Yes, your witchcraft is political. It always has been. I wrote about Dionysos and Ares here and here, respectively. Many witches look to Aradia for their inspiration of the Craft. In fact, in many circles, when the Circle is cast to establish sacred space, Aradia is called upon to help lend her energy.
Aradia is an important character in witchcraft. Whether she actually lived or was a legend in Italian folklore doesn’t matter. A messianic figure of sorts, she is supposedly the daughter of the Goddess Diana and her brother Lucifer and lived in the 14th century in Tuscany, Italy.
In the High Middle Ages (1000-1250 BCE), the Goddess Diana was touted by papal Rome as the Goddess of the witches, who were able to fly on nocturnal journeys to join the Goddess Diana at her Sabbats (also known as the Tregunda). In some writings at the time, Aradia had another name: Herodias.
Aradia was sent to Earth by her mother Diana as the “first of all witches,” and was to teach the secret art of witchcraft to the poor and downtrodden. In “Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches of Italy,” her story is told. The book tells us that at the time the poor and subjugated were under the cruel heel of their noble masters. Many escaped their lords and hid in the forests, becoming outlaws.
Aradia taught a different religion than that of the corrupt Catholic Church at the time. The church grew fat on the backs of the poor, thus deserving the arts of witchcraft against them. The arts included the classic witches’ arsenal of using poisons. Curses also were thrown at the church and the nobles. Aradia cursed the God of the church as well:
And when the priests or the nobilityShall say to you that you should put your faithIn the Father, Son, and Mary, then reply: ‘Your God, the Father, and Maria areThree devils…For the true God the Father is not yours;For I have come to sweep away the bad,The men of evil, all will I destroy!’
Aradia then went on to teach the Craft of the Witch:
When I shall have departed from this world,Whenever ye have need of anything,Once in the month, and when the moon is full,Ye shall assemble in some desert place, Or in a forest all together join to adore the potent spirit of your Queen – my mother, the great Diana; she who fain would learn all sorcery yet has not won its deepest secrets, them my mother will teach her: the truth all things as yet unknown. And ye shall all be freed from slavery. And as a sign that ye are truly free, ye shall be naked in your rites, both men and women also. This shall last until the last of your oppressors shall be dead…
To undermine the political narrative of our Craft is to ignore what our deities and daimons are all about. The Craft is not mediocre. The Craft does not sit and wait out the troubles which affect everyone. No, the Craft is about action. Yes, many of us have the ethos of “An it harm none, do what ye will.” But we must remember that is is a rede: advice. A guideline. It is not a commandment. It is not set in stone. We must look to our personal power and conscience to make these decisions. We cannot stand by and do nothing (and that is a political decision as well). What do you stand for?
Aradia was and is the hero of the outlaw, the castaways, the poor, and the oppressed. One cannot worship her without taking all of this into account. The spirit of Aradia should live on in the heart of the witch. It is our voices that cannot be silenced. It is our magics which cannot be stale. We live in a world that cares little-to-nothing for the marginalized. All around the world, regimes stand ready to destroy what little we have when it comes to Climate Change, the stark and unbelievably wide spectrum between the filthy rich and the poor, classism, anti-LGBTQIA decrees, and those escaping the horror of war.
Your witchcraft has always been political. It’s time we invoke the spirit of Aradia in order to free ourselves and others from the yolk of oppression. Remember:
We are Aradia!
Eirene kai Hugieia!
(Peace and Health!)
Oracle
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Aradia: Or the Gospel of the Witches of Italy by Charles Leland. One of the most influential books on modern witchcraft.
#Metoo
Have you seen this hashtag lately? It’s all over social media. The purpose of the hashtag is to bring awareness to the fact that women have been sexually harassed and/or sexually assaulted. The more the hashtag appeared on my feed, the more I realized that all of the powerful women I know were brought down to their knees by the simple fact that “No” was not enough. Men are a threat. They always have been. Even in places where women are empowered, men are still a threat.
The Legend
Aradia is considered by many in Neopaganism and modern Witchcraft as a demigod Hero (even a Goddess). Her legend can be found in Leland’s “Aradia, Or the Gospel of the Witches of Italy.” According to the Mythos, the Goddess Diana made love to Her brother Lucifer. Lucifer is the God of the Sun, the Moon, and Splendor. At the time that Aradia was set to be born, many were rich but many more were poor. The poor were slaves. This situation is similar today.
The Mission
Aradia is the daughter of Diana and Lucifer. She is the enigmatic Hero and Goddess who was commissioned by Her Mother to come down to Earth and teach the art of Witchcraft to the masses: both women and men. The poor, the oppressed, the outcast: these are the people to whom Aradia was sent to empower. The slaves of the rich. The oppression of women threatens them with a type of slavery (or, in many cases in other countries, they are). Mental, emotional, and physical pain often find their way to them via the violence of men. Around the world in such places as India and Afghanistan women are consistent targets of rapes and murders. Here in the United States women’s rights have been rolled back by pompous men who seem to denigrate women’s own choices on sex and healthcare.
Her mission, in all, was to bring liberty. How? She passed onto them Magic. Magic to oppress your enemies, to manipulate the weather, to cause their enemies’ crops to die, and even cause the death of their oppressors.
But Harm None?
Sorry folks, but this was pre-Rede. Witchcraft is grit and dirt. It is steeped in the power of Nature melded with the capabilities of the human mind. The Rede should not apply when you are being targeted because of your gender. It’s time to fight back. Use all of your power and influence. It’s time to reclaim your birthright as a Daughter of Aradia…nay, the spirit of Aradia Herself dwells within you.
Aradia was beautiful as she was dangerous. So are you. Women have ultimate power over their own bodies. They should have power in the workplace, in the home, and in every inch of their lives. Women are the oppressed gender, make no mistake about that. To deny it is to silence their voices. It is to be hypocritical.
“But I am not the oppressor!”
it is not just about you being an oppressor or not. It is about awareness. It is about knowing that women on the daily experience harassment of some kind. Some men laugh about it. Some men ignore it. Others perpetuate it, eventually taking it beyond levels with simple “fun” into aggression and violence.
As a man in the Craft, I know I am part of a religion which gives strength and voices to women. But that doesn’t make me guiltless. How many times have I jokingly laughed at what I thought was funny but turned out it wasn’t okay with her? How many times did I refuse to pay attention when others did the same? How many times did I make an innocent remark that was uncalled for? It doesn’t always matter with your intent. What matters is how women deal with this on a daily basis and now they have to put up with you too. They may say it’s fine, but they may say it because they are afraid to lose their job or to even entertain conflict. To be viewed as a troublemaker, a bitch, a whining girl.
Men, now is the time to step up and say “I believe you.” Women are Aradia. They embody Her power and spirit. They need their voices heard. They need us to step back from the conversation about what is right for them and let them take charge of it…without your input. It’s not always needed. It’s definitely not always wanted. Remember whenever a woman needs to find their personal power, that she is the body and soul of the Goddess.
The Cave of Oracle 