The Raven Watched

The Raven Watched is an occult fantasy about a family of witches who belong to the Strega spiritual tradition of Italy. Their heritage reaches back to the earliest civilizations, following women through history who have been either revered as Goddesses or persecuted as Witches for their healing and mysterious spiritual traditions. Women of the Rimini clan in Italy, have been the leading lights in the Strega tradition for many generations. But now, Sophia, the current High Priestess, is dying and the next Priestess is yet to be found and trained. Sophia is distraught, for she has no daughters of her own and the tradition holds that the line must pass into the same family or it dies out. At last three grand-nieces arrive from America with their parents at the family's ancient villa in Italy. Each one is drawn into discovering mysteries of this magical place. Fourteen year-old Kara struggles with her doubts and suspicions against magic and witchcraft in order to face some very dangerous challenges. Nine year-old Mimi meets and makes friends with a number of magical creatures immediately. Seventeen year-old Joanna is introduced to the mysteries through a romantic connection with members of an underground spiritual theatrical movement. All three girls as well as their mother and aunt experience dreams and visions in which they learn stories of revered women from their ancestry. Their father, however, is adamantly opposed to the spiritual witch traditions and creates a constant obstacle to their progress. At last, the Festival of Beltane brings everyone face to face with the Malandanti and the evil Wizard. The action takes place in the 1970's in Italy, in the Campagnia coastal and Apennines mountain region between Rome and Naples. The focal site is a fictional ancient villa built into the hills overlooking the Tyrrhenion Sea. Near the villa is a hidden grotto accessed by three diverse tunnels: one from the villa, one from a mountain cave, and one from a run-down cottage some distance higher in the mountains. All are sites of ancient secrets traditional to the legends of the Rimini clan of witches. Their lineage traces back to the first Etruscan settlements on the Italian peninsula, and before them to the Greek, Egyptian, Babylonian and Indus civilizations. The family lineage is contrived for the story, but follows legends and myths from history. Heroines from biblical stories as well as those from ancient pagan religions appear as representatives of the women's past lives. The matriarch speaks and sends messages from the Otherworld, and reincarnation is a major theme of the story. Magical creatures such as a ghost and a fairy play roles in the main story, as well as wild and domestic animals who communicate with humans and are, themselves, main characters. Beliefs and myths of witchcraft, and the Christian religious proscriptions that go with them, including the misogynous attitudes against women in power throughout history, are a central theme of the story.