Gardnerian Wicca
Encyclopedia
Gardnerian Wicca, or Gardnerian Witchcraft, is a mystery cult tradition or denomination
in the neopagan religion of Wicca
, whose members can trace initiatory descent from Gerald Gardner
. The tradition is itself named after Gardner (1884–1964), a British civil servant and scholar of magic
. The term "Gardnerian" was probably coined by the founder of Cochranian Witchcraft
, Robert Cochrane in the 1950s or 60s, who himself ridiculed the tradition.
Gardner claimed to have learned the beliefs and practises that would later become known as Gardnerian Wicca from the New Forest Coven
, who he claimed initiated him into their ranks in 1939. For this reason, Gardnerian Wicca is usually considered to be the earliest tradition of Wicca still extant, from which most subsequent Wiccan traditions are derived.
From the New Forest coven, Gardner formed his own Bricket Wood coven
, and in turn initiated a series of women who acted as High Priestesses, founding further covens and 'downlines' of initiation. In the UK and most Commonwealth countries someone claiming to be Wiccan is usually understood to be claiming initiatory descent from Gardner, either through Gardnerian Wicca, or through a derived branch such as Alexandrian Wicca
or Algard Wicca. In North America, where the term "Wicca" has come to include many unlineaged groups and individuals, the lineaged traditions are termed "British Traditional Wicca
".
s, that traditionally, though not always, are limited to thirteen members. Covens are jointly led by a High Priest and High Priestess.
Gardnerian Wicca and other forms of British Traditional Wicca
operate as an initiatory mystery cult; membership is gained only through initiation
by a Wiccan High Priestess or High Priest. Any valid line of initiatory descent can be traced all the way back to Gerald Gardner
, and through him back to the New Forest Coven
.
Rituals and coven practices are kept secret from non-initiates, and many Wiccans also maintain secrecy regarding their membership.
In Gardnerian Wicca, there are three grades of initiation. Ronald Hutton
suggests that they appear to be based upon the three grades of Freemasonry
.
and the Mother Goddess
. Gardnerians use specific names for the God and the Goddess in their rituals. Doreen Valiente
, a Gardnerian High Priestess, claimed that there were more than one. She claimed that Gardner referred to the Goddess as Airdia or Areda, which she assumed was derived from Aradia
, the deity that Charles Leland had claimed was worshipped by Italian witches. She said that the God was referred to with the title of Cernunnos
, or Kernunno, which was Celtic and meant "The Horned One". Another name by which Gardnerians called the God was Janicot , which she believed was Basque
in origin.
The belief that "ye may not be a Witch alone" extends the idea that personal growth, both intellectually and spiritually, is dependent on and affects one's surroundings and the people therein. This concept is not limited to magical or overtly religious behavior, but includes also one's day-to-day life and conduct. For example, Gardnerian High Priestess Eleanor Bone was not only one of the most respected elders in the tradition, but also a matron of a nursing home. Moreover, the Bricketwood coven today is well known for its many members from academic or intellectual background, who contribute to the preservation of Wiccan knowledge. Gerald Gardner himself actively disseminated educational resources on folklore and the occult to the general public through his Museum of Witchcraft in the Isle of Man. Therefore, Gardnerian Wicca can be said to differ slightly from many other Craft practices that generally concentrate solely on solitary spiritual development.
The religion tends to be non-dogmatic, allowing each initiate to find for him/herself what the ritual experience means by using the basic 'language' of a shared ritual tradition, to discover the nature of the Mysteries. The tradition is often characterised as an orthopraxy (correct practice) rather than an orthodoxy
(correct thinking), with adherents placing greater emphasis on a shared body of practices as opposed to faith.
moved to Highcliffe, east of Bournemouth
on the south coast of England. There he claimed to have been initiated into a traditional coven of witches, a survival from pre-Christian times, which continued to meet in the New Forest
in the south of England.
Gardner claimed to have been initiated in 1939 into a tradition of religious
witchcraft
that he believed to be a continuation of European Paganism
. He knew and worked with many famous occultists, not the least of which was Aleister Crowley
. After his retirement Gardner moved to Christchurch near the New Forest
on the south coast of England
, where he says he met a group of people who had preserved certain traditional practices. They recognised him as being "one of them" and convinced him to be initiated. It was only halfway through the initiation, he says, that it dawned on him what kind of group it was, and that witchcraft had not died out in England.
