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The Differences Between Benedicaria, Stregoneria, and Stregheria.

By the Rev. Agostino Taumaturgo

Between the posts on sites like Mystic Wicks and the debunkings on Stregoneria Italiana^[1], or the claims of "secret traditions" offered on any number of other websites, it's easy for the average person to get confused about the various terms that people throw around at one another, even if that person were raised in a solid family tradition. And so, it is the purpose of this article to help sort out the terms and their origins.


Stregheria:

Being the most recent and the most commonly-heard term, we'll start with this one first. In older dictionaries of the Italian language, Stregheria appears as an antiquated word for "witchcraft," antiquated in the sense that "thee" and "thou" are antiquated in English, and it was not exactly used with a positive connotation. This word has, however, been given a total makeover by Neopagan author Raven Grimassi^[2], and is now used to denote an alleged "secret tradition" stemming from pre-Christian Italy and existing in an unbroken line all the way to the present day. The system as he presents it, however, looks exactly like modern Wicca with an Italian accent, though it is completely unrecognizeable to Italians who have grown up in an actual family tradition.

To cover this obvious discrepancy, Grimassi claims that the actual "Strega Tradition" is a secret religion (much along the lines of Margaret Murray's long-debunked Witch-Cult in Western Europe), and claims that the things taught in Italian families are merely a Catholicised bastardisation of various elements of the original pre-Christian initiatory tradition. In order to support his "Old Witch Religion" theory, he also relies very heavily on the writings of 19th-century American folklorist Charles Leland^[3] in order to prove that the tradition about which he writes has been extant since at least the fourteenth century, and that essentially, Gardnerian Wicca is a rip-off of the "Old Religion of Southern Europe." What he does not seem to admit is the possibility that Leland may either have made up his mythos whole-cloth, or he may have been swindled by his informant, Maddalena, who may have told him anything he wanted to hear as long as he continued to pay her for it.^[4]

On the same vein, in Grimassi's posts on the Mystic Wicks forums, he also liberally borrows quotations from other British and American authors of the same time period and appears to uncritically accept them as though they were works of solid academia, when in fact the writings of that period were far more interested in titillating their audience than in reporting fact.^[5] At that time, British and American audiences were interested in tales of strange and exotic cultures, particularly if these tales supported a position of Anglo-Saxon supremacy and/or Anti-Catholicism, which was also the dominant mentality of the Victorian Age. Thus Italy, being a non-Anglo/Saxon and Catholic country, was a natural choice for these authors to exploit and mythologize, which myths of "those savage heathen guineas" still exist to the present day.

Of the three forms of practice described in this article, it should be noted that Stregheria is unique not only in that it is a modern construction with an ancient label slapped onto its surface, but that it is also very inclusive of non-Italians^[6], so much so that a non-Italian "Strega" once told the present author that "The difference between a Wiccan and a Strega, is that a Strega is not afraid to practice dark magic."

Considering how many Wiccans out there would just as easily forget about the Rede when it suits them, we do not think that distinction really holds a lot of weight when distinguishing between the two camps.^[7]


Stregoneria:

This next term is the word most commonly used in modern colloquial Italian for "Witchcraft," and never with a positive connotation. Unlike the claims made for the new and rehabilitated version of Stregheria, Stregoneria is not a religion, nor is it a continuation of a religion, nor can it be called an actual, unified tradition^[8]. Instead, Stregoneria consists of a hodge-podge of various magical practices, folklore, herbal knowledge, and superstition which each practitioner has lumped together into his or her (usually her) own system^[9]. Sometimes it is taught from family member to family member, sometimes it is learned from observing other practitioners, and sometimes it is learned by trial and error, though this is the approach we should least recommend.

Most practitioners of Stregoneria will adamantly declare themselves to be devout Catholics, and the Catholic world-view is the mold into which their own beliefs and perceptions are cast^[10]. However, the practitioner of Stregoneria could be either Catholic or Pagan, and both would be at home with it, as the contents of Stregoneria are comprised of a combination of Catholic prayers and Pagan charms, many of which would appear to have an almost seamless blending. There are charms in Stregoneria for good and evil, for love or hate, for cursing and curing, and any other sort of thing that one can imagine.

