Editing Aradia (section)

==Folklore==
The Italian form of the name ''[[Herodias]]'' is ''Erodiade''. It appears that Herodias, the wife of [[Herod Antipas]], in [[Christianity]] of the [[Early Middle Ages]], came to be seen as a spirit condemned to wander the sky forever due to her part in the death of [[John the Baptist]], permitted only to rest in treetops between midnight and dawn.

By the [[High Middle Ages]], this figure seems to have become attached to the train of nymphs of [[Diana (mythology)|Diana]], now also seen as a host of spirits flying through the night across the Italian countryside. Other names attached to the night flight of Herodias included ''Minerva'' and ''Noctiluca''.<ref>Rosemary Ellen Guiley, The Encyclopedia of Witches and Witchcraft, 1989</ref> The [[Canon Episcopi|canon ''Episcopi'']] is a passage from the work ''De ecclesiasticis disciplinis'' by [[Regino of Prüm]] (written {{Circa|906}}). It became notable as a paragraph of [[canon law]] dealing with witchcraft by the 12th century. Regino reports that there were groups of  women who believed that they could go on night journeys where they would fly across the sky to meet Diana and her train. The name of Herodias is not present in the text as attributed to Regino, but in the version by [[Burchard of Worms]], written c. 1012, the reference to Diana (''cum Diana paganorum dea'') was augmented by "or with Herodias" (''vel cum Herodiade'').<ref>Sabina Magliocco (2002). 'Who Was Aradia? The History and Development of a Legend' in ''The Pomegranate: The Journal of Pagan Studies'', Issue 18.</ref> Magliocco (2002) suggests that the legends surrounding this figure, known as ''Aradia'', ''Arada'' or ''Araja'', spread throughout various areas of Italy, and she traced records that showed that two beings known as ''s'Araja dimoniu'' (Araja the demon) and ''s'Araja justa'' (Araja the just) were found in [[Sardinia]]. Magliocco believed that the latter of these two figures, ''s'Araja justa'', was the antecedent of a supernatural witch-like figure known as ''sa Rejusta'' in Sardinian folklore.<ref>Magliocco, Sabina (2009). 'Aradia in Sardinia: The Archaeology of a Folk Character' in ''Ten Years of Triumph of the Moon''. Hidden Publishing. Page 54-55.</ref> [[Judika Illes]], in her ''Encyclopedia of Spirits'', noted: "Although venerated elsewhere in Europe, Herodias was especially beloved in Italy. She and Diana are the goddesses most frequently mentioned in witch-trial transcripts and were apparently worshipped together".<ref>Iles, Judika. ''Encyclopedia of Spirits: The Ultimate Guide to the Magic of Fairies, Genies, Demons, Ghosts, Gods & Goddesses'' (2009). {{ISBN|978-0-06-135024-5}}</ref>

The Romanian historian of religion [[Mircea Eliade]] also noted that ''Arada'', along with ''Irodiada'', was a name used for a Romanian folkloric Queen of [[Zână|the Fairies]] (''Doamna Zînelor''), who he believed was a "metamorphosis of Diana". She was viewed as the patroness of a secretive group of dancers known as the [[calusari]] who operated up until at least the 19th century.<ref>[[Mircea Eliade|Eliade, Mircea]] (February 1975). "Some Observations on European Witchcraft" in ''History of Religions'' Volume 14, Number 3. Page 160-161.</ref>

===Leland's Aradia===
{{main|Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches|Witch-cult hypothesis}}
In 1899, the American folklorist [[Charles Godfrey Leland]] published ''[[Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches]]'', a book which he claimed was the religious text belonging to a group of Tuscan witches who venerated Diana as the Queen of the Witches. He also claimed that he had been given the book by a Tuscan woman named Maddalena, although historians such as [[Ronald Hutton]] have disputed the truth of these such claims.

''Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches'' begins with the tale of Aradia's birth to Diana and [[Lucifer]], who is described as "the god of the Sun and of the Moon, the god of Light (Splendour), who was so proud of his beauty, and who for his pride was driven from Paradise". Diana instructs Aradia to "go to earth below / To be a teacher unto women and men / Who fain would study witchcraft." When Aradia descends, she becomes the first of all [[witch]]es, and promises her students that "ye shall all be freed from slavery, / And so ye shall be free in everything."<ref>{{cite book | author=Leland, Charles Godfrey | title=Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches | url=https://archive.org/details/aradiaorgospelw00lelagoog | publisher =David Nutt | year=1899 | isbn=1-56414-679-0 }} Chapter I</ref>

Aradia is described as having continuing power to affect the world after she returns to the sphere of Diana. For example, in "A Spell to Win Love", the "Invocation to Diana" asks Diana to send her daughter Aradia to perform the magic.<ref>Leland, [[wikisource:Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches Chapter II|Chapter II]]</ref> Leland's ''Aradia'' has a chapter containing folklore about the night assembly or banquet, titled "The Sabbat: Tregunda or Witch Meeting", which involves Diana.<ref>Leland, Chapter VII</ref> Leland comments in the Appendix, "I also believe that in this Gospel of the Witches we have a trustworthy outline at least of the doctrine and rites observed at these meetings [the witches' Sabbat]. They adored forbidden deities and practised forbidden deeds, inspired as much by rebellion against Society as by their own passions."<ref name="Appendix">Leland, Appendix</ref>

Leland speculates that this folklore ultimately has roots in ancient Etruscan mythology.

Leland also equates Aradia with Herodias, explaining his speculation that Herodias was actually Lilith: "This was not ... derived from the Herodias of the [[New Testament]], but from an earlier replica of [[Lilith]], bearing the same name ... So far back as the sixth century the worship of Herodias and Diana by witches was condemned by a Church Council at Ancyra."<ref>Leland is referring to the Canon Episcopi.{{citation needed|date=July 2015}}</ref> [[Pipernus]] and other writers have noted the evident identification of Herodias with Lilith.<ref name="Appendix" /> Historian [[Ronald Hutton]] suggests in ''Triumph of the Moon'' that this identification with Herodias was inspired by the work of [[Jules Michelet]] in ''[[Satanism and Witchcraft]]''.<ref>{{cite book | first=Ronald | last=Hutton | author-link=Ronald Hutton  | title=Triumph of the Moon | publisher =Oxford University Press | year=2000 | isbn=0-500-27242-5}}</ref> Anthropologist and field folklorist [[Sabina Magliocco]], on the other hand, is willing to consider a connection between the [[Italian language|Italian]] Erodiade (Herodias), the  Cult of Herodias, the night assembly, and Aradia.<ref>
Magliocco, Sabina (2002). "Who Was Aradia?  The History and Development of a Legend", ''The Pomegranate'', volume 18, p. 5–22.</ref>