Aradia or the Gospel of The Witches

CHAPTER X

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 balsa 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 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, II Vangelo delle Strege who worship the moon."

          "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, 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 me,
          True to the Witches' Gospel I will be!

     When Rorasa awoke in the morning, she found herself 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 bridegrooms, 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, 
until 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 in the church, which is the most
ancient in Cettardo, and now in many churches you may see the Madonna and
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 vapor 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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Next to Chapter 12.

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