Part 2

by A.C. Fisher Aldag

The modern practice of Wicca was established by Gerald B. Gardner in the 1940s and 50s with the publication of two works of fiction and two "factual" manuals containing theories, laws, rituals and legends of pre-Christian deities. It was not commonly called Wicca until the late 1950s to the early 60s, when it developed into a full-blown religion. Gardner’s protégés, including Doreen Valiente and Raymond Buckland, broadened and spread this initiatory witchcraft tradition. Others took up the banner, adding their own inventions and discoveries to the practice, until it became the religion that we know today. There is thought to be between 250,000 and a million people practicing some form of Wicca or neo-Paganism in America alone.

Some Wiccans, and many adherents of the current nature spirituality movement, might insist that their religion was actually founded in the Paleolithic (stone age) Era. They may tell you that patriarchal warriors obliterated matrifocal societies, or that Christians persecuted and killed most of the Wiccans during the Burning Times, except for a few loyal individuals who wrote their lore and rituals down in magical journals called "grimoires". These Priests and Priestesses of the Goddess supposedly met in covens of thirteen and worshipped naked under the full moon, despite the threat of torture and death. They were believed to have carried all the sacred rites, herbal recipes, and holiday celebrations intact from pre-historic times, until Gardner finally revealed the tradition to the masses.

In his writings and interviews, Mr. Gardner stated that he was initiated into an ancient magical tradition which had survived into modern times in the New Forest district of Hampshire, England. Against the wishes of his coveners, Gardner published the secrets of Wicca first in his fiction books, then in his non-fiction work. Several of Gardner’s letters suggest that he removed the information about hereditary Paganism from his books, replacing it with Jewish mystical rituals. This was purportedly at the request of the British Witches who’d taught him their ceremonies. Gardner wrote that his coven-mates requested that their names not be published, as the practice of witchcraft was not only illegal, it carried an enormous social stigma. (The last English law prohibiting witchcraft was not repealed until 1951 by Winston Churchill, after his own personal medium was tried and convicted to nine months in prison as a witch.) Gardner also kept a "Book of Shadows" filled with rituals, spells and information on magical tools that was not widely available to the public until recently.

In recent years it has become quite fashionable to dump on Grandpa Gerald. Scholars such as Aidan Kelly and Ronald Hutton proposed doubt that Gardner’s Wicca has any historic basis. These writers and other historians imply that Gardner wholly invented "the Old Religion" by borrowing material from modern occult societies and the works of Dr. Margaret Murray. Scholars further claimed to debunk Murray’s theory about an underground "Witch Cult", and also questioned the idea that witchcraft or hereditary Pagan practice survived in any form after the middle ages. Some historians believe that only tiny vestiges of folk tradition endured until the present day, in the form of superstition, outmoded customs, or scraps of lore. Authors including Robert Trubshaw have proposed that the common people practiced limited folkways without any knowledge of pre-Christian origins, and without cohesive religious ceremony.

The reality of Wicca lies somewhere in between these viewpoints. It was not wholly invented by Mr. Gardner, nor is it an intact ancient tradition. Wicca is an example of an eclectic religion. This means that it was derived from a variety of sources and time periods. Gardner drew upon the writings of various metaphysical societies, Masonic rituals, archeology, chaos theory, ceremonies of the Knights Templar, books written by Frazer, Murray, Aleister Crowley and Charles Leland, and the poems of Blake, Browning, Yeats and Kipling. It is also believed that Gardner observed religious rituals in Cyprus, Malaysia and East India during his travels. While on a trip to North America in the 1940s, it is possible that Gardner attended Native American Pow-Wow ceremonies. Gardner further claimed a family tradition of witchcraft, which is impossible to prove or disprove, although one of his ancestors really was indicted as a witch in the early 1600s.

I propose that it is quite possible Mr. Gardner actually did observe some authentic Pagan rites, which had survived in Britain well into modern days. Gardner and his friends belonged to various folklore societies dedicated to preserving the culture of native people, including the ethnic Celts and Anglo-Saxons of the British Islands. These amateur folklorists spent a great deal of time researching the traditions of the English working class, including the practice of magic. The rituals and customs of house servants, farmers and blue-collar workers existed as late as the 1950s, not in any hidden secret society, but as practices common enough to be ignored by the media. These traditions included herbalism, ritual music and dance, shamanic trance aided by psychotropics, spellwork, lore related to fairies, spirits and deities, agricultural rites, ritual theatre, house-to-house dramatic presentations, use of protection symbols, and many other ceremonies believed to have pre-Christian origins. Since Gardner and his contemporaries had extensively studied Pagan traditions, and authored articles and books about magic, herbal remedies, lore and artifacts, they most likely knew what to look for.

