Questions About the del Bosco Sacro of Benevento Strega Family

Recently there has been some questions posed by individuals both outside and inside the Strega tradition about the new family that has arrived to the U.S. from Italy, which calls itself the del Bosco Sacro of the Benevento. Since I personally know the individual who has made this visit possible, whose craft name is Lupercus, I have also been introduced to the Arch High Priestess and Arch High Priest whose craft names are Diana and Dianus. Some have even questioned the validity of this new family, but most are just curious about them and want to understand their mission and know who they are and where they came from. They will be making an appearance at Pantheacon, and will be presenting lectures and workshops there, but before that occurs, I thought it prudent to field a handful of basic questions to them so that my readers might have a greater appreciation of who they are and why they are here in the U.S.

Their story is a fascinating one, since few of us have much knowledge about paganism, witchcraft and magick as it is practiced in geographic locations other than the U.S. or the U.K. I know that my knowledge of what is practiced in regards to witchcraft, its history and present disposition in other lands is rather limited to what I have read. So this is a very interesting and exciting occurrence. So let us move on to the questions and the answers that I hope will give them the best possible public face.

 

What is Stregheria in Italy like and who are the Strega Families?

“Carefully concealed in a handful of Italian families for Centuries, numerous Branches, Traditions, and Clans of Italian Stregheria have secretly survived. Several have recently begun to cautiously open to the outside world. Survivors include the Animulari, Clan Nemorensino, Janare, Benandanti, Cogas (or Surbile) , Strie, Magare, Anguane, Majiare, Maiare, Masche, Bazure, and Clan Umbro.”

What family did Diana and Dianus come from and why did they choose to come to this country?

“Diana & Dianus del Bosco Sacro arrived from Benevento, Italy on December 8, 2010 to bring Stregheria del Bosco Sacro of Benevento, a Tradition of the Pre-Pagan shamanic religion of the Great Mother, Diana Lucina, to America as an essential, additional tradition within the modern Pagan movement.”

What initiatory lines do Diana and Dianus hold, and why do they appear to represent multiple areas in Italy simultaneously?

“Diana & Dianus del Bosco Sacro personify four lineages of Italian Stregheria: Janare of Benventano, Masca of Piemonte, Majara of Puglia & Maiare of Sicily. The principle Stregan lineage of Dianus and Diana is Stregheria del Bosco Sacro of Benevento Tradition. As Diana & Dianus have lived in various parts of Italy for employment reasons, they were initiated into various additional local Traditions or Congregations in the various places where they have lived. This is not really at all unusual among Stregans in Italy.”

I notice that they have assumed titles in their role as representatives of the Stregan families. Who gave them these titles and roles, and what do they mean?

“The title of Grand Conservator of Stregan Faith and Traditions was bestowed on Dianus del Bosco Sacro by Stregheria del Bosco Sacro of Benevento in recognition of Dianus’ advanced spiritual attainment as well as his essential role in preserving and transmitting the Stregheria Traditions of Janare of Benventano, Masca of Piemonte, and Majara of Puglia, and Maiare of Sicily.

There is no such thing as any sort of Grand Lodge, etc. and that any and all titles of recognition are given exclusively at the local congregational level. Diana & Dianus do not way pretend to speak for Stregherian traditions other than those they represent and the lineages that they embody.”

Why did Diana and Dianus assume craft names that are associated with deities? (This might be considered an unusual practice in the U.S.)

“The question has arisen as to why we use the names of Goddesses and Gods of Stregheria as our magickal names. Diana, Dianus, Lupercus, and Aegeria are not at all our real magical names in Stregheria. These names instead were given to us by elders of Stregheria del Bosco Sacro of Benevento for all public use in conjunction with our mission in America. Our elders correctly foresaw problems in accomplishing our mission, including magical attack. We were instructed to use these Divine names in all public aspects of our mission in America. This is but a small piece of an entire castle of protection magically erected around us to protect every aspect of our mission. This is, for example, why all clandestine attacks are so easily exposed to the light and neutralized.”

