The Society of Diana: Witch-flight and the Mysteries of the Night Queen – Caroline Tully (Theion)

Description

For centuries, scattered sources across Europe have described a company of the night: men and women who went out in spirit, travelling under a female leader known by many names, among them Diana, Herodias, Holda and Perchta. In The Society of Diana, scholar and practitioner Caroline Tully, PhD, follows this tradition from the grove of Nemi and the ancient cult of Diana, through church prohibitions, folklore and witch-trial records, to Aradia and the modern witchcraft revival.

Tully treats flight, dream travel, shape-shifting and spirit encounter as the heart of the material rather than something to be explained away. The book is also a working manual. At its centre are forty-five pathworkings arranged through the five elements, and three appendices cover moon ritual, an underworld journey, and rites to Hecate Chthonia.