It is also possible that Mr. Gardner and his coven-mates interviewed local witches, or cunning folk, pellars, hedge-riders, spae-wives, fairy doctors, conjurers, or wise men and women, as individual magical craft practitioners were called in those days. Other authors, such as Owen Davies, also researched cunning folk and wrote about their practice. These individuals had preserved a treasure-trove of information on folktales, midwifery traditions, herbal healing, "old wives’ tales", divination techniques, psychic skills, farming customs, folk cures, love charms, and "hedge magic", which was looked down on by the English educated class. Some of these customs were Christianized, such as the use of Bible verses for divination purposes. Others were Pagan traditions, quite probably unchanged from long-ago days.

Gardner’s and Crowley’s bookshelves were lined with volumes of folklore and comparative religions, as well as books about secret societies and ceremonial magic. These educated men may have presumed that the cultural traditions of the British underclass weren’t sophisticated enough for a modern audience, and so they added cabalistic magic and elaborate fraternity rituals to make these "peasant" folkways more interesting to new converts. The result was the religious tradition known today as Gardnerian Wicca.

Quite a bit of evidence supports the theory that Mr. Gardner had ties to authentic hereditary Pagans. Dr. Kelly himself quoted a Gardnerian Witch named Robert in a description of a meeting in the 1930s which included Gardner, Crowley, "Old" Dorothy Clutterbuck, who was Gardner’s purported initiator, and Cecil Williamson, who was the curator of the British Museum of Folklore and Superstition. The purpose of the meeting was to form a new witchcraft society. This is an excerpt, emphasis is mine: "When discussion turned to who would be chosen to lead the order as High Priestess, it was decided that it should be someone who had good relations with the commoners in her acquaintance and who could convince them to share their powerful, albeit vulgar, secret magic. Clutterbuck was chosen to lead one of many New Forest covens formed that night." It is possible that Old Dorothy learned about witchcraft and Paganism from the working-class people in her community, and then taught those traditions to Gardner. (Other accounts state that Gardner did not meet Crowley until 1947; it is possible that Arnold Crowther, another friend of Gardner’s, was mistaken for Crowley.)

In her popular book Witchcraft for Tomorrow, Gardner’s protégé Doreen Valiente worked to authenticate many of Gardner’s sources for Wicca, including the origin of his teacher. Previous to Valiente’s research, some scholars doubted that Old Dorothy really existed at all. Valiente found several documents verifying that Dorothy Clutterbuck was a real person, who actually lived in the New Forest district of England. (More on this topic later.)

In the book Ritual Magic in England, published in 1970, author Francis King states that he’d encountered a British coven also known to Aleister Crowley and novelist Louis Marlow. King described the witches’ use of hallucinogenic herbs and protective rituals, and concluded that "There had been a fusion of an authentic surviving folk-tradition with a more middle-class occultism". Prolific writer Sybil Leek also wrote about an existing British witchcraft society in which her family claimed membership. Although she didn’t know Gardner well, Leek had a childhood friendship with Crowley.

Philip Heselton, an amateur historian, professional geologist, and Gardnerian Wicca initiate, thoroughly examined Gardner’s own papers, many of which are currently owned by Mrs. Tamara James of Canada. These documents include letters, scholarly essays, rituals, and an early copy of Gardner’s Book of Shadows. In one private letter, Gardner wrote to Cecil Williamson about purchasing land for his own "Witchcraft Museum", where he could allow people to "try the old Witch dances", or folk dances with a ritual significance. Heselton also found diaries written by Gardner’s associates linking them to Pagan affiliations. This evidence led him to the conclusion that Gardner really was involved with British hereditary Pagans, and that part of Wicca was based on their rituals. Because these rites and lore were not entirely complete, Heselton concurs that Gardner added additional material to supplement the ceremonies.