What is the principle mission that Diana and Dianus have assumed in coming to this country?

“The principle mission of APS Diana & AP Dianus is to bring deeper mysteries of The Great Rite out into the open in America. They offer complete initiation and training in The Great Rite, which includes both Egyptian Sexual Alchemy and the Shamanic Sexuality of Stregheria del Bosco Sacro of Benevento.”

What does ‘del Bosco Sacro’ mean?

“The ‘del Bosco Sacro’ are an ancient and noble Stregherian clan, respected by all Clans, Branches, Traditions, and Congregations of Stregheria Italiana Antica. As former guardians of the Sacred Forest of Nemi where the Temple of Diana Lucina once stood, the del Bosco Sacro Tradition has always been guardians of deeper mysteries of The Great Rite.”

What kind of training and initiation does Diana and Dianus seek to provide to those who are chosen? How is the Great Rite presented and what is it’s relationship to the teaching and initiation of the Strega tradition? What are the requirements for initiation and elevation?

“As inheritors of del Bosco Sacro Tradition, APS Diana & AP Dianus have with due authority decided to provide initiation and training in the Mysteries of The Great Rite completely independently and separately from Stregheria. In this manner, deeper mysteries of The Great Rite can be shared with the entire Pagan and Tantric communities and not just with other Stregheria groups. APS Diana and AP Dianus offer 66 distinct levels of initiation, practice, and consciousness in the Great Rite. These encompass both Shamanic Sexuality and Egyptian Sexual Alchemy.

In addition to The Great Rite, APS Diana & AP Dianus also offer initiation and training in Stregheria del Bosco Sacro of Benevento completely separately from the above. Our tradition certainly does not accept everyone for initiation. We require, for example, both prior application and legally binding confidentiality agreement. Compared to other Stregheria Traditions, our Tradition is admittedly rather liberal about admitting probationers to our First Degree. We are, however, extremely elitist regarding who will ever be admitted to our Third Degree or adopted into the del Bosco Sacro family tradition.”

So the first degree is a kind of probationary degree - what are the requirements for someone who is initiated into the first degree? Do you charge fees for initiation and training?
 
“Our Probationer Degree includes a year and a day of practice and devotion to the Diana Lucina. Beyond this, we will not comment on rituals, grade structure, teachings, requirements etc. of our Tradition as this is oath bound information. We indeed charge modest fees for initiation and training. This is quite necessary to support the mission of Stregheria del Bosco Sacro of Benevento in America.”

How is the del Bosco Sacro of Benevento tradition different and similar when compared to other traditions of Stregheria?

“At times there are substantial differences between one Tradition of Stregheria and another. Stregheria del Bosco Sacro of Benevento is inextricably and intimately connected with deeper mysteries of The Great Rite. We do not claim that other Stregheria Traditions need to be this way. We merely clarify that this is the nature of our particular Tradition of Stregheria.

Like other Traditions, Stregheria del Bosco Sacro of Benevento also uses, for example, magical implements, etc. These, however, take on but relatively minor importance compared to how they are used in other Stregheria Traditions. This is because essence of our Tradition are the mysteries of Love - the love of Diana Lucina - as well as the love between a man and a woman. Again, The Great Rite is of paramount importance in our Tradition.”

If the Great Rite has so much prominence in your tradition, how does that impact those who might be interested who are gay or lesbian? Is the Great Rite just for heterosexual participants?

“Due to the prominence given to The Great Rite in Stregheria del Bosco Sacro of Benevento, we have been asked about our tradition's position on sexual preference. Clearly, the Great Rite is primarily a heterosexual tradition. This does not mean, however, that our tradition excludes gay or lesbian mysteries. On the contrary, Diana and Dianus have also brought Gay and Lesbian deeper mysteries of The Great Rite with them to America as well. These, however, are separate branches of the sexual mysteries of del Bosco Sacro Tradition. We are in such a preliminary phase of our mission in America that these Gay and Lesbian mysteries have not yet been fully implemented. This will require finding suitable ambassadors for these mysteries from the GLBT community.”