Doreen Valiente
, one of Gardner's priestesses, later identified the woman who initiated Gardner as Dorothy Clutterbuck
in A Witches' Bible by Janet
and Stewart Farrar
. This identification was based on references Valiente remembered Gardner making to a woman he called "Old Dorothy". Scholar Ronald Hutton
instead argues in his Triumph of the Moon that Gardner's witchcraft tradition was largely the inspiration of members of the Rosicrucian Order Crotona Fellowship
and especially a woman known by the magical name of "Dafo
". Dr. Leo Ruickbie
, in his Witchcraft Out of the Shadows, analysed the documentary evidence and concluded that Aleister Crowley
played a crucial role in inspiring Gardner to establish a new pagan religion. Ruickbie, Hutton, and others further argue that much of what has been published of Gardnerian Wicca, as Gardner's practice came to be known by, was written by Doreen Valiente
, Aleister Crowley
and also contains borrowings from other identifiable sources.
The witches to whom Gardner was introduced were originally referred to by him as "the Wica" and he would often use the term "Witch Cult
" to describe the religion. Other terms used, included "witchcraft" or "the Old Religion". Later publications standardised the spelling to "Wicca" and it came to be used as the term for the craft, rather than its followers. "Gardnerian" was originally a pejorative term coined by Gardner's contemporary Roy Bowers (also known as Robert Cochrane), a British cunning man.
ist and amateur folklorist. Gardner seems not to have been confident writing original poetry, and instead borrowed and wove together appropriate material from other artists and occultists, most notably Crowley, Charles Godfrey Leland
's Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches
, the Key of Solomon
as published by S.L. MacGregor Mathers
, Masonic
ritual, and Rudyard Kipling
. Doreen Valiente
wrote much of the best-known poetry, including the much-quoted Charge of the Goddess
.
The group into which Gardner claimed to be initiated, known as the New Forest coven
, was small and utterly secret as claiming to be a witch was illegal in Britain at the time (the Witchcraft Act of 1735 made claiming to predict the future, conjure spirits, or cast spells a crime, and likewise made accusations of witchcraft a criminal offence). When the Witchcraft Laws were replaced, in 1951, by the Fraudulent Mediums Act, Gerald Gardner went public, initially somewhat cautiously, but during the late 1950s and until his death in 1964 even courted the attentions of the tabloid press, to the consternation of some of the other members of the tradition.
were running a coven separate from the original New Forest coven at a naturist club near Bricket Wood
to the north of London. By 1952 however Dafo's health had begun to decline, and she was increasingly wary of Gardner's publicity-seeking. In 1953 Gardner met Doreen Valiente
who was to become his High Priestess in succession to Dafo. The question of publicity led to Doreen and others formulating thirteen proposed 'Rules for the Craft', including items such as a restriction on contact with the press. Gardner responded with the sudden production of the Wiccan Laws
which led to Doreen and others leaving the coven. At about this time (1956–58) the standard method of raising energy in the circle was said to be by binding and scourging, but following Gardner spending time in the Isle of Man the coven began to experiment with circle dancing as an alternative. It was also about this time that the lesser Sabbats were given greater prominence. When Brickett Wood coven members decided that since they like the Sabbats celebrations so much, there was no reason to keep the cross quarters celebration to the closest full moon meeting, instead they became festivities in their own right. As Gardner had no objection to this change suggested by the Brickett Wood coven, this collective decision resulted in what is now the standard eight festivities in the wheel of the year.
The split with Valiente led to the Bricket Wood coven being led by Jack Bracelin and a new High Priestess, Dayonis. This was the first of a number of disputes between individuals and groups, but the increased publicity only seems to have allowed Gardnerian Wicca to grow much more rapidly. Certain initiates such as Alex Sanders
and Raymond Buckland
started off their own major traditions allowing further expansion.
A partial summary of publicly known Wiccans 'downline' from Gardner is available here.
----
Religious denomination
A religious denomination is a subgroup within a religion that operates under a common name, tradition, and identity.The term describes various Christian denominations...
in the neopagan religion of Wicca
Wicca
Wicca , is a modern Pagan religious movement. Developing in England in the first half of the 20th century, Wicca was popularised in the 1950s and early 1960s by a Wiccan High Priest named Gerald Gardner, who at the time called it the "witch cult" and "witchcraft," and its adherents "the Wica."...