As a result, the Catholic Church cannot and will not ever be able to give her approval to Stregoneria or its practitioners, and its practitioners have also come under fire from members of the Stregheria camp, who insinuate the Stregonerians are "fence-sitting" between the two religions and are "too afraid of offending 'God.'"^[11] Thus, we find that Stregoneria, while itself not being religious, dwells in a virtual no-man's land between religious worlds and is condemned by those who define themselves and their practice strictly in terms of their religion.

However, its very fluidity and consequent ubiquity provide the manner in which Stregoneria may overcome these prejudices, as many Stregherians and Benedicaria practitioners often incorporate Stregoneria techniques into their own personal practices without even realizing it.

Even though Stregoneria is so fluid and ubiquitous, it is interesting to note that Stregoneria is not as inclusive of persons as Stregheria, as those who would teach their arts, often pass them down only to another member of their own family or of the Italian community^[12]. Non-Italians are generally not taught or even told about such things with any degree of detail, and the thought of a non-Italian practicing these arts is generally viewed as a form of disgrace and cultural piracy.


Benedicaria:

As we move across the spectrum from Stregheria to Stregoneria, we find that Benedicaria, or "the Way of Blessing,"^[13] is in its own little world. For while Stregheria is an artificial construct, and while Stregoneria is a fluidic and ubiquitous synthesis of Catholic and Pagan disciplines, in Benedicaria we find Stregheria's polar opposite: a collection of staunchly Catholic^[14] family traditions which have actually been passed down for centuries from father to son or from mother to daughter, and with which many Italians and Italians-Americans can instantly identify.

In its purest form, Benedicaria is in line with pre-Vatican II Roman Catholicism^[15], and its world-view meets with the seven conditions of the Malleus Maleficarum as to what constitutes a "lawful enchanter."^[16] However, it is rare and seldom that we find Benedicaria in its purest form, and often its practice is intermixed with Stregoneria, with the practitioner often not knowing where one begins and the other ends.


For example, the practices of having a household altar, of lighting candles, of praying Novenas, of giving blessings, and so forth, are all fully Catholic and are approved by the Church. In fact, in some Italian and Italian-American communities, it is not unknown for the Benedetto or Benedetta (male and female practitioners, respectively) to bring his or her tools to the local priest for a blessing, which he freely gives.^[17] However, there are also other practices regarding divination with Holy Cards, as another example, which venture into the land of Stregoneria and thus cannot be approved by the Church.^[18]

Thus, even while Benedicaria in its purest form is not magic but a tradition of folk healing and spirituality (which bears some similarities to Mexican Curanderismo^[19]), it is rare that we encounter it in that purest form, which is why some authors have given it the name "Magical Catholicism" and why it, too, is in a no-man's land between Church approval and Church anathema.^[20]

In keeping with its status as a polar opposite to Stregheria, Benedicaria is generally an "Italians only" craft, with only little bits and pieces being revealed to non-Italians. Just like with Stregoneria, it is felt that one must be Italian in order to practice Benedicaria, and non-Italians are encouraged to explore and learn the folk ways and popular religiosities of their own respective cultures^[21]. We all have something to share, and it is best that we first learn all we can about who we are and what our particular culture has to offer, before we start trying to approriate what somebody else might happen to have.

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Footnotes

1. Mystic Wicks is an online Pagan forum and discussion group, which can be called something of an online home to Raven Grimassi and the practitioners of Stregheria. Stregoneria Italiana is another online forum frequented primarily by Italian-American Catholics and Pagans who are critical of Grimassi and his writings, and usually produce better scholarship. Putting aside academic and philosophical differences, one thing that is most easily discernible about both sites is that while MW is primarily a religion-oriented site, SI is more focused on culture and ethnicity, emphasizing one's identity as an Italian more so than one's identity as a Catholic, Pagan, Episcopalian, etc.