Those are the answers to the questions that I fielded to Diana and Dianus. They were consulted and their answers, in Italian, were then translated and written up by Lupercus.

I feel that Diana and Dianus have answered what are likely to be the most pressing questions in a sufficiently open and transparent manner. Their tradition has a certain quality and emphasis just like any other tradition. This might be different or similar to what others practice, but that’s to be expected. Diana and Dianus have said that they don’t represent any kind of monolithic version of Stregheria. They are practicing one of many variations, and they seek to transplant that variation in the fertile soil of this country.

Whether you agree with their perspectives or not, they should be welcomed with open arms. Certainly, there is plenty of room in our country and amongst our diverse pagan and witchcraft traditions to accommodate one more. It is my hope that no one will now have any fears of any kind of turf battle, commercialized sell out of Strega or some kind of misguided attempt to wrest control over a movement that is already well established here in the U.S. I believe that Diana and Dianus are being as open and transparent as they can be, since much of what they know and teach has to be under the aegis of sworn oaths of confidentiality and secrecy.

We look forward to getting to meet Diana, Dianus, their newly forming clan, and their presentations at Pantheacon.

Frater Barrabbas

Corrections to Some Previous Statements

I always pride myself on being as factual as possible as a writer. I believe it is an important responsibility to my readers not to post any erroneous information about topics or individuals. However, being human, sometimes things go awry. I present a point in one of my articles that I believe is factual, and I then discover that it is either wrong or misleading. This happened recently when I posted an article that was about Dianus and Diana of the Stregan family del Bosco Sacro, who have come to this country from Italy. I didn’t intend in any way to impugn the legitimacy of any of the Stregan families that were already in the U.S., but that is how my statement was interpreted.

Here is what I said, which has turned out to be quite invalid and incorrect. It also inflamed some individuals, much to my dismay.

“While there has been a few representatives of the Strega tradition in this country since the 1960's, most notably the late Dr. Leo Martello (who represented a Sicilian branch of that faith), and more recently, with the brilliant and fascinating Raven Grimassi, this tradition has not really had a true and legitimate lineage traceable to the old country. I might be wrong about that, but I am pretty certain that no one from the actual Strega families came to this country and set up their practice with the knowledge and affirmation of their elders.”

Of course, what I meant is that Dianus and Diana were the first (as far as I knew) to come to this country as a lawful and sanctioned transfer of knowledge from a Stregan family in Italy to the U.S. I unfortunately used the term “legitimate,” which means “lawful” or “sanctioned,” but it can be easily misconstrued to indicate that I didn’t consider any of the American Stregan families to also be legitimate. There is some confusion between the words legitimate and authentic, but needless to say, the statement was wrong and highly misleading. It completely distracted my readers from focusing on Dianus and Diana and their situation in San Diego, and that was not at all my intention.

I would like to make certain that my readers know that I have nothing but the highest respect and regard for Raven Grimassi and Leo Martello. I even had the opportunity to meet and briefly get to know Mr. Martello in May of 1988, when I helped to bring him to the Heartland Pagan Festival in Kansas as a main speaker. I found him to be kind, gentle, extremely courteous and eminently just. He also knew an enormous amount about the occult spanning many different and diverse subject areas. I will always honor that meeting and look back upon it as a cherished memory. 

Dianus quickly replied with this comment to my blog article, and I accepted that correction from one who knew what he was talking about, compared to me, who had far less information about this matter.

“Dear Frater Barrabas,

Please excuse that I do not yet write much English and am therefore sending this letter to you with the help of a translator.

