ana, the goddess of Ana, and has a long and complex history; she is
related to the moon, hunting, protection, love, dogs, the morning star, mice,
and the deer. In Mondaino, for example, drawings of standing deer decorate town walls
at festival times; the town emblem also incorporates the deer.
--Mario Pazzaglini as quoted in Charles G. Leland, Aradia or the Gospel of the
Witches, A New Translation, by Mario Pazzaglini, Ph.D., and Dina Pazzaglini, 1998
(98)
Cassell's Description of Diana
Diana Ancient Roman goddess of hunting, fertility and the moon, who in the Dark
Ages was the object of veneration by a primitive witch cult that extended through much
of Europe. Long before the development of the witch mania of post-medieval times, Diana
was identified as the leader of sorcerors (chiefly female), who accompanied her on
nocturnal rides across the sky, mounted on a variety of demons and beasts--the probable
origin of the notion that witches flew through the air to their sabbats....Followers of
Diana (who was also known by such names as Herodias, Holda-Perchta, Noctiluca, Bensozia
and Dame Habonde) were not identified as witches, but the link was clearly there, and
in time their activities became confused with those of witches. Diana....was also
credited with the power to change her shape, being commonly described in the form of a
cat.
Worship of the goddess Diana has revived in relatively recent times through the
activities of various modern covens devoted to the Horned God and the Great Goddess,
who claim to be practicing a version of the long-neglected "Old Religion."
--David Pickering, Cassell's Dictionary of Witchcraft, 1996, 1998, 2002 (pp. 151-152)
Benevento Witches
Southern Italy has been for many ages the favorite country for witches; they come from all parts of the peninsula
to the Grand Councils held under the walnut-tree of Benevento, and even from more distant lands, for its fame is
celebrated in Mentonnese tradition. This tree is to have been destroyed by S. Barbato in 660, during the reign
of Duke Romualdo, in contending against superstition. Benevento was formerly called Malevento, a name perhaps
significant. The site of the tree is now disputed, its very existence doubted; but witches still pretend to meet on the
spot where it grew.
--J.B. Andrews, Neapolitan Witchcraft , Folk-Lore Transactions of the Folk-Lore Society,Vol III
March, 1897 No.1
Witches?
Among this kind of bestial personage, there are some who eat raw and uncooked grasses and
distending vegetables, and who annointing themselves with baby fat, expose themselves
nude to the fresh air, in the silence of the night. It happens that the heat produced
there by those conditions moves to the interior of their body, and the fat penetrates
through the pores of their skin .... stimulated by venereal meditation caused by
their initial procedures and all the rest, they reach a weak state of excitement in
which they believe that their phantasmic cognitations are real acts.
--Giordano Bruno
Folletts, Folletti and Duendes
Ludovicus Maria Sinistrari de Ameno, whose treaties De Daemonialitate et Incubis et
Succubis, written toward the end of the seventeenth century, was translated into
French by Isidore Lisieux and printed in Paris in 1875, is much more original. He
believes that the incuba and succuba are not demons, but beings called follets
in French, folletti in Italian, and duendes in Spanish (in English,
elfish spirits). They are not spirits hostile to the Christian religion, but they
take wild delight in violating chastity, contra castitatem. ....they are capable
of ejaculating semen; after all, they are creatures, human in appearance, endowed
with a soul that can be saved or damned and a tenuous body with greater longevity
than that of man. They can enlarge or shrink their bodies at will, moving through
chinks in matter; they form organized societies with governments and cities.
--Ioan P. Couliano, Eros and Magic in the Renaissance, translated by
Margaret Cook, copyright 1987, originally published in France 1984
Aradia by Name
In traveling in northern Italy, many practitioners [streghe] and non-practitioners were
asked if they had heard of "Aradia"--the word itself. No one had heard of it, even
when they were familiar with Diana and with the chants connected with the old religion.
--Mario Pazzaglini as quoted in Charles G. Leland, Aradia or the Gospel of the
Witches, A New Translation, by Mario Pazzaglini, Ph.D., and Dina Pazzaglini, 1998
(93)
Respect Deities
...several practitioners stated that no witch [strega] would curse a Christian entity,
even if they did not believe in the entity, god or saint. They said, "It is not good
to curse any god. It is bad luck."
--Mario Pazzaglini as quoted in Charles G. Leland, Aradia or the Gospel of the
Witches, A New Translation, by Mario Pazzaglini, Ph.D., and Dina Pazzaglini, 1998
(93)
Description of a Witch
She goes forth from her hut, clad in a course garment, bare of foot, hair unbound and
flowing onto her shoulders.
--Ovid (43 bce to 17 ce), Roman poet. Author of Metamorphoses.
Epitaph
Eat, drink, enjoy theyself and come to me. As long as thou livest, have a good time:
thou wilt carry it with thee!
Here lies Vincentius, priest of the god Sabazius, who with pius heart hath celebrated
the divine holy ceremonies.
--from the Tomb of Vincentius, who was a priest of Sabazius as quoted by Robert Turcan,
The Cults of the Roman Empire, 1996 (p. 324) Turcan wrote, "...another god of
Thracian origin, Sabazius....intoxicated with a sort of beer, Sabaia, as
Dionysus intoxicated with wine." (p. 293) The cults of both Sabazius and Dionysus became
Roman mystery religions.
Vervain
The seventh is the bearb of the planet Venus, and is called Pisterion, of some
Hierobotane, id est, Sterbo coumbaria et Verbena, Vervin.
