Words of Aradia: Concerning the Gods

These words are taken from Italian Witchcraft by Raven Grimassi:

Know that the Gods need our worship even as we need food and drink. Do not think that they serve us, for we are their servants. Therefore do not bargain or demand through prayer or ritual. The gods shall provide that which is needed.

Do not blame the sorrows of life upon the gods. For it is humankind which creates the despair on Earth.

Do not doubt the reality of the gods, for they do exist and are many. They have been since long before people walked upon the Earth. Yet as we are capable of understanding them, they are no older than we. For they are not the personifications, nor the images we establish. But the gods do respond to us through these things. We are linked to them by virtue of our yearning toward a higher nature.

The gods are attracted to our rituals because of the sacred signs that we use, and because of our worship which is vitality. They are attracted by the ritual fires and incense and by the purity of our naked bodies. They give and take the vital essences that we both need, through the power that we raise.

Each god is like us for our ways are but reflections of theirs. Each god has likes and dislikes and must be approached in accordance. Each god is linked to the culture of the people who give worship to it and must be called by appropriate ties.

Yet beyond all this are the God and the Goddess who together are the One; herein does the true worship belong.