Gospel of Diana

Come now, luxuriant Graces, and beautiful-haired Muses!

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Semele by Jannik Senium

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A simple candle petition spell to Aradia

This is a simple spell which invokes the power of Aradia to grant a specific request. It was collected from a Wiccan Book of Shadows dating from the early 20th Century.

You will need:

A short, broad beeswax candle (a large tealight is ideal)

Candle holder

Thorn (natural such as hawthorn, blackthorn, or rose thorn)

Matches or lighter

Snuffer

Time: waxing moon is preferred, but any will do at a pinch

Place: any

Using the thorn, inscribe a waxing crescent moon Ͻ on the top of the candle. Light the candle and gaze softly at the flame. Concentrate on your desire, either in words, images, or feelings, as you chant over and over:

Gracious Lady Moon Ever in my sight Kindly grant the boon I ask of thee tonight.

(The honorific ‘Gracious Lady Moon’ is a common title for Aradia.)

Once you feel you have chanted long enough, snuff the candle and close your eyes. Try to keep the image of its flame and memory of its light in your mind’s eye for as long as possible. You may find that a way to make your desire happen will reveal itself to you at this point, or this may come later, for example in a dream. When you feel ready, open your eyes. This ritual can be repeated using the same candle as many times as you wish, carving the crescent moon symbol fresh each time. However, the candle should only be used for the same petition. If you wish to start a new request, you will need to use a new candle.

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"Diana, the Huntress" - by Gaston Casimir Saint-Pierre (1833 - 1916). Oil on canvas.

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Tonight's viewing: Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019)

Have you seen this film? What did you think of it? Let me know in the comments below!

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(Madonna on crescent moon, late 16th Century. The Madonna on the moon can be used as a secret symbol of the Goddess Diana)

This month's Vangelo reading - June 2026

Madonna Diana

Once there was, in the very old time in Cettardo Alto, a girl of astonishing beauty, and she was betrothed to a young man who was as remarkable for good looks as herself; but though well born and bred, the fortune or misfortunes of war or fate had made them both extremely poor. And if the young lady had one fault, it was her great pride, nor would she willingly be married unless in good style, with luxury and festivity, in a fine garment, with many bridesmaids of rank.

And this became to the beautiful Rorasa - for such was her name - such an object of desire, that her head was half turned with it, and the other girls of her acquaintance, to say nothing of the many men whom she had refused, mocked her so bitterly, asking her when the fine wedding was to be, with many other jeers and sneers, that at last in a moment of madness she went to the top of a high tower, whence she cast herself; and to make it worse, there was below a terrible ravine (balza), into which she fell.

Yet she took no harm, for as she fell there appeared to her a very beautiful woman, truly not of earth, who took her by the hand and bore her through the air to a safe place.

Then all the people round about who saw or heard of this thing cried out, "Lo, a miracle!" and they came and made a great festival, and would fain persuade Rorasa that she had been saved by the Madonna.

But the lady who had saved her, coming to her secretly, said: "If thou hast any desire, follow the Gospel of Diana, or what is called the Gospel of the Witches (Il Vangelo delle Strege), who worship the moon."

"Se la Luna adorerai Tutto tu otterai"

"If thou adorest Luna, then What thou desir'st thou shalt obtain!"

Then the beautiful girl went forth alone by night to the fields, and kneeling on a stone in an old ruin, she worshipped the moon and invoked Diana thus:

"Diana, bella Diana! Tu che della grande caduta Mi ai bene salvata! Ti prego di farmi una altra grazia, Di farmi far' un bello sposalizio, Una sposalizio ricco e 'compagnato Da molte signore... Se questa grazia mi farai Sempre il Vangelo delle Strege lo asseriro.

Diana, beautiful Diana! Thou who didst save from a dreadful death When I did fall into the dark ravine! I pray thee grant me still another grace. Give me one glorious wedding, and with it Full many bridesmaids, beautiful and grand; And if this favour thou wilt grant to me, True to the Witches' Gospel I will be!"

