Aradia by Charles G Leland

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Aradia by Charles G Leland

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Aradia by Charles G Leland

Before Gerald Gardner ever thought to write his first book, there was an explorer named Charles Leland who felt he could discover and preserve the secrets of Italian Witchcraft. Leland's original quest was to make contact with practicing Italian Witches. After years of trying he met one by the name of Maddelena, who transmitted to him the teachings he was searching for. The words (stories) have become The Aradia or the Gospel of the Witches. This manuscript, reportedly handed down in an oral tradition, was later translated and published in the late 1800's.

Today, a great amount of debate exists over whether or not Aradia was an authentic representation of Italian Witchcraft at the time Leland published the manuscript. Some go so far as to argue that Maddelena never really existed. While it is true that Maddelena's involvement with Leland can not be proven the fact remains that even with an uncertain origin, Aradia is one of the most important manuscripts available to the Pagan community. Even if it does not reflect the ideology of a hidden tradition of Italian Witchcraft, it most definitely presents such a powerful message that even today its words are found repeatedly in various literature. In fact, it is the foundation for one of the most powerful and well-known documents in modern Pagan lore, The Charge of the Goddess.

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Charles Godfrey Leland (August 15, 1824 - March 20, 1903) was an American humorist and folklorist, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was educated at Princeton University and in Europe. Leland worked in journalism, travelled extensively, and became interested in folklore and folk linguistics, publishing books and articles on American and European languages and folk traditions. By the end of his life shortly after the turn of the century, Leland had worked in a wide variety of trades, achieved recognition as the author of the comic Hans Breitmann's Ballads, fought in two conflicts, and had written what was to become a primary source text for Neopaganism half a century later, Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches. Leland travelled widely, eventually settling in London. In his travels, he made a study of the Gypsies, on whom he wrote more than one book. Leland began to publish a number of books on ethnography, folklore and language. His fame during his lifetime rested chiefly on his comic Hans Breitmann's Ballads (1871), written in a combination of broken English and German (not to be confused, as it often has been, with Pennsylvania German). His writings on Algonquian and gypsy culture were part of the contemporary interest in pagan and Aryan traditions. He erroneously claimed to have discovered 'the fifth Celtic tongue': the form of Cant, spoken among Irish Travellers. He named it Shelta. Leland became president of the English Gypsy-Lore Society in 1888. Eleven years later Godfrey produced Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches.
SKU Unavailable
ISBN 13 9781564146793
ISBN 10 1564146790
Title Aradia
Author Charles G Leland
Condition Unavailable
Binding Type Paperback
Publisher Red Wheel/Weiser
Year published 2003-07-02
Number of pages 160
Cover note Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.

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