Gardner also authored several essays on "witchcraft relics" or artifacts, which he presented to the various folklore societies in which he was involved. Many such magically significant artifacts can be found throughout the British Isles. Some of these items were created in the early twentieth century, including ritual tools and protective talismans, confirming that witchcraft practice existed well into modern times. For example, pentagram sigils are inscribed in the fireplace plaster of a croft (cottage) built in 1910 near the New Forest where Gardener’s coven-mates lived. A local museum curator stated that the pentagrams were etched above the mantle to protect the home from "evil" coming down the chimney. "Witch bottles" in containers dating from the early 1600s to the 1940s have been discovered in the attics, chimneys and walls of remodeled buildings throughout Britain. Other twentieth-century "witchcraft relics" have been found, including hex signs, poppets, magic mirrors, amulets, "witches’ pegs" and written spells. Anthropologists speculate that these items were believed to prevent harmful magic and create good health and other desirable conditions.

In the Witchcraft Museum currently located in Cornwall, there are displays of ritual items belonging to people who were purported to have taught Gardner and Crowley about magic and witchcraft. Other ritual implements found in the museum are much older, dating from the Renaissance to the late 19^th century. Some of these artifacts were donated prior to the publication of Gardner’s books, and may have been an inspiration for his writings. Other items used for the practice of witchcraft were contributed to the museum during the late 40s until the 1950s, as witchcraft became popularized. Some of Gardner’s own ritual objects were purchased after his death by the Ripley’s "Believe it or Not" Museum. A few of these items are currently available for sale on e-Bay.

There is also considerable sociological evidence for the existence of hereditary Pagan practice in Gardner’s era. Working-class customs such as "hoodening", performing traditional dances while wearing animal skins or skulls, survived throughout Great Britain until the late 1930s and were extensively photographed, especially in Wales, Cornwall, and in rural Derbyshire and Kent in England. Scores of holiday customs, legends, music, folklore, recipes and tales pertaining to magical beliefs or Pagan practices continued well into Gardner’s day. Some of these customs are familiar to us as components of the Wiccan rituals made popular by Gardner, Valiente, Buckland and Alexander Saunders. (More on this topic later, too.)

Though some scholars consider him fraudulent, Gerald Gardner’s greatest accomplishment was melding fragments of pre-Christian rituals, customs and legends into a cohesive whole, with poetic "laws" used as cement. He was one of the first popular writers to link the practice of magic, the worship of elder gods, and the celebration of the seasons, which many people find spiritually rewarding today. He also brought Paganism into the consciousness of the general public in Great Britain, Australia and North America.

Initiation – Much of the Gardnerian Book of Shadows is devoted to initiation rituals. There is some disagreement about Gardner’s purported teacher and initiator, who was called "Dafo" within the New Forest Coven. Some believe that Dorothy Clutterbuck Fordham was responsible, others state that she was a priestess or merely owned the home where Gardner’s coven was said to have met. Some historians doubted Old Dorothy’s actual existence, but other scholars have proved that she was a real person. Doreen Valiente found Old Dorothy’s birth certificate, death certificate, and records of her marriage and address. Dorothy was a wealthy English woman, raised in India, who owned property in the New Forest district. Her house really is located where Gardner said it was. Philip Heselton discovered Clutterbuck’s journals, and pointed out several entries implying a connection to Paganism. He also interviewed members of secret societies who met at Dorothy’s home, including the Rosicrucian Fellowship of Croatona, a magical lodge which Gardner belonged to. However, there is no solid proof that Old Dorothy actually was Gardner’s witchcraft teacher, or a member of the New Forest Coven, let alone that she initiated Gardner into Wicca in 1939. There is some evidence that Gardner’s initiator may have been Edith Woodford-Grimes, a young music teacher who would have endured terrible social stigma and possibly forced unemployment if she had been publicly associated with witchcraft in the 1940s.

Old Dorothy died in 1951, three years before Gardner published Witchcraft Today, the first public non-fiction book about Wicca. Dorothy willed her ritual tools to the Witchcraft Museum, which was then Williams’s Museum of Folklore and Superstition. Some scholars have claimed that Dorothy’s heirs said that she was never a Witch. This is untrue, as several of the recipients of Clutterbuck’s estate were members of the Craft. It’s possible that Dorothy really did initiate Gardner into an existing witchcraft tradition, or that she was present when Dafo performed the initiation ceremony.