, whose members can trace initiatory descent from Gerald Gardner
Gerald Gardner
Gerald Brousseau Gardner , who sometimes used the craft name Scire, was an influential English Wiccan, as well as an amateur anthropologist and archaeologist, writer, weaponry expert and occultist. He was instrumental in bringing the Neopagan religion of Wicca to public attention in Britain and...
. The tradition is itself named after Gardner (1884–1964), a British civil servant and scholar of magic
Magic (paranormal)
Magic is the claimed art of manipulating aspects of reality either by supernatural means or through knowledge of occult laws unknown to science. It is in contrast to science, in that science does not accept anything not subject to either direct or indirect observation, and subject to logical...
. The term "Gardnerian" was probably coined by the founder of Cochranian Witchcraft
Cochrane's Craft
Cochrane’s Craft, which is also known as Cochranianism, is a tradition of the Neopagan religion of Witchcraft founded in 1951 by the English Witch Robert Cochrane, who himself claimed to have been taught it by some of his elderly family members, a claim that is disputed by some historians such as...
, Robert Cochrane in the 1950s or 60s, who himself ridiculed the tradition.
Gardner claimed to have learned the beliefs and practises that would later become known as Gardnerian Wicca from the New Forest Coven
New Forest coven
The New Forest coven were a group of Neopagan witches or Wiccans who allegedly met around the area of the New Forest in southern England during the 1930s and 1940s...
, who he claimed initiated him into their ranks in 1939. For this reason, Gardnerian Wicca is usually considered to be the earliest tradition of Wicca still extant, from which most subsequent Wiccan traditions are derived.
From the New Forest coven, Gardner formed his own Bricket Wood coven
Bricket Wood coven
The Bricket Wood coven, or Hertfordshire coven was a coven of Gardnerian Witches founded in the 1940s by Gerald Gardner. It was notable for being the first coven in the Gardnerian line, though having its supposed origins in the pre-Gardnerian New Forest coven...
, and in turn initiated a series of women who acted as High Priestesses, founding further covens and 'downlines' of initiation. In the UK and most Commonwealth countries someone claiming to be Wiccan is usually understood to be claiming initiatory descent from Gardner, either through Gardnerian Wicca, or through a derived branch such as Alexandrian Wicca
Alexandrian Wicca
Alexandrian Wicca is a tradition of the Neopagan religion of Wicca, founded by Alex Sanders who, with his wife Maxine Sanders, established the tradition in the United Kingdom in the 1960s...
or Algard Wicca. In North America, where the term "Wicca" has come to include many unlineaged groups and individuals, the lineaged traditions are termed "British Traditional Wicca
British Traditional Wicca
British Traditional Wicca is a term used to describe some Wiccan traditions which have their origins in the New Forest region of England...
".
Covens and Initiatory lines
Gardnerian Wiccans organise into covenCoven
A coven or covan is a name used to describe a gathering of witches or in some cases vampires. Due to the word's association with witches, a gathering of Wiccans, followers of the witchcraft-based neopagan religion of Wicca, is also described as a coven....
s, that traditionally, though not always, are limited to thirteen members. Covens are jointly led by a High Priest and High Priestess.
Gardnerian Wicca and other forms of British Traditional Wicca
British Traditional Wicca
British Traditional Wicca is a term used to describe some Wiccan traditions which have their origins in the New Forest region of England...
operate as an initiatory mystery cult; membership is gained only through initiation
Initiation
Initiation is a rite of passage ceremony marking entrance or acceptance into a group or society. It could also be a formal admission to adulthood in a community or one of its formal components...
by a Wiccan High Priestess or High Priest. Any valid line of initiatory descent can be traced all the way back to Gerald Gardner
Gerald Gardner
Gerald Brousseau Gardner , who sometimes used the craft name Scire, was an influential English Wiccan, as well as an amateur anthropologist and archaeologist, writer, weaponry expert and occultist. He was instrumental in bringing the Neopagan religion of Wicca to public attention in Britain and...
