Aradia

Gospel Of The Witches

in a full moon means to have an enlightened mind, and a high tide signifies an

exalted intellect and full of thought. It is not enough to have a fine boat of Fortune. And it is said

Fortune gives and Fortune takes,

And to man a fortune makes,

Sometimes to those who labor shirk,

But oftener to those who work.

DIANA, QUEEN OF THE SERPENTS, GIVER OF THE GIFT OF LANGUAGES

In a long a strange legend of Melambo, a magian and great physician of divine birth, there is an invocation to Diana which has a proper place in this work. The incident in which it occurs is as follows -

One day Melambo asked his mother how it was that while it had been promised that he should know the language of all living thins, it had not yet come to pass.

And his mother replied, Patience, my son, for it is by waiting and watching ourselves that

we learn how to be taught. And thou hast within thee the teachers who can impart the most, if thou wilt seek to hear them; yes, the professors who can teach thee more in a few minutes than others learn in a life.

It befell that one evening Melambo, thinking on this while playing with a nest of young

serpents which his servant had found in a hollow oak, said, I would that I could talk with you.

Well I know that ye have a language, as graceful as your movement, as brilliant as your color.

Then he fell asleep, and the young serpents twined in his hair and began to lick his lips and eyes, while their mother sang -

Diana! Diana! Diana!

Queen of all enchantresses

And of the dark night

And of all nature,

Of the stars and of the moon,

And of all fate or fortune!

Thou who rulest the tide,

Who shinest by night on the sea,

Casting light upon the waters;

Thou who art mistress of the ocean

In thy boat made like a crescent,

Crescent moon bark brightly gleaming,

Ever smiling high in heaven,

Sailing too on earth, reflected

In the ocean, on its water;

We implore thee give this sleeper,

Give unto this good Melambo

The great gift of understanding

What all creatures say while talking!

This legend contains much that is very curious; among other things an invocation to the

firefly, one to Mefitia, the goddess of malaria, and a long poetic prophecy relative to the hero. It is evidently full of old Latin mythologic lore of a very marked character. The whole of it may be found in a forthcoming work by the writer of this book, entitled The Unpublished Legends of Virgil.

DIANA AS GIVING BEAUTY AND RESTORING STRENGTH

Diana hath the power to do all things, to give glory to the lowly, wealth to the poor, joy to

the afflicted, beauty to the ugly. Be not in grief, if you are her follower; though you be in prison and in darkness, she will bring light - many there are whom she sinks that theey may rise the higher.

There was of old in Monteroni a young man so ugly that when a stranger was passing

through the town he was shown this Gianni, as one of the sights of the place. Yet, hideous as he was, because he was rich, though of no family, he had confidence, and hoped boldly to win and wed some beautiful young lady of rank.

Now there came to dwell in Monteroni a wonderfully beautiful blonde young lady of

culture and condition, to whom Gianni, with his usual impudence, boldly made love, getting, as was also usual, a round No for his reply.

But this time, being more than usually fascinated in good truth, for there were influences at work he knew not of, he became as one possessed or mad with passion, so that he hung about the ladys house by night and day, seeking indeed an opportunity to rush in and seize her, or by some desperate trick to master and bear her away.

But here his plans were defeated, because the lady had ever by her a great cat which

seemed to be of more than human intelligence, and, whenever Gianni approached her or her

home, it always espied him and gave the alarm with a terrible noise. And there was indeed

something so unearthly in its appearance, and something so awful in its great green eyes which shone like torches, that the boldest man might have been appalled by them.

But one evening Gianni reflected that it was foolish to be afraid of a mere cat, which need