Folklore, Italian witchcraft, and Gypsology

Charles Godfrey Leland

1824 – 1903

Charles Godfrey Leland was an American folklorist and journalist who collected European folk traditions, most notably publishing Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches (1899), which claimed to document the beliefs and rituals of a surviving Italian witch cult worshipping Diana. Though the authenticity of his source — a woman called Maddalena — has been debated by scholars, Aradia became foundational to twentieth-century Wicca and modern paganism, directly inspiring Gerald Gardner and subsequent witchcraft revival movements. His parallel work on Gypsy lore and American folk magic further established him as one of the most consequential collectors of living occult tradition.