strega , ghe
(anche) (fig) (donna malvagia) witch
pegg, donna brutta old hag, old witch
The quote above comes from the Reverso Dictionary. If you try and look up the word in an English language dictionary, you won't find it. The word is an old Italian phrase, but it isn't commonly used in Italy very much in recent years. Depending on the region of Italy, you may hear "maga", or "maliarda" or maybe "fattucchiera", and sometimes, but rarely, "stregare".
The term Strega took off around the early 1980's with the publication of Raven Grimassi's first book, The Book of the Holy Strega. The first use of the word in modern times however, was in 1971 when Leo Martello, an Italian-American writer in his book, Witchcraft: The Old Religion, wrote that he practiced a "Strega tradition".
Many modern Pagans of Italian decent use this word to describe their practices and to separate themselves from the more prevalent Wiccan practices. In the last 20 years there seems to be a growth of groups, or covens, that follow a form of the Strega practices as outlined by Raven Grimassi in his books. In fact, Mr. Grimassi has an organization called Church of the Crossroads in which a course titled Italian Witchcraft was taught. The last series of that course offered just closed it's enrollment in late 2012. I took that course a few years back. It was an interesting and informative 13 month distance learning course with monthly quizzes on the material. While I do not agree with everything Mr. Grimassi teaches, I enjoyed the course and took alot from it.
So what do I mean when I say I am a Hereditary Strega? For me the term simply defines me to others as not Wiccan, and yet having some specific path that I follow. I use the word hereditary because many of the basic foundations of what I do, and what I believe, are rooted in that taught to me by older women in my family.
Lets take a look at some of the basics as I hold them;
1. polytheistic in nature
2. recognizing Diana as the Mother Goddess
3. an attachment to moon magic
4. practicing in an earth-centric way as much as possible
5. an informal and very personal relationship with deities
6. a reverence for the Lare
7. a belief in the Lasa
8. calling of the Grigori for workings
9. having less to do with circles/rituals/ceremonies and more to do with personal spiritually
10. a belief that all things in nature have a spirit
11. a practice of the treguendas
12. use a chimaruta as one of my main articles of symbolism
Now some of the terms may sound strange to you, but we'll discuss them in more detail in later posts. These are >my< personal beliefs and do not necessarily fit for everyone who styles themselves a Strega.
The practice of Stregheria is very personal. You may find some, like Raven Grimassi, who ascribe a very particular set of ways and rules to it, but his is only one way among many. I was raised to believe that the true intent of your heart and spirit are of much more concern and value than that of ritual steps and words.
Pagans as a whole are usually very unique and strong characters. They tend to find what works for them, and toss out what doesn't. In matters of spirituality I find that while I agree with "whatever sails your boat" styling, I think there are basics we need to agree upon if we are to call ourselves this or that. (Unless of course you are making up your own titled religion, in that case, you might want to check out this list to help you along the way!)
We'll talk more about Strega practices soon, and do a bit of comparing to Wicca and some other paths.
Until then....arrivederci!