Your article, in general, is very interesting. Since our arrival in the USA, we have indeed been a bit surprised by the actions of certain individuals in the Neo-Pagan community. In Stregheria in Italy, things are very different. Partly the result of Centuries of persecution having forced Stregheria to go underground to survive exclusively along family lines, the various known surviving families enjoy an exemplary level of harmony and cooperation.

There are a couple of errors in your article that need to be corrected. You write that prior to our arrival ‘no one from the actual Strega families came to this country and set up their practice with the knowledge and affirmation of their elders.’ This I do not believe to be the case.

Let us not forget the groundbreaking work of Leo Martello and Raven Grimassi. I never had the pleasure of meeting Leo Martello, but I am aware of his family in Stregheria in Italy. Raven Grimassi, I would also like to mention, has been most graceful and helpful in welcoming our family to America. My conversations with Raven Grimassi have convinced me that his family additionally represents a legitimate lineage of Italian Stregheria.

Our family, ‘del Bosco Sacro’ has always been respected and honored among Stregheria families, due to our history first as the guardians of ‘The Sacred Forest’ (del Bosco Sacro) of Nemi where the temple of Diana once stood, then as the guardians of the sacred forest of Benevento. As such, our family has always been the custodians of the deeper mysteries of The Great Rite.

This is the great gift that our family brings to America. With the help of Raven Grimassi, we are already entering into contact with the other families of Stregheria in America with the aim of reinforcing their position through the communication of these additional mysteries from the Sacred Forest of Benevento.

Bearing the torch of Diana Lucina,
Dianus del Bosco Sacro ”

Others in the American Stregan families objected to this erroneous statement, and I agreed that it was incorrect, written as it was from the perspective of an outsider who was not part of the Stregan families.

I have to take responsibility for making that misleading and false statement, and also apologizing to anyone who was offended by it. It was an honest but foolish mistake, and I have been corrected by individuals who actually know the real facts behind the history.

Hopefully, this situation can be seen as a mistake and we can all move on to the real concerns, which have to do with Dianus, Diana, Lupercus and their mission in this country representing the del Bosco Sacro family.

Frater Barrabbas

Art of Rational Thinking and Mutual Acceptance

These are my thoughts about the advent of the Stregharia tradition coming to America. This is an event that should be celebrated, but some have made it a time to cast aspersions and spread false rumors.


I have always believed in giving someone at least the benefit of the doubt when they present to me a new approach or new idea. No matter how long I have been studying something, there is always something new to learn or a different approach to be tried. Sometimes engaging with something too closely can have the effect of causing one to lose objectivity, so problem solving becomes difficult and figuring out a totally new approach requires some much needed outside input. I think that the pagan community might be in this kind situation, and could benefit from some outside benevolent intervention.

As pagan and witches, we should embrace the advent of a new idea or the discovery of an old tradition that was obscured by time. We should be flexible, open minded and use our critical thinking skills at all times to not only adequately gauge what someone is presenting, but also to cautiously judge it based solely on its merits instead of the person who is presenting it. We saw this issue emerge with the recent publication of Ben Whitmore’s book “Trials of the Moon,” where some in the pagan community were quite ready to dismiss Mr. Whitmore’s premises simply because he wasn’t a properly accredited academic. Instead, I urged people to give Mr. Whitmore a chance, and at the very least read his book carefully before critiquing it or his ideas. What we don’t need is to vilify each other and to wage witch or pagan wars either locally or nationally. We are a small group of unique individuals who are loosely grouped into various traditions, practices and beliefs. We are, in a sense, a lot like snow flakes, all analogous, but each unique and different in its own way - no two are alike. I suspect that this has a lot to do with the fact that so much of our beliefs are based on personal experience.