The root of this hearb put upon the neck healeth the swine pockes, apostumus behinde
the eares, and botches of the neck, and such as cannot keepe their water. It healeth
cuts also, and swelling of the evil, or fundament, proceeding of an inflammation
which groweth in the fundament.
It is also of great strength in veneriall pastimes. If any man put it into his house
or vineyard, or in the ground, he shal have great store of increase.
--Albertus Magnus, Secrets of Albertus Magnus.
Excerpted from a Love Charm
My magic wheel, draw home to me the man I love!
--Theocritus (c. 310 to c. 250 bce), poet born in Syracuse, Sicily. Theocritus was
referring to a metal wheel used in magic rituals.
Thrice I with Sulphur purified you round,The poem is addressed to Dellia, who scorned the poet's love.
And thrice the Rite, Songs th' Enchantress bound:
The Cake, by me thrice sprinkled, put to flight
The death-denouncing Phantoms of the Night,
And I next have, in linen Garb array'd,
In silent Night, nine Times to Trivia pray'd.
--Tibullus (c. 48-19 bce), Roman poet, translated by J. Grainger, 1759.
Use of Three
Chant thrice, spit thrice after uttering the incantations.
--Tibullus (c. 48-19 bce), Roman poet.
Sacred Countryside
I devoutly revere a tree stump in the depths of the countryside or an ancient stone
garlanded with flowers where paths cross. And the first fruits of all that spring
brings me are the offering placed at the feet of the rustic god. For you, fair
Ceres, a wreath of corn-ears from my property will hang at the gates of the temple.
In my orchard, I will place the idol of a rubicund Priapus...
--Tibullus (c. 48-19 bce), Roman poet.
Sacred Springs
Where a spring rises or a water flows there ought we to build altars and offer sacrifices.
--Seneca, Roman philosopher
Invocation to Marspiter
Father Mars, I pray and implore you to be benevolent and propitious towards me,
my household and all my people, to which end I have ordered the suovetaurilia
[young male pig, young male sheep, and a young bull] to go round our fields,
lands and estate, so that you will banish, repell, and drive away all visible and
invisible maladies, dearth and desolation, calamities and bad weather. And so that
you will allow crops, corn, vines and young shoots to grow and ripen well, that
you keep safe shepherds and their flocks, and that you safeguard and grant good
health to myself, our household and people: to these ends, to purify estate, land
and fields, for their purification, as I have said, receive the sacrifice of
these suovetaurilia, which are still unweened.
--Cato (Agr., 141), Roman writer
Offering to Ceres
First and foremost, revere the gods, and each year renew your offerings to the fair
Ceres. Let all the youth of the countryside adore Ceres in your company! In her honor,
mix honeycombs in milk and the sweet liquor of Bacchus. Let the victim [animal
sacrifice] make the beneficent circuit of the new crops, escorted by the whole
chorus of jubilant companions. ...Let no one scythe the ripe corn-ears unless his
head is bound with oak leaves in honor of Ceres.
--Virg., g, 1, 338-49 as quoted in Robert Turcan, The Gods of Ancient Rome,
1998 (p. 40)
Darkness/Light
En Erebos, Phosphos. "In darkness, there is light." Carved over the entrance
to one of Hecate's temples (There was a small shrine to Hecate on Sardinia with the
above motto on it. It was
also frequently carved on private shrines to Her in Magna Graecia.)
Roman Wolf Magic
Bold enough to impose laws on the enchanted moon and to change skin by appearing as a
wolf at night.
--Propertius (c. 50-16 bce), Roman poet.
Healing Charm for Gout
Touch the earth, spit downward, and chant 27 times, fasting;
O Earth, keep the pain,--Varro (116-27 bce, Roman author of De Agri Cultura.
and health with me remain
in my feet.
Ethics
"Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one."
--Marcus Aurelius
Spell to Banish Pain
On a paper hung around the neck:
An ant has not blood nor bile:--ancient Roman formula.
Flea, uvula, lest a crab eat you.
Monism
All the gods are one god and all the goddesses are one goddess...
There is but one god and goddess,but many are their powers and names: Jupiter, Sol, Apollo, Moses, Christ,Luna,
Ceres, Proserpina, Tellus, Mary. But have a care in speaking these things. They should be hidden in silence as are
the Eleusinian mysteries: sacred things must needs be wrapped in fable and enigma. --Konrad Muth (1471-1526)
Ave Maria, Ave Diana! --Leo Martello
Non-Indo-European Languages
There must have been Indo-European languages which did not survive, and there must also
have been languages associated with pre-existing populations (and hence on my
hypothesis, non-Indo-European) which survived for centuries and millenia before
becoming extinct as the result of other social, domographic and linguistic processes.
Basque and Etruscan are only, as it were, the tipes of icebergs protruding into our
present knowledge: many other non-Indo-European languages will have survived through
several subsequent millenia, but for us they are nonetheless now lost beneath the
waters of time. --Colin Renfrew, Archaeology & Language, the Puzzle of Indo-European
Origins, 1987, p. 268.
Opinions
Everyone is entitled to their own opinions, but not to their own facts.
--Danel Patrick Moynihan
Bow before the moon
I have respect for Thor and Odin. I venerate Isis and always feel inclined to bow
before the moon.
--H. Rider Haggard (1856-1925)
Due honors for the gods
"So long as but ONE person gives the Gods their due honors, They will bless the entire world. Strive to live as
if you were THAT one!"
--Emperor Julian