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.

Terminology

Stregheria is an antiquated word for Witchcraft in the Toscano dialect of the Italian language. The term comes from the Italian strega ('witch' or 'hag'), itself descended from the Latin word strix or striga ('owl', to which the connection between owls and Witchcraft perhaps owes its origin; the latter form is applied exclusively to a blood-drinking night spirit). It is related to the Romanian strigoi, referring to undead vampires. While the relationship appears to be merely etymological, there are noteworthy thematic commonalities in folklore, albeit rather vague and relatively minor.

Related Topics:
Witchcraft - Italian language - Strega - Strix - Owl - Romanian - Strigoi

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Regardless of the negative connotations of the word, it was nonetheless popularized by C.G. Leland's book entitled Aradia or the Gospel of the Witches published in 1899.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The modern word for "witchcraft" in the official dialect of the Italian language is stregoneria. However, even today many secular internet translation services, such as babelfish, will translate "stregheria" as "witchcraft".

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Female practitioners of Stregheria are called Strega, male practitioners are called Stregone, and the modern neutral term is Streghe (which was actually feminine in Old Italian).

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~