As my friend Steve Posch, a living treasure of wit and wisdom in our local pagan community has said, “Christians, Jews and Muslims are people of the book, we are people of the library.” Yet we are also individuals who rely a great deal on our personal experiences, and those must, by definition, be quite different. This can cause us to passionately disagree with one of our own people over some minor point of belief because we have invested a lot of our personal inner worth with what we practice and experience in the domains of Spirit and magick. Old age, verbally having the shit kicked out of me a few times and also mellowing have taught me that my way of doings things is not the only way, and that what I believe is right and good may not agree with others who follow the same path. I have long since given up fighting petty wars with others who might only slightly disagree with me. I know, just by looking around, that there are some real enemies out there in the world who would, if they could, do me harm or suppress me for my religious activities.

We can fight our brothers and sisters with a zealous passion over minor differences, but in the end, nothing is gained and much is damaged. Since we are such a small minority in our culture, I think that a common sense rule of thumb should be that we engage with our brothers and sisters with an open mind and a tolerance that allows multiple perspectives to live and thrive together. Certainly, there are boundaries to what we will accept, but what I have found is that few of us who are jointly on this path merit any kind of uncritical condemnation or dismissal. What seems to be required in our communities is a balance between rational and objective thinking and a kind of mutual acceptance. If you can’t show any kind of respect, love or forbearance to your spiritual kindred, then to whom can you show this special compassion? Not only that, but it starts with your brothers and sisters, and should hopefully grow to include nearly everyone of all faiths, persuasions, cultures and beliefs. 

The reason why I have brought up these points is that a very tragic thing has recently happened. We have been blessed recently with the arrival of a couple from Italy who represent the witchcraft movement in that country. I am speaking of arch-priestess and arch-priest Diana and Dianus who have brought a valid and living lineage of Stregharia to the west coast of the U.S. This is a momentous event, and one that we should celebrate and perhaps even be a bit excited about. While there has been a few representatives of the Strega tradition in this country since the 1960's, most notably the late Dr. Leo Martello (who represented a Sicilian branch of that faith), and more recently, with the brilliant and fascinating Raven Grimassi, this tradition has not really had a true and legitimate lineage traceable to the old country. I might be wrong about that, but I am pretty certain that no one from the actual Strega families came to this country and set up their practice with the knowledge and affirmation of their elders.

For this to happen now is a truly wonderful thing, because according to both Dianus and Diana, they have been urged by their elders to travel to this country in order to transfer their knowledge and their lineage to the fertile spiritual soil of America. They have come here not to make a fortune selling their religion, but instead came here to freely give this knowledge and its special insights to the witchcraft and pagan communities of this land. What that means is that now, for the first time, there will be a truly legitimate line of Strega, backed by the blessings and urging of the slowly dwindling Strega families in Italy. This is a very interesting and fascinating development, and we should at the very least, extend a hand in friendship and open-ness to the seeding of this old tradition in new soil. I think that it’s amazing that only now the Strega has sought to transplant itself here, and that no previous members had attempted to do this in the past. Many Italians and Sicilians migrated to this country over the last hundred years, but it’s possible that because witches are very much tied to the land of their mothers and fathers, they may have sought to stay close to their ancient lands instead of migrating, in order to continue to work its magick in the old and traditional manner.

News of this event has reached me through channels that I am not allowed to talk about just yet, but as an author and someone who is traveling the country meeting various people, my opportunities to meet fascinating and engaging people are quite high. Needless to say, Diana and Dianus, of the Benevento line of Stregharia will be giving two presentations at Pantheacon 2011. They are also beginning to teach, organize communities and to initiate worthy and interested individuals into their line of witchcraft, beginning with the San Diego area. This is all wonderful, and it would be something exciting to talk about and experience, except that there have been a few individuals who have already gone on the offensive to raise questions about the legitimacy of their tradition of Stregharia (some even demanding to know the actual line of initiates), and to specifically condemn their emphasis on the Great Rite, or sacred sexuality. These questions of legitimacy and of core practices should never be asked by someone who is not an initiate. You can either accept that they are legitimate (hopefully after meeting them) and that their teachings are valid, or not. However, no one has the right to ask for specific lineage based proof unless they are inside the tradition as initiates. The simple response is that this information is oath-bound, and I am sure that a lot of traditional initiates know what that is all about. As for the focus being on sacred sexuality and sacral nudity, I have already posted an article that explores that topic. It has long been a core discipline in a number of pagan and witchcraft traditions.