, and through him back to the New Forest Coven
New Forest coven
The New Forest coven were a group of Neopagan witches or Wiccans who allegedly met around the area of the New Forest in southern England during the 1930s and 1940s...
.
Rituals and coven practices are kept secret from non-initiates, and many Wiccans also maintain secrecy regarding their membership.
In Gardnerian Wicca, there are three grades of initiation. Ronald Hutton
Ronald Hutton
Ronald Hutton is an English historian who specializes in the study of Early Modern Britain, British folklore, pre-Christian religion and contemporary Paganism. A reader in the subject at the University of Bristol, Hutton has published fourteen books and has appeared on British television and radio...
suggests that they appear to be based upon the three grades of Freemasonry
Freemasonry
Freemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million, including approximately 150,000 under the jurisdictions of the Grand Lodge...
.
Theology
In Gardnerian Wicca, the two principal deities are the Horned GodHorned God
The Horned God is one of the two primary deities found in some European pagan religions. He is often given various names and epithets, and represents the male part of the religion's duotheistic theological system, the other part being the female Triple Goddess. In common Wiccan belief, he is...
and the Mother Goddess
Mother goddess
Mother goddess is a term used to refer to a goddess who represents motherhood, fertility, creation or embodies the bounty of the Earth. When equated with the Earth or the natural world such goddesses are sometimes referred to as Mother Earth or as the Earth Mother.Many different goddesses have...
. Gardnerians use specific names for the God and the Goddess in their rituals. Doreen Valiente
Doreen Valiente
Doreen Edith Dominy Valiente , who also went under the craft name Ameth, was an influential English Wiccan who was involved in a number of different early traditions, including Gardnerianism, Cochrane's Craft and the Coven of Atho...
, a Gardnerian High Priestess, claimed that there were more than one. She claimed that Gardner referred to the Goddess as Airdia or Areda, which she assumed was derived from Aradia
Aradia
Aradia is one of the principal figures in the American folklorist Charles Leland’s 1899 work Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches, which he believed to be a genuine religious text used by a group of pagan witches in Tuscany, a claim that has subsequently been disputed by other folklorists and...
, the deity that Charles Leland had claimed was worshipped by Italian witches. She said that the God was referred to with the title of Cernunnos
Cernunnos
Cernunnos is the conventional name given in Celtic studies to depictions of the horned god of Celtic polytheism. The name itself is only attested once, on the 1st-century Pillar of the Boatmen, but depictions of a horned or antlered figure, often seated in a "lotus position" and often associated...
, or Kernunno, which was Celtic and meant "The Horned One". Another name by which Gardnerians called the God was Janicot , which she believed was Basque
Basque language
Basque is the ancestral language of the Basque people, who inhabit the Basque Country, a region spanning an area in northeastern Spain and southwestern France. It is spoken by 25.7% of Basques in all territories...
in origin.
Ethics and Morality
The tradition has a focus on community, placing great emphasis on ethical conduct and reverence towards all sentient beings as central to spiritual maturity. The basic principle of acting "with harm to none" is mentioned repeatedly in the Ordains, a body of traditional guidelines for behavior both within the coven and within the larger human community.The belief that "ye may not be a Witch alone" extends the idea that personal growth, both intellectually and spiritually, is dependent on and affects one's surroundings and the people therein. This concept is not limited to magical or overtly religious behavior, but includes also one's day-to-day life and conduct. For example, Gardnerian High Priestess Eleanor Bone was not only one of the most respected elders in the tradition, but also a matron of a nursing home. Moreover, the Bricketwood coven today is well known for its many members from academic or intellectual background, who contribute to the preservation of Wiccan knowledge. Gerald Gardner himself actively disseminated educational resources on folklore and the occult to the general public through his Museum of Witchcraft in the Isle of Man. Therefore, Gardnerian Wicca can be said to differ slightly from many other Craft practices that generally concentrate solely on solitary spiritual development.
The religion tends to be non-dogmatic, allowing each initiate to find for him/herself what the ritual experience means by using the basic 'language' of a shared ritual tradition, to discover the nature of the Mysteries. The tradition is often characterised as an orthopraxy (correct practice) rather than an orthodoxy
Orthodoxy
The word orthodox, from Greek orthos + doxa , is generally used to mean the adherence to accepted norms, more specifically to creeds, especially in religion...
