Stregheria

Stregheria, or La Vecchia Religione, is traditionally a quasi-messianic Syncreto-Pagan religion that honors the Roman god Lucifer, the Roman goddess Diana, and their lovechild, the demigoddess Aradia who was sent to earth in human form to offer freedom through witchcraft to the poor and oppressed. It is mainly a Classical Anarchist religion, and can be seen as a direct reaction to the Christianization of Italy and the predominant class system thereof. In fact, Stregherian mythology is filled with strong Anarchist and anti-Christian themes, both literal and allegorical.

Definition

While their current "religion" ? as in the particular set of beliefs and practices that would normally distinguish one religion from the next ? is believed to have originated in the early 1300's CE, Streghe usually cite their faith as being a great deal older. This mainly has to do with the fact that Streghe do not generally accept the concept of "religion" in the finite Judeo-Christian context of the word, as most historical Pagans did not label themselves in the way that modern Abrahamics do, and use the term religion more in the sense of any and all forms of spirituality tied to a particular cultural self-identity. Thusly, "Stregheria", being the Italian word for Witchcraft, is used in a manner that outsiders might find somewhat contradictory, referring essentially to any form of Witchcraft practiced in the approximate geographical area of modern Italy from the first moment that it was distinguishable from Proto-Indo-European (or Pre-Indo-European) paganism onward, eventually culminating in its contemporary manifestation. In some interpretations this may possibly even include Italian Christian witchcraft.

Related Topics:
Proto-Indo-European - Pre-Indo-European - Christian witchcraft

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Therefore, what Streghe think of as Stregheria actually covers a wide spectrum of beliefs and practices, and does not conform to what non-Pagans would think of as a single, distinct religion. One will note that it is in this context that Voodoo and Wicca have claimed to be thousands of years old, even if Wicca has largely retracted these claims due to negative outside pressure. Depending upon one's perspective, this may or may not be related to the fundamentalist Christian phenomenon of believing that Christianity is the world's oldest religion; there are many superficial similarities, but also, as outline above, many important philosophical differences.

Related Topics:
Voodoo - Wicca

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However, contrary to how the term is used in its historical context, most purists, due to the influence of modern sensibilities as to what constitutes a distinct religion, feel that "Stregheria", in its modern context, should only be used to describe the highly tradition-based form they believe to have survived the inquisitions into the modern age. This is the only form of the religion that is consistently and universally agreed upon to be "true" Stregheria, and therefore the form that the bulk of this article deals with in regard to the modern religion. Variations, particularly those found in Raven Grimassi's Neopagan religion of the same name, are described where relevant.

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