It must be noted that much of Gardner’s initiatory material came from the Freemasons, Crowley’s Ordo Templi Orientis, the Knights Templar, and the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. However, the Gardnerian tradition of male-to-female initiation seems to be unique to magical systems. Several of the purported pre-Gardnerian covens had initiation rituals which included sacred sexuality. Many older Pagan religions have initiation ceremonies, including rites of passage and apprenticeship rituals for certain professions such as carpentry and masonry. The Freemasons pattern their society after these building trades. My suggestion is that the Wiccan initiation is fashioned from Masonic tradition, which is in turn based on the practice of working-class pre-Christian craft guilds.

Scourging – The Wiccan initiatory ceremony includes being "scourged" or lightly switched with a leather whip somewhat like a cat o’ nine tails. This custom may have come from "rough music" or "skimmity riding", the working-class punishment for wife beaters, adulterers and general nuisances. It also may have an origin in the autumn tradition of spanking a farmer with a sheaf of grain, a good-natured prank for being the last man to bring in the harvest. Scourging was a part of the Twelfth Night festivities, performed by the "Lord of Misrule". During the Roman festival of Lupercalia, men dressed in animal skins ran through town, striking women with whips to increase fertility. In his original Book of Shadows, Gardner makes reference to the Knights Templar practicing the scourging rite. Wiccans tell me the scourge represents the symbolic ritual tool of Osirus. It may have come from the threshing flail, a farming tool used to knock the grain from the chaff. Or it might just be related to plain ol’ BDSM.

Circle – The Wiccan ritual of "casting circle" very possibly came from the rites of the Golden Dawn. Creating boundaries to contain magical energy or restrict outside influence is a Hermetic practice borrowed from such sources as The Key of Solomon. There are several references to the practice in other old magical books. The Knights Templar supposedly used a sword to outline their ritual circles, but it’s impossible to know the source of this rite, as most of their records were burned.

Meeting in a circle is common among earth religions worldwide, including Native American and Native African spirituality. Older mystic ceremonies advocate shielding and protection, as well as creating a safe space for the practice of magic. The book Anglo-Saxon Magic, published in 1948 by Gotfried (Godfrid) Stroms, includes using a metal knife to inscribe a circle before performing folk magic. Woodcut printings depict Medieval European witches gathering in a circle, or invoking entities within a clearly outlined circular ritual space. There are hundreds of stone circles found throughout Europe, thought to be sacred sites. Many folk dances are performed in a circle, and some of these are believed by anthropologists to have religious significance. A stone-age rock engraving in the cave of Adduaura in Pallermo, Italy shows what appears to be a circle of ritual dancers. The British folk dances "The Witches’ Reel" and "Thread the Needle" are quite similar to ritual dances described in Gardner’s or Saunders’s Book of Shadows.

The word Wicca – It really does come from the Old English word for sorcery and divination. Its root is the Indo-European word "weik" for bender or shaper, which also had the connotation of soothsayer. This is the same root word for wicker, as in bent willow furniture. One of the offshoots of the word is "villein", which doesn’t mean a movie bad-guy character, but a working-class serf of the late Middle Ages.

Gardner may have borrowed the word Wicca from Charles Leland, the folklorist best known for his study of the Italian Stregheria tradition. In 1891, Leland wrote Gypsy Sorcery and Fortune Telling, which contained the first modern reference to Wicca as a word for a male witch, and Wicce as a female witch. Since Gardner originally wrote the word as "Wica", he may have heard it spoken aloud, rather than read it in a book, and thus spelled it phonetically as he wrote it down.

Wicca may also have a root in the Anglo-Saxon words wite, meaning wise, or witega, meaning sorcerer, magician or seer. It may have derived from the Saxon word witten, or council of law and commerce. But there is no way that Wicca was originally pronounced "wick-a", as none of the Germanic languages have or had a "W" sound. The double-c was pronounced as "ch", so it may have been "vitch-ah". The word wice, in an old Scots dialect, means wise, which may have a Pictish origin. In the Welsh language, the term for a magic-user is gwyddon (pronounced goo-with-on), and a witch is a hag or gwrach, which has the same root as wife. There are similar words in other languages that may reflect the origin of the word Witch. Most of them fell out of use until modern times, although the term "witchcraft" was widely used in Britain for both the stereotype and the actual practice of folk magic throughout written history. It’s possible that Gardner used the term Witch purely for sensationalism.

