Charles G. Leland

The text is a composite. Some of it is Leland's translation into English of an original Italian manuscript, the Vangelo (gospel). Leland reported receiving the manuscript from his primary informant on Italian witchcraft beliefs, a woman Leland referred to as "Maddalena" and whom he called his "witch informant" in Italy. The rest of the material comes from Leland's research on Italian folklore and traditions, including other related material from Maddalena. Leland had been informed of the Vangelo's existence in 1886, but it took Maddalena eleven years to provide him with a copy. After translating and editing the material, it took another two years for the book to be published. Its fifteen chapters portray the origins, beliefs, rituals and spells of an Italian pagan witchcraft tradition. The central figure of that religion is the goddess Aradia, who came to Earth to teach the practice of witchcraft to peasants in order for them to oppose their feudal oppressors and the Catholic Church. Leland was born to Charles Leland, a commission merchant, and Charlotte Godfrey August 15, 1824 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Shortly after his birth, Leland's nurse took the child to the family attic and performed a ritual on him involving a Bible, a key, a knife, lighted candles, money and salt to ensure a long life as a "scholar and a wizard", a fact which Leland's biographers have commented upon as foreshadowing his interest in folk traditions and magic. Leland worked in journalism, travelled extensively, and became interested in folklore and folk linguistics, publishing books and articles on American and European languages and folk traditions. By the end of his life shortly after the turn of the century, Leland had worked in a wide variety of trades, achieved recognition as the author of the comic Hans Breitmann's Ballads, fought in two conflicts, and had written what was to become a primary source text for Neopaganism half a century later, Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches.

This text contains a detailed guide to manual wood carving, including information on tools, materials, and technique. Complete with simple, step-by-step instructions and detailed illustrations and diagrams, this text is ideal for those with little or no experience and makes for an invaluable addition to collections of woodworking literature. The chapters of this book include: Woods, Tools, and Sharpening; Indenting and Stamping; Cutting Grooves with a Gouge; Flat Patterns made with Cuts and Lines; Cutting out a Flat Panel with a Ground; Cutting Simple Leaves - Carving with the Left Hand - Modelling or Rounding - Shaded Patterns and Modelling - Progress Towards Relief; and much more. This text has been elected for modern republication due to the timeless nature of the lessons contained within, and we are proud to republish it now complete with a new introduction on decorative Woodwork.

Charles Godfrey Leland (1824-1903), amerikkalainen folkloristi ja runoilija, omisti elämänsä viimeiset 15 vuotta italialaisen noitatradition säilyttämiselle tuleville sukupolville. Aradia on hänen tunnetuin teoksensa. Se on vaikuttanut syvästi uuspakanuuden nousuun länsimaissa. Maddalena, Lelandin opas italialaisen noituuden maailmaan, oli firenzeläinen korteistaennustaja ja noita, jonka suvussa vanha traditio oli säilynyt elävänä monen sukupolven ajan. Vuonna 1897 Maddalena toi Lelandille tekstin, joka sisälsi italialaisen noituuden ytimen. Maddalenan alkuperäinen teksti on kauan sitten kadonnut. Vain tämä Lelandin kokoama teos on jäljellä. Aradia sisältää Maddalenalta saatuja loitsuja ja tarinoita sekä Lelandin erikseen valitsemia tekstejä. Ytimenä on tarina jumalatar Dianan tyttärestä Aradiasta. Diana lähettää Aradian maan päälle opettamaan sorretuille noituutta, jonka avulla he vapautuisivat kaikenlaisesta kärsimyksestä ja vääryydestä. Vaikka tämän teoksen tausta on epäselvä, se on kiistatta ollut avainasemassa modernin Wicca-tradition syntymisessä. Sellaisena se kuuluukin jokaisen noituudesta kiinnostuneen lukemistoon.