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Synopsis
When Charles Godfrey Leland published "Aradia or the Gospel of the Witches" at the end of the nineteenth century as the crowning product of his Italian researches of the 1880s and 1890s, he believed he was preserving what remained of an ancient but dying tradition before it was too late. He could not have known that in so doing he was providing one of the key source-books which would inspire a vigorous revival of the tradition half a century after his death. Had he been able to foresee it, he would have been astonished, probably amused, and almost certainly gratified; for in spite of the occasional Victorian caution with which he expressed himself, his research was clearly a labour of love.

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Aradia: Or Gospel of the Witches by Charles G. Leland £7.19

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews   20 of 21 people found the following review helpful: Well researched and detailed work on the Aradia Manuscript., 30 Dec 2001 By  Stephen (WASHINGTON, Tyne Wear United Kingdom) - See all my reviews This book is a very well researched work upon the subject of the Aradia manuscript - the editors are very well acquainted with the dialects of the Romagna, essential for the proper translation of the work - this volume gives a number of translations alongside the Italian and ends with a new version which does shed more light on this ancient work. Aradia has been gathered from many different sources and is properly a compendium of chants probably handed down from Etruscan times. The book includes other collected works not included in the Aradia manuscript. This volume is very scholarly - it is a serious work far removed from the usual popular "potted history" books. The more serious students of Wicca and Witchcraft will find this volume of great interest - it needs patience - but what worthwhile persuit does not. I recommend this book and its companion Etruscan Roman Remains to all who would seek to know more about the very earliest foundations of the modern Wiccan Movement. Blessings Steve  Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? (Report this)   6 of 15 people found the following review helpful: A work of entertainment, 3 Jun 2004 By A Customer This review is from: Aradia: Or Gospel of the Witches (Paperback) No doubt it's a fun book to read. And it is certainly an important book in the history of modern paganism: it's a prop for those arrogating the seniority of "ancient wisdom" to Wicca. But let's not distract ourselves with claims that this is a convincing work of scholarship. It isn't. It was largely a concoction by Leland himself. Certainly his gloss or spin is paramount. While it has at its core a fascinating set of folklore about Italian rural people's beliefs about witches, it does not present historical evidence of "traditional witchcraft". Wicca began in the 50s; its antecedence is far more complex, and interesting, than the facile, naive myth of unbroken descent from the neolithic which that delightful trickster Gardner and his acolytes propagandised.  Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? (Report this) › See all 2 customer reviews...		Search Customer Reviews Only search this product's reviews