Ritual Nudity – This may be an older custom, as nudity was no big deal to pre-Christian people. The Celts and Picts went naked into battle, according to letters written to Julius Caesar. Many prehistoric statues and other artifacts represent the nude human figure. Leland made references to ritual nudity in Aradia, Gospel of the Witches. Using a naked woman as an altar was an accusation of many a witch trial. This rite was actually practiced by Madame de Mountespan, one of the mistresses of King Louis XIV, who kept a practicing witch called Catherine la Voisin at court. Folklorists tell me that the custom of running naked through fields to promote crop fertility was practiced in Britain and North America until the 1930s. Gardner belonged to a "Naturist" or nudist club in the mid-1940s, and may have incorporated the practice of nudity into the Wiccan religion.

The symbolic Great Rite – may be an older earth religious tradition, or Gardner may have gotten it from the Holy Grail legends, the Gnostic Mass or Hermeticism. The actual great rite – ritual sexuality – may have come from Hindu practice of Tantra, or the Greek "Heiros Gamus" rite of fertility. There were several documented Priappic cults in existence in ancient Europe, so Gardner’s sacred sexuality has a valid basis. The ritual has connections with Mayday rites. Making love in a plowed field or woodland was a common folk custom into the modern day… King James I and IV of Scotland and England forbid it as a Pagan act; and one bawdy song from 1930s dust-bowl depression America insists that the "Oakies" didn’t practice it correctly!

Masonic Influences – The words "So Mote It Be" come from Masonic ceremonies, as do several Wiccan sigils. The Challenge, the Oath, and some of the ritual tools have roots in Freemasonry. Much of the initiatory ceremonies, as well as the three-degree system, are lifted verbatim. Even the term "The Craft" can be attributed to this source, as the Masons borrowed the term from the stonemasonry craft. The Masonic fraternity was originally derived from the trade-guild of stonecutters, builders and carvers, who were all working-class individuals. Perhaps some of their rituals were originally intended to maintain the folk magic related to the building trades.

Ritual Tools – Were influenced by the Masons, but may also be related to the swords, spears, and cauldrons of Celtic legend.

The Athame may have come from the Malaysian ritual knife or "keris", or the Sikh ritual dagger or "kirpan", which is used to fight spiritual demons, or it might have been patterned after the Scottish dirk. Gardner wrote a scholarly pamphlet about the former. The athame may also be related to the "boleen" or "boline", a white-handled knife used as a tool. This also was a name for the sickle used by Druids to cut sacred herbs. It is mentioned as an "arthame" in the Key of Solomon. The name may have come from the Middle English word "arthame" or blade, which perhaps relates to the before-mentioned Saxon practice of inscribing a circle with an iron knife. Author C.J.S. Thompson wrote in The Mysteries and Secrets of Magic about the use of an athame in 1927. Our family is in possession of a ritual knife dating from the Bronze Age, similar to those found in British Island sacred sites.

The cup, or chalice, may have derived from the Holy Grail legend, the Knights Templar rituals, or the Christian Mass. It is possible that chalices refer to the cauldrons of Celtic mythology. The cauldron itself was a common kitchen tool in rural households. It may have represented a womb.

The magic wand is Hermetic. The wand or staff may also have come from the forked "stang", or cattle goad. Stang simply means stick in Latin by way of Northern England and Scotland. The wand or staff may also have come from the shepherd’s crook, or the Cornish "gwelen" and Saxon "ermula", a staff with an antler affixed to the top. In fairy tales this was sometimes referred to as a "moon rake". An older staff which belonged to Gardner can be found in Ripley’s museum. Possibly the besom or broomstick was once used in the same manner as a staff or stang, for channeling power, or it may have been used as a separate tool for banishing harmful influences. Gardner referred to a broom used as a hobby horse in a ritual dance for crop fertility. Several folkplays allude to a besom used to chase away "evil spirits". In African American culture, "jumping the broom" is a rite of marriage. A similar custom existed among the English peasantry. The besom was called "the fairy steed" in Ireland. A wooden pitchfork with four tines was used for "tossing away evil" in the West Country of England. In some Wiccan traditions, the magic wand is described as shaped like a phallus, and several older wands have been discovered with this significance.

The red garter as a sign of recognition probably is old; it was a symbol for an herbalist or abortionist during the middle ages.