2. Grimassi. Italian Witchcraft, Llewellyn Publications, 2000. Previously published under the name Ways of the Strega. In this book, Grimassi argues that "Stregheria" is the "Old Religion of Southern Europe," and that the Italian Witchcraft tradition is centered around a mythical figure named Aradia di Toscana, who was a daughter of the goddess Diana and who united the witch-clans and the oppressed peoples in the fourteenth century. His original thesis posited that all legitimate Italian witchcraft existed within a unified cult broken into three different clans with varying areas of expertise, even though his more recent posts on Mystic Wicks (like this one) show that he is revising that position on the grounds that not all witches were followers of Aradia.

3. Leland, Charles Godfrey. Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches. Leland's writings regarding Italy, Aradia, and Italian witchcraft describe the witches as belonging to a secret underground Pagan sect devoted to the goddess Diana, and he gives numerous spells and incantations which are allegedly used by these "witches," with varying degrees of accuracy.

4. In the "Debunk Center" at Stregoneria Italiana, there is a post by a member named "Lucertola" which gives some background on Leland's alleged informant: "This woman was in reality a Florentine courtesan and fortuneteller named Margherita; we know she had a long-standing relationship with Leland because some of their letters survive. She clearly provided him with a great deal of Italian folklore -- some of the material in "Aradia" is a close match with 19th century and even current Italian folklore. But it's also likely that Leland reworked a lot of it to fit with his favorite theories and ideas, based on works he admired, such as Michelet's La Sorciere. Perhaps Leland thought he was restoring an ancient tradition to its 'true' nature; perhaps Maddalena/ Margherita cleverly figured out what her customer wanted, and gave it to him." http://www.stregoneriaitaliana.com/index.php?a=12&t=1230#8639

5. An example of this behavior can be found in a conversation between Grimassi and another member named Rasenna, in these three posts here, here, and here, in which a number of Victorian-era authors are cited in reference to a link between Paganism and Catholicism. Instead of pointing out the hazards of believing all too readily in this period's literature, Grimassi is quick to turn it into a foundation to extrapolate his point about Saints and Pagan deities, and then gently moves into a discussion along the lines of James Frazer and Joseph Campbell. I myself have checked into these authors and posted about it on Stregoneria Italiana, here, and found that one author was an Episcopalian minister given to frivolous lawsuits, another was a Church of God pastor with an anti-Catholic agenda, another wrote stories for sensational impact (sex, religion, and the Alaska Gold Rush were his favorite subjects), and still another was the mouthpiece of Communism for the English-speaking world. Obviously, authors like this cannot be relied upon at all for scholarly accuracy, and a true scholar would warn his readers from the start!

6. Stregheria.com, Frequently Asked Questions, Question 6: "Do I have to be Italian to practice Stregheria?" The answer is given as follows:
"No, you don't. Stregheria is a spiritual path that is open to all. It is, however, based on traditional Italian witchcraft and does have an Italian flavor. It is primarily derived from Etruscan religion rather than Roman."
Many former members of the "Stregheria Movement" have noted that the majority of "Streghe" are non-Italian, and this fact has caused grief for some Italians and Italian-Americans who have become involved therewith.

7. In fairness, there are just as many Christians who would break the Golden Rule as soon as it becomes inconvenient for them. It's simply a matter of the human condition, regardless of one's religious affiliation.

8. Stregoneria Italiana, Frequently Asked Questions, "What is Stregoneria?" The answer is: "Stregoneria is simply the Italian word for "witchcraft," and witchcraft (or stregoneria) is folk magic."

9. Ibid., ". . . folk magic is the domain of the people. Folk magic provides answers to our common human need for reassurance in troubled times, to avert misfortune or impose misfortune on others. Folk magic is the belief that a person can control natural/chance events or the behavior and emotions of others through the practice of sometimes unproven or false science."