A couple of misguided fools have even resorted to saying that Diana and Dianus are potential sexual predators who should be avoided and shunned instead of greeted and engaged. Along with this condemnation is the implication that sacred sexuality and sacral nudity have no place in pagan practice, especially ones that involve the whole family, which would include children. No one in their right mind is even suggesting that underage children should be involved in sex magick or sacral nudity - these are activities exclusive to adults. Of course, all of this is astonishing, and even more so because this was publically declared before the two had even had a chance to give their very first presentation in San Diego. So without any real knowledge or anything to back up such accusations, slanderous and scandalous comments were made in what could only be construed as an atmosphere of fear and loathing. But a fear and loathing of whom or what? The potential for something happening was entirely based on zero evidence.

What seems to be going on here is actually a lot simpler and also quite tragic - someone’s afraid that their “turf” will be marginalized by the introduction of a bonafide tradition of Strega into the San Diego area. This is obviously the act of someone who is desperate to stop the intrusion of a new transplanted old tradition in the soil of our country. All this was done in ignorance and extreme prejudice, which I can only judge as being completely at odds with any kind of pagan mindset. Unfortunately, it’s always the case that a small minority will attempt to spoil and thwart the opportunities of the many simply for the sake of ego, territory and selfish personal gain. These folks have been relentless, attempting to contact Ravin Grimassi to discredit this couple and confound their selfless desire to teach and share their knowledge with us. They have actually gotten a couple authors stirred up who also contacted Mr. Grimassi. In short, they have been quite busy creating as much mischief as possible, all to no avail, because the weekend presentations in San Diego went ahead anyway.

Diana, with the help of her American translator and benefactor, Lupercus, has recently put out an interview that hopefully deals with these issues - you can find it here. What she and her mate are presenting to the public is certainly not for everyone, but only for the few who are truly interested and ready to take on the responsibility for being a representative of this venerable line of witches. They can be selective and picky about those with whom they choose to share their knowledge and practices. After recent occurrences, I can’t say that I blame them. I, myself, won’t take on just anyone who wants to learn my system of ritual magick. I want people to show me that they are willing to make a long term commitment and actually do the work, so that my time (and theirs) isn’t wasted.

I found the interview to be fascinating and also very sad, since Diana and Dianus have only been in this country for a month, and they have already experienced the petty back biting and viral gossiping that seems endemic in our small communities. I hope that this barrage of unpleasant behavior dies down and that people will give this couple the respect and open mindedness that they are due. They should be treated as we would want to be treated if we happened to travel to Italy and met with pagan folk there. Diana and Dianus are learning English, but they still need the help of a translator. I admire their perseverance, since they are here in a foreign land having to navigate in a foreign culture with a foreign language. They are not enduring this ordeal simply to enrich themselves in this new land. They came here to share their knowledge and practices, and therefore, we should accord them some very special considerations. We should be compassionate, open, engaging, kind and helpful to them, simply because they have come here with an open hand and a desire to reach out to each and all of us. How could we justify behaving in any other way?

I must say that I am looking forward to meeting both Diana and Dianus at the forthcoming Pantheacon. It will make this event memorable and quite fascinating. Whether or not I choose to take the challenge of engaging with their tradition, I believe that there is something important to learn from them. So I will listen respectfully with an open mind and an open heart. I will embrace them for coming to this country in peace and goodwill, and I will show them that American pagans are worthy of their outreach. I hope that you will accord them the same respect and openness, if they should come to your town in the months ahead.

“Possa la luce della Luna e del Sole vi benedica con la loro luce e di amore.”

Frater Barrabbas