Girolamo Tartarotti
Encyclopedia
Girolamo Tartarotti was an Italian author.
He is notable for his Congresso notturno delle lammie (1749) and Apologia del Congresso notturno delle lammie (1751) in which he attacked belief in the existence of witches as depicted by the Church. Tartarotti rejected the idea of supernatural powers related to the popular notion of witchcraft. He argued that supernatural witchcraft is mostly superstition and its effects imaginary, but that practicers of sorcery certainly existed. He suggested that such beliefs derived from a pre-Christian cult of the goddess Diana
, which has been popularized in the 1970s by Leo Martello
, who was among the first Italian Americans to reveal a specifically Italian branch of witchcraft known as Stregheria
that some commentators regard as neopaganism
. In the latter half of the 20th century Stregheria
was written about in greater detail by pagan scholar Raven Grimassi
who demonstrated its similarities and differences when compared to Wicca
as depicted by such authors as Gerald Gardner
.
He is notable for his Congresso notturno delle lammie (1749) and Apologia del Congresso notturno delle lammie (1751) in which he attacked belief in the existence of witches as depicted by the Church. Tartarotti rejected the idea of supernatural powers related to the popular notion of witchcraft. He argued that supernatural witchcraft is mostly superstition and its effects imaginary, but that practicers of sorcery certainly existed. He suggested that such beliefs derived from a pre-Christian cult of the goddess Diana
Diana (mythology)
In Roman mythology, Diana was the goddess of the hunt and moon and birthing, being associated with wild animals and woodland, and having the power to talk to and control animals. She was equated with the Greek goddess Artemis, though she had an independent origin in Italy...
, which has been popularized in the 1970s by Leo Martello
Leo Martello
Leo Martello was an author, lecturer, gay civil rights activist, and an early voice in the American Neopagan movement. He drew heavily on his Sicilian heritage, teaching the Strega Tradition which was named after the Italian word for Witch....
, who was among the first Italian Americans to reveal a specifically Italian branch of witchcraft known as Stregheria
Stregheria
Stregheria is a form of ethnic Italian form of Wicca originating in the United States, popularized by Raven Grimassi since the 1980s. Stregheria is sometimes referred to as La Vecchia Religione The word stregheria is an archaic Italian word for "witchcraft", the modern Italian word being...
that some commentators regard as neopaganism
Neopaganism
Neopaganism is an umbrella term used to identify a wide variety of modern religious movements, particularly those influenced by or claiming to be derived from the various pagan beliefs of pre-modern Europe...
. In the latter half of the 20th century Stregheria
Stregheria
Stregheria is a form of ethnic Italian form of Wicca originating in the United States, popularized by Raven Grimassi since the 1980s. Stregheria is sometimes referred to as La Vecchia Religione The word stregheria is an archaic Italian word for "witchcraft", the modern Italian word being...
was written about in greater detail by pagan scholar Raven Grimassi
Raven Grimassi
Raven Grimassi is the pen name of an Italian-American author, publishing on the topics of Neo-paganism and witchcraft. He is perhaps best known for his popularization of Stregheria, a neopagan revival of "Italian witchcraft"....
who demonstrated its similarities and differences when compared to Wicca
Wicca
Wicca , is a modern Pagan religious movement. Developing in England in the first half of the 20th century, Wicca was popularised in the 1950s and early 1960s by a Wiccan High Priest named Gerald Gardner, who at the time called it the "witch cult" and "witchcraft," and its adherents "the Wica."...
as depicted by such authors as Gerald Gardner
Gerald Gardner
Gerald Brousseau Gardner , who sometimes used the craft name Scire, was an influential English Wiccan, as well as an amateur anthropologist and archaeologist, writer, weaponry expert and occultist. He was instrumental in bringing the Neopagan religion of Wicca to public attention in Britain and...
.