Editing Aradia (section)

==Neopaganism==
Aradia has become an important figure in witchcraft including [[Wicca]] and other forms of Neo-Paganism. Some [[Wicca#Traditions|Wiccan traditions]] use the name ''Aradia'' as one of the names of the [[Triple Goddess (Neopaganism)|Great Goddess]], [[Moon Goddess]], or "Queen of the Witches".<ref>{{cite book | author=Farrar, Janet and Stewart | title=Eight Sabbats for Witches | publisher =Robert Hale | year=1983 | isbn=0-919345-26-3}}</ref>

Portions of Leland's text influenced the [[Gardnerian]] [[Book of Shadows]], especially the [[Charge of the Goddess]].<ref>Valiente, Doreen. ''The Rebirth of Witchcraft'' (1989).</ref> [[Alex Sanders (Wiccan)|Alex Sanders]] invoked Aradia as a moon goddess in the 1960s. [[Janet Farrar|Janet]] and [[Stewart Farrar]] used the name in their ''Eight Sabbats for Witches'' and ''The Witches' Way''.<ref>Farrar, Janet and Stewart. ''Eight Sabbats for Witches'' (1981). {{ISBN|0-919345-26-3}}. ''The Witches Way'' (1984). {{ISBN|978-0-7090-1293-1}}</ref> Aradia was invoked in spellcraft in Z. Budapest's ''The Holy Book of Women's Mysteries''.<ref>Budapest, Z. ''The Holy Book of Women's Mysteris: Complete in One Volume'' (1980, 1989), First Wingbo edition 1989, pp. 23, 27, 44. {{ISBN|978-0-914728-67-2}}.</ref>

Aradia is a central figure in [[Stregheria]], an "ethnic Italian" form of Wicca introduced by Raven Grimassi in the 1980s. Grimassi claims that there was a historical figure called "Aradia di Toscano", whom he portrays as the founder of a revivalist religion of Italian witchcraft in the 14th century. Grimassi claims that Leland's ''Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches'' is a "distorted Christianized version" of the story of Aradia.<ref>{{cite web | title=Stregheria.com FAQ | url=http://stregheria.com/FAQ.html | access-date=October 13, 2005 | archive-date=May 22, 2006 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060522185828/http://www.stregheria.com/FAQ.html | url-status=dead }}</ref>

Neo-Pagan narratives of  Aradia include ''The Book of the Holy Strega'' (1981), by Raven Grimassi; ''The Gospel of Diana'' (1993), by Aidan Kelly; and ''Secret Story of Aradia'', by Myth Woodling (2001).<ref>Woodling, Myth (2001), [http://www.jesterbear.com/Aradia/secret.html ''Secret Story of Aradia''], from www.AradiaGoddess.com</ref>

In 1992, [[Aidan Kelly]], co-founder of the [[New Reformed Orthodox Order of the Golden Dawn]], distributed a document titled ''The Gospel of Diana'' (a reference to ''Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches''{{ref|Baldassare}}). The text contained a list of mother and daughter [[priest]]esses who had taught religious [[witchcraft]] through the centuries. Instead of Leland's goddess Diana and her messianic daughter Aradia, Kelly's text described mortal human beings. The priestesses' names alternated between ''Aradia'' and ''Diana''.{{ref|Kelly}} Magliocco describes the character of Aradia in Kelly's accompanying narrative as "a notably [[sexual desire|erotic]] character; according to her teachings, the [[Human sexual behavior|sexual]] act becomes not only an expression of the divine life force, but an act of resistance against all forms of oppression and the primary focus of [[ritual]]". Magliocco also notes that the text "has not achieved broad diffusion in contemporary Pagan circles".{{ref label|Magliocco|4|a}}