10. This is a universally-known fact, agreed upon by all parties in the "Stregheria vs. Stregoneria" debate. Dr. Sabina Magliocco, who has now firmly come to be identified with the Grimassian/Stregherian camp, makes this point in her Spells, Saints, and Streghe and her Stregheria and Vernacular Magic in Italy: A Comparison. Grimassi himself distinguishes Stregoneria from Stregheria, calling it "Catholic-based folk magic" in many places on his website, Stregheria.com, and warning his readers to be wary of it or to avoid it altogether.

11. Stregheria.com, What is Stregoneria vs Stregheria, supposedly by Paolo Giordano (though many at SI suggest that Grimassi himself is the author). In this article, the author paints Stregoneria as a bastardised, cannibalised, and Christianised corruption of the "Old Religion," and emphatically condemns all Christian practitioner with these words: "Their rejection of the authentic forms of Italian witchcraft in favor of Catholic-rooted folk traditions is a symptom of fearing to relinquish Christianity. In other words they want to be witches but are apparently afraid to be pagan for fear of damnation (a Judeo-Christian belief). Therefore they have invented a 'Christian witchcraft' system, which they feel is a safeguard against offending 'God.'"
The author then goes on to give nine "Signs that a Tradition is not Authentic Italian Witchcraft," which seems to be primarily directed at discrediting or at least insulting the webmasters and/or members of Rue's Kitchen, Stregoneria Italiana, Italian Benedicaria, the writings of Vito Quattrocchi and myself, and even contradicting Grimassi's own words in Italian Witchcraft, p. 103, where he says the secondary tools of the Stregha "are all Folk Magick tools," and on p. 201, where he gives a "Spell of St. Anthony," which is intended for a girl whi wishes to win or reclaim a lover.

12. Stregoneria Italiana, Frequently Asked Questions, "Must a person be Italian to Practice Stregoneria?" The answer given is: "Yes. Witchcraft does not define identity, but rather it is an expression of identity. Should a Russian practice Italian witchcraft the Russian does not become Italian, but the practice becomes Russian. We are not defined by our practices."

12. Actually, most practitioners have no word for "Benedicaria," but just refer to it as "something we have always done." Benedetta Rue Roselli, webmistress of Rue's Kitchen, simply refers to these traditions as "the things we do," and always in italics when she is writing. The word Benedicaria itself can most likely be attributed to Vito Quattrocchi, whose work is the only one currently in print that explores the subject in detail.

13. On the forums at both MW and SI, any time Benedicaria is mentioned it is agreed that it is strictly a Christian practice, and nobody ever suggests otherwise.

14. If there is one thing the post-Vatican II (or "Novus Ordo") Church does not like to admit, it's the fact that people from different ethnic backgrounds have their own forms of popular Catholicism and ethnic spirituality. Northern Europe is notorious for having had a very bland, rule-oriented, conformity-based structure of popular religiosity without much room for individual spirituality, while the rest of the world --- particularly in Italian- and Spanish- speaking regions --- was the complete opposite. This is why the Northern European countries are the cradle of Modernism, why the aggiornamento after Vatican II attempted to suppress all these folk practices, as it is primarily a forced imposition of the Northern European mentality onto the rest of the world's consciousness.

15. Malleus Malleficarum, Jacob Springer and Henrich Kramer, 1486. This was considered one of the foremost witch-hunting manuals of the so-called "Burning Times," and as a result is much-maligned by feminists and Neopagans. However, in Part II, there is contained a checklist of seven conditions, by which a person may be called a "lawful enchanter." For a more detailed discussion of this, please see Chapter 1 of my Occult Catholicism.

16. Quattrocchi, Vito. Sicilian Benedicaria. Self-Published. 2005.

17. Ibid.

18. For more information on Curanderismo, click here.

19. This is another constant theme found in the discussions amongst the Stregoni and Benedetti on SI, which has a visible Catholic community. At MW, this is never discussed, largely because a) there is no visible Catholic element, and b) the members seems to assume that Catholicism is just a cheap knock-off of Paganism anyway.

20. See footnote 12. It applies to Benedicaria as well.

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