Moon and Huntress: Frazer’s Arician Diana in Italian-American Witchcraft

Abstract

Italian-American witchcraft, known as Stregheria, is a form of modern Pagan witchcraft founded by the prolific American Wiccan writer, Gary Charles Erbe, known as Raven Grimassi (1951–2019). Grimassi sought to provide a spiritual lineage for contemporary Pagan practitioners of southern European descent that bypassed British-derived Wicca and its perceived focus on northern European paganism. To this end, he constructed a Wiccan history that foregrounded Mediterranean paganism, particularly ancient Greek, Etruscan, and Roman religions. Grimassi's proposed Italian witchcraft ur-religion was primarily an elaboration of the Roman cult of the goddess Diana Nemorensis, as described in the abridged..