(correct thinking), with adherents placing greater emphasis on a shared body of practices as opposed to faith.
Gardner and the New Forest Coven
On retirement from the British Colonial Service, Gardner moved to London but then before World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
moved to Highcliffe, east of Bournemouth
Bournemouth
Bournemouth is a large coastal resort town in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. According to the 2001 Census the town has a population of 163,444, making it the largest settlement in Dorset. It is also the largest settlement between Southampton and Plymouth...
on the south coast of England. There he claimed to have been initiated into a traditional coven of witches, a survival from pre-Christian times, which continued to meet in the New Forest
New Forest
The New Forest is an area of southern England which includes the largest remaining tracts of unenclosed pasture land, heathland and forest in the heavily-populated south east of England. It covers south-west Hampshire and extends into south-east Wiltshire....
in the south of England.
Gardner claimed to have been initiated in 1939 into a tradition of religious
Religion
Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...
witchcraft
Witchcraft
Witchcraft, in historical, anthropological, religious, and mythological contexts, is the alleged use of supernatural or magical powers. A witch is a practitioner of witchcraft...
that he believed to be a continuation of European Paganism
Paganism
Paganism is a blanket term, typically used to refer to non-Abrahamic, indigenous polytheistic religious traditions....
. He knew and worked with many famous occultists, not the least of which was Aleister Crowley
Aleister Crowley
Aleister Crowley , born Edward Alexander Crowley, and also known as both Frater Perdurabo and The Great Beast, was an influential English occultist, astrologer, mystic and ceremonial magician, responsible for founding the religious philosophy of Thelema. He was also successful in various other...
. After his retirement Gardner moved to Christchurch near the New Forest
New Forest
The New Forest is an area of southern England which includes the largest remaining tracts of unenclosed pasture land, heathland and forest in the heavily-populated south east of England. It covers south-west Hampshire and extends into south-east Wiltshire....
on the south coast of England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, where he says he met a group of people who had preserved certain traditional practices. They recognised him as being "one of them" and convinced him to be initiated. It was only halfway through the initiation, he says, that it dawned on him what kind of group it was, and that witchcraft had not died out in England.
Doreen Valiente
Doreen Valiente
Doreen Edith Dominy Valiente , who also went under the craft name Ameth, was an influential English Wiccan who was involved in a number of different early traditions, including Gardnerianism, Cochrane's Craft and the Coven of Atho...
, one of Gardner's priestesses, later identified the woman who initiated Gardner as Dorothy Clutterbuck
Dorothy Clutterbuck
Dorothy Clutterbuck , was a wealthy Englishwoman who was named by Gerald Gardner as a leading member of the New Forest coven, a group of pagan Witches into which Gardner claimed to have been initiated in 1939...
in A Witches' Bible by Janet
Janet Farrar
Janet Farrar is a British teacher and author of books on Wicca and Neopaganism. Along with her two husbands, Stewart Farrar and Gavin Bone, Farrar has published "some of the most influential books on modern Witchcraft to date." According to George Knowles, "some seventy five percent of Wiccans...
and Stewart Farrar
Stewart Farrar
Frank Stewart Farrar , who always went by the name of Stewart Farrar, was an English screenwriter, novelist and prominent figure in the Neopagan religion of Wicca, which he devoted much of his later life to propagating with the aid of his seventh wife, Janet Farrar, and then his friend Gavin Bone...
. This identification was based on references Valiente remembered Gardner making to a woman he called "Old Dorothy". Scholar Ronald Hutton
Ronald Hutton
Ronald Hutton is an English historian who specializes in the study of Early Modern Britain, British folklore, pre-Christian religion and contemporary Paganism. A reader in the subject at the University of Bristol, Hutton has published fourteen books and has appeared on British television and radio...
instead argues in his Triumph of the Moon that Gardner's witchcraft tradition was largely the inspiration of members of the Rosicrucian Order Crotona Fellowship
Rosicrucian Order Crotona Fellowship
The Rosicrucian Order Crotona Fellowship was a Rosicrucian group founded by George Alexander Sullivan in about 1924. It may have existed under the name Order of Twelve from 1911–1914 and again from 1920. The ROCF operated first from the Liverpool area of England and then after the mid-1930s from...
and especially a woman known by the magical name of "Dafo
Dafo
Edith Rose Woodford-Grimes was an English Wiccan who achieved notoriety as one of the faith's earliest known adherents. She had been a member of the New Forest coven which met during the late 1930s and early 1940s, and through this became a friend and working partner of Gerald Gardner, who would...
