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What it's All About:
Stregheria is an ancient Pagan tradition that has its roots in Italy. It is a polytheistic spiritual practice that is based on a reverence for nature and the natural world. It is a polytheistic religion that honors the various gods and goddesses of the ancient Roman and Greek pantheons. This witchcraft tradition is a part of pre-Christian Italy and is sometimes called the "old religion". This practice revolves around using magical spells and rituals to divine, heal and protect. The Stregheria Pagan tradition is an ancient and powerful practice that is still relevant today, and that can bring power and purpose to one's life. I will talk more about this tradition in this show.
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Spirit Guide of the Week:
By Marie-Lan Nguyen (2009), CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=8962565.
Janus
Dream Symbol: (There are three)
Photo by Yohann LIBOT on Unsplash.
Undead
Photo by James Toos on Unsplash.
Uniform
Photo by Chien Nguyen Minh on Unsplash.
Unknown
Transcript:
(02:38)
Welcome to another episode of the Music From the Goddess’ Vault Podcast. I am your host, Midnight Starr. You just heard The Pagan World is Back! By the one and only Pagan Rap Gang. On today's show, I'm discussing the Stregheria Pagan Tradition. First, let’s get some stuff out of the way. If you love this podcast, show some support for the Music From the Goddess’ Vault Podcast on glow.fm. You either pay five dollars a month, fifty a year, or just splurge and get a one-time fee of twenty bucks. All you have to do is check it out: http://www.glow.fm/musicfromthegoddessvaultpodcast. You can also make a donation to http://www.ko-fi.com/goddessvault or http://www.patreon.com/goddessvault. Keep up to date with Music From the Goddess’ Vault Podcast by signing up to my newsletter. You'll be in the loop when new shows appear. You can access past episodes by paying $7 a month or $70 a year. Or you can subscribe for free at http://musicgoddessvault.substack.com. That's http://musicgoddessvault.substack.com. If you have any ideas for this show, you can get in touch with me via the blog, https://goddessvault1.wixsite.com/home. Music From the Goddess' Vault Facebook page. Check me out on TikTok at Midnight Starr (with two r's and the number two). Instagram and Twitter @goddessvault. And on Mastodon at @goddessvault@witches.live. I also have another Mastodon instance at midnightstarr2@pagan.plus you can contact me one. Alright, let's talk about the Stregheria Tradition. I am doing this podcast to help those new to paganism understand the various traditions. This is so that you new folks can figure out which tradition speaks to you. And the Stregheria tradition is an intriguing one. First, this one is Italian. And I'm going to talk about what this path is all about on this show. But before we proceed, let's hear Neptune by S. J. Tucker.
(10:39)
Before I tell you about the Stregheria Tradition, let me give you a bit of history about it. Just to let you know, this path is also referred to by practitioners as the “Old Religion.” This spiritual path came from Southern Europe, probably Italy. Stregheria couldn't be found in print until Charles Leland's book, Aradia: The Gospel of Witches. In his writing, he addressed the traditional Italian worship of Diana, the Moon Goddess. It wasn't until the 1960s that Leland's book gained some popularity amongst Italian Americans. It wasn't until the 1970s, with the book Witchcraft by Leo Martello, that the modern movement of the Stregheria Tradition began. In that book, he didn't mention the word Stregheria, but he referred to it as the Strega Tradition. This book was created from Leland's writings about Italian Witchcraft. Back in the 80s, there was this controversial person named Raven Grimassi. He started practicing Gardnerian Wicca in 1969. He was the one who founded the Aridian and Arician traditions. He's a writer of books on Witchcraft, such as Ways of the Strega: Italian Witchcraft: Its Legends, Lore, & Spells, published in 1994. Grimassi wrote about how Gerald Gardner used Stregheria in Wicca. He claims to be from a long line of Italian Witches, according to “Family Tradition”. Therefore, he's quite controversial. Critics are still arguing about this, even today. Next up, I'll go over how the Stregheria Tradition is practiced today. Let's hear Hecate's Wheel with Diana: the Mistress of the Hunt.
