Customer Reviews

Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Unfortunately, I must agree with most of the reviewers and say that this book has very little to offer. Leland's Aradia book is already widely available by the orignal author. Drew basically offers a reprint of what is already widely available elsewhere, but adds his name to the work. The only difference between the original is that Drew includes his comments, which actually contribute very little to the book as a whole. He does not seem to possess more than a knodding acquaintance with the material, and so his additions seem to serve little usefulness for the reader.

The promotional blurbs for this book purports it to be something new, informative, and refreshing for those already familiar with Leland's material. Sadly, the author provides nothing to substantiate the hype for this book. It is instead a lackluster presentation of some rather mediocre musings on the part of the author. As someone interested in Leland's Aradia, I was very disappointed with the book.

If you do not already have one of the two dozen versions of Aradia already available, purchase this one. There is not much new in Aradia because it was written over 100 years ago. But if it is not already on your shelf and you do not want to spend forty bucks for the long winded much expounded upon version, this is the one that should be there. I found the new commentary very refreshing but too short. Fortunately, there was enough to bring Aradia up with the times. Prior to the new commentary, this book was an easy target for people who would use it to prove Wiccans worship Satan. Now there is a copy of Aradia that explains references within the book to Lucifer, the Devil, and other scary figures. However, the publisher is a bit misleading. Claiming the book has new material does not generally refer to commentary by a new author. I like the book, I like the new commentary, but it looses a star with me because I think the publisher tried to pull the wool over my eyes by implying there was more to the 100 year old publication than was previously published.

This book was really, really, disappointing. There wasn't much to it at all, and certainly nothing new. After reading it I had to wonder why it was presented as "Aradia as you've never seen it before!" When that is said, isn't it supposed to mean that the reader will receive something new and enlightening? I really hate the "bait and switch" game.

Mostly the author offered small tid bits, in a 101 style, about general Greek and Roman myths that were sort of related to the material. But it doesn't seem like the author had much to really say on his own. So basically, it's really just a reprint of Leland's widely available book with some common bits and pieces tossed in. Nothing here for the collector of Leland's work (unless you don't already have a copy of his Aradia) and nothing here of interest for the folklorist or reader interested in Italian Witchcraft.

The marketing blurb for this book stated: "With an introduction and new material by A. J. Drew, this is Aradia as never presented before." I took that as a good thing and bought this book. After reading it, the Publisher is right, it is Aradia as never presented before. Unfortunately in this case it means Aradia at its poorest.

Essentially this book is a reprint of Leland's original book on Aradia, mistranslations and all. The preface and introduction are mediocre and give us no new insights or anything remarkable at all.

With each of Leland's chapters, Drew provides some commentaries. These range from as little as one paragraph to a maximum of ten (but the average is about four). Here Drew presents his knowledge and understanding of both Italian Witchcraft/culture and Greco-Roman mythology, which struck me as extremely surface knowledge at best. If the author knew more, well, then I guess he apparently decided not to share it with his readers.

Anyone interested in the Aradia material, Italian lore, or new insights into Leland's work will be quite disappointed by this sketchy and seemingly half-hearted work. If you're looking for what this book promised to be, but failed to deliver, then try Pazzaglini's translation of Aradia or any of the books by Grimassi on Italian Witchcraft.

Hello, my name is Hrafen Starbourne, and I am the editor of Samhain Song Press, the publisher of the version of ARADIA on this Amazon product page. Please note that the Samhain Song Press edition of the classic work of Pagan/Witchcraft scholarship is 100% true to the Leland's original text, and has in no way been added to, subtracted from or altered in any way. This is ARADIA as Leland meant it to be read, and as Gerald Gardner, Doreen Valiente and other pioneers of the modern Wiccan religion read it and found in its pages their inspiration to bring Goddess religion back into the world. Please don't be put off by reviews referencing another edition of ARADIA. This is not the A. J. Drew version, and no "new preface" has been added. What you will find in the Samhain Song Press edition is pure Leland, expounding with inimitable 19th Century poetic passion upon his discoveries concerning ancient Italian Witchcraft. ARADIA is a must-read/must-study text for all serious Wiccans/Pagans, and this is a very fine (and affordable)edition for your magickal library!

By the way -- If you got an Amazon Kindle wireless reading device for Yule, don't miss the Samhain Song Press Kindle edition of this title!

I think it is important that everyone should know that this is NOT the A. J. Drew edition of Aradia that is being blasted by a number of reviews on this page. I don't know why those other reviews are here. This Samhain Song Press edition of this Witchcraft classic by Charles Leland is meticulously true to the original, and has no new preface or introduction by anybody in the modern neopagan movement. Even the original cover has been reproduced for this version, though I think it is actually from the interior flyleaf of the 1899 original. It's still neat, though. Don't be misled by the one and two star ratings on this page -- they are for another book entirely. I agree that Drew's version of Aradia from 2004 or so was not all it was advertised to be, but that is not so of this edition. It does not claim to have new material, but rather to be Leland's original text in its entirety, just as Leland himself presented it to the world over 100 years ago. Leland's Aradia and Margaret Alice Murray's Witch-Cult in Western Europe were the two prime sources of inspiration for Gerald Gardner, Doreen Valiente and other 20th Century originators of modern Wicca. There is a nifty edition of Murray's Witch-Cult, by the way, that is also available from Samhain Song Press, but only the Kindle edition has shown up on Amazon so far. Both Aradia and Witch-Cult are titles everyone calling themselves Wiccan should read, if only to gain insight into the true roots of the movement, which is revealed in these books to be about as far away from "fluffy bunny" as it is possible to get. Aradia, for example, is full of wonderful spells that require the witch to threaten the gods and the like, and Witch-Cult has reports from Inquisition witchcraft trials of people suckling frog-like familiars from hidden teats in secret places on their bodies... Ultra-fluffy Silver Ravenwolf would convert to X-ianity confronted by either of these books (or anything even vaguely resembling real magick, for that matter), and if the thought of that pleases you as much as it does me, you simply MUST read Aradia!

I'd recommend the book...but not from this "author." He or she has released other public domain works with a bit of dabbling here and there, and what with the name "Raven Starhawk Cunningham," do you really think he or she is out to do much but make money?

There are other versions of Aradia already available but, along with Culpeper's and Murray's The God of the Witches, this author is releasing other people's books in what can only be seen as an attempt to cash in. Amazon has all of these works available by other publishers, and I would go there first.

I ordered this book as part of the required reading in a course of study I am doing on Wicca. I have not finished it, though it is a short book, mainly because I find it a depressing attitude toward Wicca. The ancients commanded and threatened their dieties to get what they wanted. Maybe I am reading into it more or less than it is and I plan to go back and re-read it during the course of study to see if my attitude changes. I would not have purchased it if not for the required reading.

I liked this book, from a historical view point... OK, maybe it is not your typical modern Wicca book, but it gives a plausible historical context for the modern practice of Strega, or Roman witchcraft. Slaves escaped, they hid in the hills, they hated the "Establishment", and their Paganism developed into a magickal craft focused on curses, hexes and getting what they wanted. Makes sense, and this book at least provides food for thought!

Drew provides an important introduction to Charles Leland's classic Aradia Or The Gospel Of The Witches, an exploration of Italian witchcraft. Leland originally sought to contact practicing Italian witches: his contact with one Maddelena led to his understanding of witches in an 1800s world. A fine, classic presentation enriched by Drew's understanding.