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favoritetinysad's review
2.0
Let it be known that I am hard to win over by books that spell Magic as Magick. Adding the K does not make your practices more oldschool. I'm sorry, but that spelling really only feeds the fluff bunnies. And in the end, the goal of the historical portion of this book is to place Stregharian Witchcraft into the oldest realms of religious practice as possible. Grimassi spends the first hundred pages pushing and pushing and pushing his beliefs into the neolithic period--and unconvincingly so at best. Poorly researched, terribly organized, and just badly written. I think the author wrote this just so he could publish his own beliefs and ritual practices, which he seems to have designed based loosely on ancient Etruscan and Roman traditions. For most of the text, I felt as if he was just making things up as he went along (which is very possibly for much of it). I once threatened to "punch the book in the face" if the author used the phrase "It is interesting to note that..." or "Curiously" one more time--and he did many more times after that. I give it two stars only because the subject of Italian witchcraft (Stregheria or otherwise) is not often written about, however, the tradition described in this book is very nearly the same as modern Celtic Wicca. Grimassi (or his source, Leland?) simply puts Italian names to Sabbats (Treguenda), names the Goddess as Diana, and describes a little more sex in the grove. If you're interested in Stregheria, I recommend reading up on it on Witchvox.com or some other like website. You'll find all you need to know on the subject, as well as any books that may give you more information. And if you do choose to read this book, be forewarned that it does require some prior knowledge of modern Celtic paganism or Celtic-based Wicca.
hissingpotatoes's review against another edition
2.5
The Italian history and stories are interesting. Unfortunately, Grimassi uses almost no archaeological/scholarly evidence, mashes together witchcraft (a practice) & Wicca (a religion), and his thesis seeks to refute a claim I've never heard (that witchcraft started only with Wicca). The book also repeats sections word for word in different chapters. His passion for his Italian heritage shines, but his scholarship lacks authority.
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