". Dr. Leo Ruickbie
Leo Ruickbie
Leo Ruickbie is an historian and sociologist of magic, witchcraft and Wicca. He is the author of several books, beginning with Witchcraft Out of the Shadows, a 2004 publication outlining the history of witchcraft from ancient Greece until the modern day. Ruickbie was born in Scotland and took a...
, in his Witchcraft Out of the Shadows, analysed the documentary evidence and concluded that Aleister Crowley
Aleister Crowley
Aleister Crowley , born Edward Alexander Crowley, and also known as both Frater Perdurabo and The Great Beast, was an influential English occultist, astrologer, mystic and ceremonial magician, responsible for founding the religious philosophy of Thelema. He was also successful in various other...
played a crucial role in inspiring Gardner to establish a new pagan religion. Ruickbie, Hutton, and others further argue that much of what has been published of Gardnerian Wicca, as Gardner's practice came to be known by, was written by Doreen Valiente
Doreen Valiente
Doreen Edith Dominy Valiente , who also went under the craft name Ameth, was an influential English Wiccan who was involved in a number of different early traditions, including Gardnerianism, Cochrane's Craft and the Coven of Atho...
, Aleister Crowley
Aleister Crowley
Aleister Crowley , born Edward Alexander Crowley, and also known as both Frater Perdurabo and The Great Beast, was an influential English occultist, astrologer, mystic and ceremonial magician, responsible for founding the religious philosophy of Thelema. He was also successful in various other...
and also contains borrowings from other identifiable sources.
The witches to whom Gardner was introduced were originally referred to by him as "the Wica" and he would often use the term "Witch Cult
Cult (religious practice)
In traditional usage, the cult of a religion, quite apart from its sacred writings , its theology or myths, or the personal faith of its believers, is the totality of external religious practice and observance, the neglect of which is the definition of impiety. Cult in this primary sense is...
" to describe the religion. Other terms used, included "witchcraft" or "the Old Religion". Later publications standardised the spelling to "Wicca" and it came to be used as the term for the craft, rather than its followers. "Gardnerian" was originally a pejorative term coined by Gardner's contemporary Roy Bowers (also known as Robert Cochrane), a British cunning man.
Reconstruction of the Wiccan rituals
Gardner himself admitted that the rituals of the existing group were fragmentary at best, and he set about reconstructing it, drawing on his skills as an occultOccult
The word occult comes from the Latin word occultus , referring to "knowledge of the hidden". In the medical sense it is used to refer to a structure or process that is hidden, e.g...
ist and amateur folklorist. Gardner seems not to have been confident writing original poetry, and instead borrowed and wove together appropriate material from other artists and occultists, most notably Crowley, Charles Godfrey Leland
Charles Godfrey Leland
Charles Godfrey Leland was an American humorist and folklorist, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was educated at Princeton University and in Europe....
's Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches
Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches
Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches is a book composed by the American folklorist Charles Leland that was published in 1899. It contains what he believed was the religious text of a group of pagan witches in Tuscany, Italy that documented their beliefs and rituals, although various historians and...
, the Key of Solomon
Key of Solomon
The Key of Solomon , is a grimoire, or book on magic incorrectly attributed to King Solomon. It probably dates back to the 14th or 15th century Italian Renaissance...
as published by S.L. MacGregor Mathers
Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers
Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers , born Samuel Liddell Mathers, was one of the most influential figures in modern Occultism...
, Masonic
Freemasonry
Freemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million, including approximately 150,000 under the jurisdictions of the Grand Lodge...
ritual, and Rudyard Kipling
Rudyard Kipling
Joseph Rudyard Kipling was an English poet, short-story writer, and novelist chiefly remembered for his celebration of British imperialism, tales and poems of British soldiers in India, and his tales for children. Kipling received the 1907 Nobel Prize for Literature...