(15:50)
It's time for another spirit guide of the week. Going back to Rome to talk about the god Janus. He is literally a two-faced spirit. Janus has the power to see things in all directions and perspectives. He's the one the month of January is named after. The Romans had a feast to celebrate him on the first day of January. This celebration was all about the spirit of beginnings, and it lasted for six days. The point of this festival was to celebrate the new year. Ancient Romans thought Janus had one face looking back on the past year, and the other facing the future. This festival began what we now call New Year's Day. If you want a new start, call on him. Invoke Janus when beginning a new endeavor, adventure, or relationship. Ponder your past. He can help you. What you can place in front of Janus on your altar are: He was traditionally given salted farro wheat. And Ianual, Italian focaccia-style bread made of flour, eggs, oil and cheese. Serve this dish at ritual to thank Janus for a plentiful harvest. That is it for now. Stay tuned for another spirit guide of the week.
(24:27)
That was Janus by Wolfenmond. Stregheria is a mix of Italian Folk Magic and old-time Catholicism found in rural Italian areas. Grimassi's version also has Wicca and other modern pagan practices mixed in. They have two deities that they worship, both a male and female. Practitioners see these two deities as divine lovers. They usually referred to these two as the moon goddess and the horned god, and they have many names, like Jana and Janus. It depends on which tradition Stregheria one practices in. They celebrate the seasonal holiday, do ritual magic, and more. Some practitioners use a pentagram as their symbol, and some traditions have their own ritual tools. Some Stregheria rituals involve gathering in a circle, with the altar facing north, and praying and blessing the food. Grimassi's adaptation of Stregheria is strict in terms of clothing. His tradition requires its practitioners to be skyclad for half of the year. Not everyone who practices this tradition goes nude. Some do wear clothes, just like most of us pagans do. However, like all pagans, not all Stegheria practitioners worship in the same manner. Certain Stegheria believers have decided to move away from what Raven Grimassi crafted. They feel that it's too intertwined with Wicca and Paganism. That's the gist of what Stregheria is about. I included some resources in the show notes, so you can have a look. Let’s hear Spiral Dance with Marooned on Venus.
(29:15)
Here's another dream symbol to interpret. Today’s dream symbols are: Undead, Uniform, and Unknown. If you have a dream (or nightmare) about the undead, it symbolizes your fears and the parts of yourself that you have rejected. Dreaming that you are a member of the undead signifies your failure to express your emotions. Dreaming that you are being pursued or besieged by the undead represents unresolved concerns that you are avoiding. In dreams, uniforms typically represent your desire to fit in or be a member of a group. A nurse's uniform, in dreams, denotes orderliness, kindness, and decency. If you see a school uniform in your dream, it reflects how you identify with your school and your peers. In your dreams, bizarre uniforms worn by people denotes disturbance and confusion. If you see an unknown person in your dreams, it symbolizes a suppressed or hidden aspect of oneself. Being at an unknown location in your dreams denotes changes in your waking life. If you feel scared or bewildered in this unknown location in your dreams, it means you're not prepared for the change. However, if you dreamed you had a good or exciting time while at this unknown location, it may be a sign that you are open to change. If you want a dream symbol to interpret and maybe have a dream symbol featured, I will mention the contact information at the end of this show. So keep dreaming.
(32:44)
Time for another myth. Here's another story from worldoftales.com. This Italian tale is called Sun, Moon, and Talia.
(41:57)
Before the story, you heard a classic from Holly Tannen, Traveler Unknown. That is it for this show. Again, I am your host, Midnight Starr. Got an idea for a show topic, spirit guide or dream symbol? Share it on the website https://goddessvault1.wixsite.com/home, through the Facebook page, TikTok at Midnight Starr with r’s 2, Instagram and Twitter at goddess vault. On Mastodon at goddessvault@witches.live and midnightstarr2@pagan.plus. If you want to help keep this show going, you can donate money to either https://www.ko-fi.com/goddessvault,https://www.patreon.com/goddessvault, or you can become a fan on https://www.glow.fm/goddessvaultpodcast. If you want to be the first to hear the latest episode, you can sign up for the newsletter, https://musicgoddessvault.substack.com.
This last tune I'm playing for you is a request from Magicfolk's Ben Glover. This is their new song, Selkie. Blessed Be.
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