THE ARICIAN TRADITION

The Arician Tradition is one of many types of witchcraft systems with roots in the Aegean/Mediterranean region.  Specifically, the Arician Tradition is an Italian system and as such belongs to the classification of Stregheria, the Old Religion.   Several folklorists during the latter half of the 1800's independently investigated Italian Witchcraft as it existed during this period in three different regions of Italy, and found many striking similarities despite the regional differences of dialect and folk custom.  The most noted of these folklorists were Lady De Vere, Roma Lister, Charles Leland, and J.B. Andrews.   J.B. Andrews reported that the Witches of Naples were divided into special departments of the art.  He listed two as adepts in the art of earth and sea magic. Later in the article it is implied that a third specialty may have existed related to the stars. Andrews also wrote that Neapolitan Witches perform knot magic, create medicinal herbal potions, construct protective amulets, and engage in the arts of healing.

 Andrews concludes his article by saying that the information was collected directly from Italian Witches. Here he states that when asked of them what books they gathered their information from, the Witches replied that their knowledge was entirely traditional, and is "given by the mother to the daughter." The Witches also tell Andrews that blood is exchanged from a vein in the arm, and the new member is given a mark under the left thigh. Although the moon is not specifically mentioned, the Witches do report to Andrews that such ceremonies are performed at midnight.

In addition to J.B Andrews, we also have Italian Folklorist Lady Vere de Vere's accounts of Italian Witchcraft as she encountered it in the Italian region of Tyrol. In an interesting article found in La Rivista of Rome (published June 1894) Lady de Vere tells us that "the community of Italian witches is regulated by laws, traditions, and customs of the most secret kind, possessing special recipes for sorcery."

 The ancient Roman poet Horace gives us perhaps the earliest accounts of Italian Witches and their connection to a lunar sect.  In the Epodes of Horace, written around 30 BC, he tells the tale of an Italian witch named Canidia. Horace says that Proserpine and Diana grant power to Witches who worship them, and that Witches gather in secret to perform the mysteries associated with their worship. He speaks of a Witches' book of Incantations (Libros Carminum) through which the Moon may be "called down" from the sky. Other ancient Roman writers such as Lucan and Ovid produced works that clearly support the same theme. This would seem to indicate that during this Era such beliefs about Witches and Witchcraft were somewhat common knowledge. We know from the writings of Roman times that Proserpine and Diana were worshiped at night in secret ceremonies. Their worshipers gathered at night beneath the full moon and shunned the cities where the solar gods ruled. Diana was a Roman Moon Goddess known earlier in Greece as Artemis; twin sister of Apollo God of the Sun. 

In his book, The World of Witches, anthropologist Julio Baroja reveals evidence of a flourishing cult in southern Europe that worshiped Diana during the 5th and 6th Centuries AD. In the author's notes for chapter 4 he adds that the cult also worshiped a male deity called Dianum. Transcripts from Witch trials in Italy indicate a connection between Witches and the goddess Diana spanning several centuries. 

In the Journal of Social History (volume 28, 1995) we find a fascinating article written by Sally Scully, Department of History at San Francisco University. The article details certain aspects of a Witchcraft trial in 17th century Venice. The trial itself focuses upon a woman named Laura Malipero. In 1654, her home is searched by the Captain of the Sant'Ufficio, an arm of the Inquisition. Discovered were several crudely written spells along with sophisticated herbals and copies of an occult book known as the Clavicle of Solomon. The Roman Inquisition in 1640 had banned this particular book.  The Inquisition noted the presence of copies in various stages of completion, and concluded that a copying process was taking place in her home. 

What is of interest here is the historical documentation of 17th century Italian Witches hand‑copying spells and manuscripts of a magical nature. If nothing else, this serves as partial evidence that Italian Witches were passing magical traditions through personal hand written books (what Wiccans would call a Book of Shadows). This lends credence to the claims of family Witches that centuries old oral and written knowledge has been passed down through the generations. If Laura and her family were involved in such endeavors, it's extremely likely others were as well. The existence of hand copied books by Witches also later appears in Gardnerian Wicca.  In Leland's Gospel of Aradia he refers several times to material recorded in writing by Italian Witches. 

According to oral tradition, witches took refuge in Masonic groups and other secret societies.  In order to survive, the Cult went underground, meeting only in secret and creating strict laws to ensure non‑discovery. This secrecy continued through the early 19th century.  Italian Witches joined Masonic groups both to protect themselves and to continue the ancient practices with other Witches. Masonic influences in the witches' Craft are readily recognized by a simple examination of modern practices. One secret society in Italy known as the Carbonari included Masons among its membership, and possessed three degrees of initiation marked by colored cords or ribbons: blue, red and black. A triangle marked the first degree level.  The Carbonari claimed to have been based upon the Roman Mystery Cult of Mithra, and eventually established a lodge in Scotland circa 1820.  The major influence on various Masonic groups in the British Isles (such as the Good Fellows) came from an early Italian Masonic order known as the Comacini, which also had an impact upon the Rosicrucians.  As a result many elements of ancient Aegean/Mediterranean concepts took root in various secret societies within the British Isles such as the Fellowship of Crotona, which influenced Gerald Gardner and the Tradition he and others later developed

A Hermetic group in Naples also influenced modern Stregheria. This group was called Fratellanza Terapeutico‑Magica di Myriam (the Magical Therapeutic Brotherhood of Myriam) and was founded in Naples by a man named Guilian Kremmerz. On March 20, 1896 the Brotherhood of Myriam drew up a constitution and commenced formal instruction. The basic structure of the Order's practices was based upon natural magnetic properties found in all living things as well as in the earth itself. The Order taught that all things were balanced within a polarity structure. Healing through electromagnetic properties of the body was one of the primary practices of the Brotherhood.  The Brotherhood of Myriam taught the concept of the aura, an energy field surrounding the body. It also instructed its members concerning the lunar body. The lunar body was believed to form from the emotional state of an individual, creating an energy body within the aura. The lunar body, in this context, is the occult or spiritual counterpart to the electromagnetic energy field known as the aura. The Order of Myriam also instructed its members on the astral dimensions and various practices associated astral workings. Although such concepts were previously well known to Italian Witches, the Brotherhood supplied terms and labels that were later adopted into Stregheria.