The pentacle may be an older traditional object, based on sacred stones of the Celts or discs of the Greeks and Romans. It is sometimes referred to as a shield or platter. Pentacles, Wands, Swords, and Cups are the four suits of the Tarot deck, as well as Hermetic "weapons" and alchemical symbols. (See ‘pentagram" below.)

The Pentagram – or five-pointed star, is a Hermetic sigil, found in the Key of Solomon. It is also a stonemason’s mark. Gardner may have borrowed it from either source. However, the symbol is much older. There are pentagrams inscribed on 5,500-year-old pottery shards from Mesopotamia, and on numerous Greek and Roman artifacts. A five-pointed star was inscribed on the gates of Jerusalem as a ritual seal. Pythagoras wrote about its mathematical significance. A second-century C.E. Romano-British coin depicts a horse with a pentagram. Pliny the Elder called it "the Druid’s egg". The Benedictines believed the pentagram to represent the human physical body. Leonardo DaVinci used it in his anatomical drawings. (Read Dan Brown’s enjoyable book The DaVinci Code for his extensive pentagram references.) In Medieval days it was called "the endless knot" and used as an amulet or a protective talisman above doorways and windows. Various grimoires refer to the pentagram as a magical symbol. It wasn’t until the time of the Inquisition that the pentagram became a symbol representing the Christian devil, or more accurately, Baphomet. Interestingly, the pentagram was also a sigil of the Virgin Mary or the five wounds of Christ. In the 1380 British poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, the Arthurian hero is said to have painted a five-pointed star on his shield. While the Gawain of literature is portrayed as a Christian, he appears in several older Celtic legends as a Pagan. In Austria and Germany, the five-pointed star was used by the peasantry as a protection symbol. A painting by Anton Lutz from the early twentieth century depicts a pentagram painted on a baby cradle in an Austrian farmer’s croft. Rudolf Koch called it "the witch’s foot" in The Book of Signs, published in 1930. And let’s not forget those pentagrams inscribed on the chimney wall of the New Forest cottage.

Cakes and Wine – There are many pre-Christian food blessings, prayers, and oaths sworn over a glass of ale or a platter of bread. The Wiccan "eucharist" is believed to have been borrowed from the Catholics, who actually modeled the rite on the Celtic ritual blessings of food and grain during agrarian festivals. Celtic Christianity borrowed a great deal from Pagan custom. Gardner borrowed it back.

Directions / Elements – The concept of sacred directions and magical elements is an older one, and believed by people of many cultures. The elemental creatures of gnomes, sylphs, salamanders, and undines are from the Greek myths by way of Hermeticism, and also have alchemical connections. The four winds, Boreas, Zephyrus, Eurus and Notarus come from Roman legends. The Archangels representing the directions are from the Jewish Kabalistic mystical system. The Watchtowers were featured in Golden Dawn ceremonies, which borrowed them from the Medieval idea of angelic Watchers, who may have originally been Greek. Native Americans honor the compass points and four winds during ceremonial Pow-Wow dances, which may have inspired Gardner during his visit to North America. Or he may have gotten the idea from the Rosicrucians, whose holy symbols include the "compass rose" of thirty-two directions featuring four "cardinal" points. Other religious traditions have three, five or more sacred elements. The Chinese elements are water, earth, fire, wood and metal. Pre-Roman Celtic lore noted only three directions: Earth, Sea and Sky, which were related to spirits and holy objects. However there are many depictions of four compass points in older artwork, including the equal-armed Celtic cross. Several of the stone monuments, including the ring of Avebury, have features corresponding to the cardinal directions. Astrology and Numerology, both of which were revived in the 1800s, also figure into Gardner’s elemental structure.

Spiritualism – An old practice of many cultures, revived in the Victorian era by mediums and spiritualists, many of whom were frauds. Gardner believed in spiritualism and contacting ghosts and other unseen beings.

High Priest and High Priestess – Likely an invention. Most pre-Christian rituals were performed by one leader, or a group of theatrical performers acting out sacred legends. Shamanic rites are usually performed solo. (Yes, I know that they weren’t called "shaman" in Britain. This term originally came from a language called Tungus, now extinct, and refers to indigenous peoples’ spirit journeys. But for expediency’s sake, I’m going to use the words people are most familiar with.) Gardner’s original term for the role of leader was "magus", referring to a male, borrowed from ceremonial magic. Nevertheless, in many non-Abrahamic cultures the ritual leaders may be either female or male. There were Priestesses and Priests dedicated to individual gods in Sumeria, Greece, Rome and other ancient civilizations. According to Julius Caesar’s documentation, the Druids were both male and female. Shamanic practitioners of intact Pagan cultures are both genders. Gardner’s idea of Priest and Priestess, duality and polarity may have been derived from the older rituals relating to sacred sexuality and fertility, including the rite of Heiros Gamos or Tantra. Crowley’s Gnostic Mass required a male priest and female priestess, and Gardner may have borrowed from this source.

