Stregheria?

[verlignus]

I am curious if any here have followed the "La Veccia Religione" path or interest. Having gone through a phase myself I found it very interesting and valuable on my path.
Any responses would be welcome.

[Hawkfeathers]

Re: Stregheria?

Hi! That would be me, to a degree. My grandmother was off-the-boat Italian, and, while immersed in Catholicism, there was a whole more more under the surface. Guess I picked up odds & ends as a kid and sort of went with the flow as an adult.

[verlignus]

Re: Stregheria?

Hawkfeathers,
By my understanding, the lore and custom of the ancient peninsula we now call Italy has a strong undercurrent, strong but silent, driven there by the power of a domineering religion. Still waiting to call out to Diana, to take the hand of Aradia at midnight, still yearning to pass on the ways of old.
I would be very interested to hear what aspect of your grandmother you remember.

[Hawkfeathers]

Re: Stregheria?

She knew an awful lot about healing herbs, etc., things like that were passed down. The Catholicism of Italy is more ritualistic and more "in your face" than in the USA. I think I understood it better when I started learning about Paganism than I did in Catechism class! There is a linking there between the two beliefs that doesn't make sense to most people - unless you've "grokked" it for yourself.

[anunitu]

Re: Stregheria?

I also tend to follow the ways of the stregheria. My Mothers Mother was outwardly VERY Catholic,but shortly before her Death she told me about the Old religion. It was much later in my life,when I began exploring paganism that I thought to explore what my Grandmother said to me. I think,looking back that she saw something in me that would make me receptive to the old ways.

I have found that the internet has a LOT of misinformation on the subject,but there are some with interesting insights.

This site covers a lot,but with all things internet related,a pinch of salt might be in order.

http://www.fabrisia.com/index.htm

[anunitu]

Re: Stregheria?

One thing that seems to be very important in Stregheria are the Watchers.

Below is a section from the site I posted on the Watchers.

Sumerian texts repeatedly state that the Anunnaki came to Earth. The Anunnaki were four great Gods who created man: An ['Sky', the source of rain and most powerful of the gods]; Enlil ['Lord Wind', the power in 'Growing Weather']; Ninhursaga ['Lady of the Stony Ground', mother of wildlife]; and Enki [rival of Ninhursaga]. The term 'Anunnaki' literally means 'from or of the sky.' The Annunaki are regarded by some as the Sumerian ‘fates’.

They are spoken of in the Bible as the 'Anakim' and 'Anak' or 'Nefilim' (nephilum). 'Nefilim' (nephilum) in Hebrew means 'giants' or 'those who have fallen'. For reference I offer: The King James Bible; Young's Literal translation; HSV (Hebrew Names version); ASV (American Standard version) and RSV (Revised Standard version). Numbers 13:22, 28 & 33; Deu 1:28, 9:2;

To the Egyptians, the Watchers are Ptah, Anubis, Osiris and Horus. The Egyptians wrote they came to Egypt from Ta-Ur, the 'Far/Foreign Land'. The Egyptian term 'Neteru' means 'guardians'.

The Watchers were a specific race of divine beings known in Hebrew as 'nun resh ayin' or 'irin' meaning 'those who watch' or 'those who are awake', which is translated into Greek as Egrhgoroi egregoris or grigori, meaning 'watchers'. The early books of the Bible speak of some vague heavenly beings called malochim (singular, malach). Although malach is usually translated 'angel', its literal meaning is 'messenger.'

As recounted in the Dead Sea Scrolls: '.....In the days of Jared', two hundred Watchers 'descended' on 'Ardis', the summit of Mount Hermon - a mythical location equated with the triple peak of Jebel esh Sheikh (9,200 feet), placed in the most northerly region of ancient Palestine. On this mountain the Watchers swear an oath and bind themselves by 'mutual imprecations', apparently knowing full well the consequences their actions will have both for themselves and for humanity as a whole. It is a pact commemorated in the name given to the place of their 'fall', for in Hebrew the word Hermon, or harem, translates as 'curse''. 'In time, each of the 200 took an earthly spouse. These unions produced children of extraordinary size, who quickly devoured the world's food. To satisfy their enormous appetites, the angel-children roamed the earth, slaughtering every species of bird, beast, reptile and fish. Finally, the ravenous creatures turned on one another, stripping flesh from the bones of their fellows and slaking their thirst in rivers of blood. As this wave of destruction washed over the earth, the anguished cries of humankind reached four powerful Archangels - Uriel, Raphael, Gabriel, and Michael - who upon orders from God enacted a swift retribution. First Uriel descended to earth to warn Noah of a coming deluge, advising him to prepare an ark to carry his family and a menagerie of creatures to safety. Raphael then fell upon the leader of the Watchers (called Shemyaza), bound him hand and foot, and thrust him into eternal darkness. Next, Gabriel charged with slaying the dissenters' offspring, encouraged the monstrous angel-children to fight one another. Finally, Michael trussed up the remaining Watchers, forced them to witness the deaths of their progeny, and condemned them to eternal torment. Only then did the heavens open up and wash away the last traces of the destruction that the fallen angels had wrought.'

The Watchers are also portrayed as a high order of Angels (Archangels), known as Grigori or Irin. The Book of Enoch (which is NOT part of the Hebrew or Christian Bible) says that God had sent a legion of angels to earth in order to watch over and subtlety assist man during the beginning of civilization. However, as Enoch tells us, these angels were not well suited for the task. They taught man forbidden sciences such as herb craft, astrology, divination and sorcery.

For clarification, I offer the following information. The theme of the Book of Enoch dealing with the nature and deeds of the fallen angels so infuriated the later Church fathers that one, Filastrius, actually condemned it openly as heresy. So the book was denounced, banned, cursed, no doubt burned and shredded and last but not least, lost (and conveniently forgotten) for a thousand years. But with an uncanny persistence, the Book of Enoch found its way back into circulation two centuries ago. In 1773, rumors of a surviving copy of the book drew Scottish explorer James Bruce to distant Ethiopia. True to hearsay, the Book of Enoch had been preserved by the Ethiopic Church, which put it right alongside the other books of the Bible. Bruce secured not one, but three Ethiopic copies of the book and brought them back to Europe and Britain. When in 1821 Dr. Richard Laurence, a Hebrew professor at Oxford, produced the first English translation of the work, the modern world gained its first glimpse of the forbidden mysteries of Enoch.

This is one reason my handle is that of a Sumerian Goddess(also considered a Babylonian Goddess)