. Doreen Valiente
Doreen Valiente
Doreen Edith Dominy Valiente , who also went under the craft name Ameth, was an influential English Wiccan who was involved in a number of different early traditions, including Gardnerianism, Cochrane's Craft and the Coven of Atho...
wrote much of the best-known poetry, including the much-quoted Charge of the Goddess
Charge of the Goddess
The Charge of the Goddess is a traditional inspirational text sometimes used in the neopagan religion of Wicca. Several versions exist, though they all have the same basic premise, that of a set of instructions given by a Great Goddess to her worshippers...
.
The group into which Gardner claimed to be initiated, known as the New Forest coven
New Forest coven
The New Forest coven were a group of Neopagan witches or Wiccans who allegedly met around the area of the New Forest in southern England during the 1930s and 1940s...
, was small and utterly secret as claiming to be a witch was illegal in Britain at the time (the Witchcraft Act of 1735 made claiming to predict the future, conjure spirits, or cast spells a crime, and likewise made accusations of witchcraft a criminal offence). When the Witchcraft Laws were replaced, in 1951, by the Fraudulent Mediums Act, Gerald Gardner went public, initially somewhat cautiously, but during the late 1950s and until his death in 1964 even courted the attentions of the tabloid press, to the consternation of some of the other members of the tradition.
Bricket Wood and the North London coven
In 1948-9 Gardner and DafoDafo
Edith Rose Woodford-Grimes was an English Wiccan who achieved notoriety as one of the faith's earliest known adherents. She had been a member of the New Forest coven which met during the late 1930s and early 1940s, and through this became a friend and working partner of Gerald Gardner, who would...
were running a coven separate from the original New Forest coven at a naturist club near Bricket Wood
Bricket Wood
Bricket Wood is a village in the county of Hertfordshire, England, approximately 4½ miles from St Albans. It is part of the parish of St Stephen. Its railway station is served by a London Midland service that runs between St Albans Abbey and Watford Junction stations.Close to the village stands...
to the north of London. By 1952 however Dafo's health had begun to decline, and she was increasingly wary of Gardner's publicity-seeking. In 1953 Gardner met Doreen Valiente
Doreen Valiente
Doreen Edith Dominy Valiente , who also went under the craft name Ameth, was an influential English Wiccan who was involved in a number of different early traditions, including Gardnerianism, Cochrane's Craft and the Coven of Atho...
who was to become his High Priestess in succession to Dafo. The question of publicity led to Doreen and others formulating thirteen proposed 'Rules for the Craft', including items such as a restriction on contact with the press. Gardner responded with the sudden production of the Wiccan Laws
Wiccan Laws
The Wiccan Laws, also called the Craft Laws, the Old Laws, the Ardanes or simply The Laws are the traditional laws of Wicca from the Book of Shadows...
which led to Doreen and others leaving the coven. At about this time (1956–58) the standard method of raising energy in the circle was said to be by binding and scourging, but following Gardner spending time in the Isle of Man the coven began to experiment with circle dancing as an alternative. It was also about this time that the lesser Sabbats were given greater prominence. When Brickett Wood coven members decided that since they like the Sabbats celebrations so much, there was no reason to keep the cross quarters celebration to the closest full moon meeting, instead they became festivities in their own right. As Gardner had no objection to this change suggested by the Brickett Wood coven, this collective decision resulted in what is now the standard eight festivities in the wheel of the year.
The split with Valiente led to the Bricket Wood coven being led by Jack Bracelin and a new High Priestess, Dayonis. This was the first of a number of disputes between individuals and groups, but the increased publicity only seems to have allowed Gardnerian Wicca to grow much more rapidly. Certain initiates such as Alex Sanders
Alex Sanders (Wiccan)
Alex Sanders , born Orrell Alexander Carter, was an English occultist and High Priest in the Neopagan religion of Wicca, responsible for founding the tradition of Alexandrian Wicca during the 1960s. He was a figure who often appeared in tabloid newspapers...
and Raymond Buckland
Raymond Buckland
Raymond Buckland , whose craft name is Robat, is an English American writer on the subject of Wicca and the occult, and a significant figure in the history of Wicca, of which he is a High Priest in both the Gardnerian and Seax traditions.According to his written works, primarily Witchcraft from the...
started off their own major traditions allowing further expansion.
A partial summary of publicly known Wiccans 'downline' from Gardner is available here.
External links
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