When Rorasa awoke in the morning, she found her self in another house, where all was far more magnificent, and having risen, a beautiful maid led her into another room, where she was dressed in a superb wedding-garment of white silk with diamonds, for it was her wedding-dress indeed. Then there appeared ten young ladies, all splendidly attired, and with them and many distinguished persons she went to the church in a carriage. And all the streets were filled with music and people bearing flowers.

So she found the bridegroom, and was wedded to her heart's desire, ten times more grandly than she had ever dreamed of. Then, after the ceremony, there was spread a feast at which all the nobility of Cettardo were present, and, moreover, the whole town, rich and poor, were feasted.

When the wedding was finished, the bridesmaids made every one a magnificent present to the bride - one gave diamonds, another a parchment (written) in gold, after which they asked permission to go all together into the sacristy. And there they remained for some hours undisturbed, till the priest sent his chierico to inquire whether they wanted anything. But what was the youth's amazement at beholding, not the ten bridesmaids, but their ten images or likenesses in wood and in terra-cotta, with that of Diana standing on a moon, and they were all so magnificently made and adorned as to be of immense value.

Therefore the priest put these images into the church, which is the most ancient in Cettardo, and now in many churches you may see the Madonna and the Moon, but it is Diana - la Dea della Luna. The name Rorasa seems to indicate the Latin ros the dew, rorare, to bedew, rorulenta, bedewed - in fact, the Goddess of the Dew. Her great fall and being lifted by Diana suggest the fall of dew by night, and its rising in vapour under the influence of the moon. It is possible that this is a very old Latin mythic tale. The white silk and diamonds indicate the dew.

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Blue moon photograph by Sam Roots

"Therefore adoring You as though You were nurturing Venus Herself, whether You are female, or whether You are male, even so, illuminating the night, You are a nurturing Moon."

- Laevius FPR fr. 26, p.292

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Diana of Gabii, unknown artist, 1st Century ACE

Roman copy of a Greek original attributed to Praxiteles, 4th century BCE. This copy was discovered near Rome in 1792. It is now held in the Louvre.

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A simple offering to Diana

This is the classic way to offer praise to Diana, as recorded in the Vangelo. This can take place at your shrine or anywhere you wish to set up a statue of Diana.

You will need: Statue of Diana White woodland flowers

Time: any

Place: any

Take the white flowers and form some of them into a circlet big enough to go around the head of the statue. Then take the remaining flowers and lay them at the feet of the statue. Place the circlet on its head. Say the prayer to Diana:

Lovely goddess of the bow! Lovely goddess of the arrows! Of all hounds and of all hunting! Thou who wakest in starry heaven When the sun is sunk in slumber Thou with moon upon thy forehead Who the chase by night preferrest Unto hunting in the daylight With thy nymphs unto the music Of the horn – you are the queen Of the hunters – queen of the night Thyself the huntress, and most powerful I pray thee, think, although but for an instant Upon us who pray unto thee!

Here you may spend some time in private prayer, contemplation etc. as you wish.

If you have a request for Diana, or wish for her blessing, then the following prayer can be added:

Fair goddess of the rainbow Of the stars and of the moon! The queen most powerful Of hunters and the night! To thee I appeal I beg of thee thy aid That thou may'st give to me Always the best of fortune! (Here a specific need or request may be inserted) If thou heed'st my evocation And wilt give good fortune to me Then in proof give me a sign!

Here listen for one of the traditional signs of Diana (the bark of a dog, the hiss of a serpent, the chirp of a bird, the croak of a frog, the neigh of a horse, etc.). This rite can also serve as a short daily devotion if occasion calls for it.

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I adore this beautifully evocative painting "Moonlit Landscape" by Russian artist Gennadiy Dneprov (b. 1970). It perfectly evokes the warmth and mystery of a Mediterranean summer's evening for me. A perfect night for a special gathering.

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Gloria Holden as Countess Marya Zaleska in "Dracula's Daughter" (1936)

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"Dea Diana, Madre della Stelle, Madre di tutto Universo e mio Cuore!"

('Diana and her hound' from the Italian school, circa 1720)

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