Grimoire or Book of Shadows – A few fragmentary "recipes" for spells or amulets exist from Egypt and Greece dated to the 4^th century C.E., hand-printed on papyrus, but no real grimoires appeared until the late middle ages. The oldest magical texts were found in the Middle East from around the 1400s, painted on parchment or animal skin. There are also some sacred texts of India from this time period, inscribed in Sanskrit on palm leaves. There were few magical books published in the British Isles, although numerous grimoires were printed in Italy and France during Medieval days. The Key of Solomon was first published in the late 1400s, but this manual contained heavy doses of Judaism and Christianity. Henry (Henri, Heinrich) Cornelius Agrippa’s Three Books of Occult Philosophy were published in 1531, and may have influenced later magic-users. Other written works of poetry and legend from Medieval times exist in Europe, not mass-produced but handmade.

Not that most people would have been able to read them. English law in the middle ages forbade "villeins" or commoners to educate their children. Until the late 1700s, most of the working-class people of Britain were functionally illiterate. The invention of the printing press initiated the reproduction of some of the old tales and herbal manuals, but even after the advent of public schools, paper was a scarce commodity, and books were beyond the financial means of most laborers and tradesmen. Books including the Bible and the works of Shakespeare were owned by few families until the nineteenth century.

The word grimoire probably came from "grammar", but may also be connected to Grim, a colloquial name for the gods Arawn or Odin. It has also been spelled "gramarye". Gardner may have gotten the name "Book of Shadows" out of a magazine about Eastern mysticism published in the 1940s. The oldest grimoire or "black book" probably dates from the late 1700s. One such mystery journal still exists in the Witchcraft Museum. Magical tomes for the scholar became popular in the mid-1800s, but many did not contain authentic information. Current Craft grimoires may have come from individual families’ oral traditions. If one excludes the initiation ceremonies, much of the magical information can be found in older sources, including spells and magical recipes. Gardner himself stated that his "Ye Bok of Ye Arts Magickal" wasn’t to be equated with the Bible or Koran, but rather a personal recipe book of spells that worked for him, with the purpose "to get you started".

The Rede and the Law – Most of the poetic laws, from the Rede to the Ardanes, I believe are Gardner’s own writing. However, their subject matter was inspired by actual lore and pre-Christian tradition. Some of the language is arcane, and may have been cribbed from older documents, or the words may have been still used by hereditary Pagans of that era. The threefold aspect of the Law of Return may have come from Celtic Triads, poetic ideals containing three lines or three specific concepts.

"Do as Thou Wilt" was borrowed from Aleister Crowley, who wrote "Do as thou wilt is the whole of the law; love is the law, love under will" in 1904. Crowley very likely stole this line from Francois Rabelais, who wrote it in 1534, or St. Augustine, who gave a similar edict. Gardner first made reference to this command as "Do as you like, so long as you harm no one", in his book The Meaning of Witchcraft, which he attributed to "Good King Paulsol". The quote actually came from a character called King Pausole in a book by the French novelist Pierre Louys. "Harm None" was also found as a law in Gardner’s Book of Shadows.

The famous eight-word Rede "An it harm none, do as you will" can be attributed to Doreen Valiente in a speech she made in 1964. The entire Rede in poetic verse was published by Green Egg Magazine in 1975 and is attributed to Lady Gwynn (Gwen, Phyllis) Thompson. This was also the first time it was called the "Rede", meaning a creed or tenet. Thompson, a Wiccan priestess who claimed a family lineage of Celtic witchcraft, either authored the Rede or received it from her ancestor, Adriana Porter. While some of the wording is archaic, the poem may be a more recent invention, since the word "Wiccan" is used. It is possible that Valiente, Thompson and others wrote down the Rede from memory, then added their own embellishments. Thompson’s poem also contained the philosophy of "Perfect Love and Perfect Trust" and the popular "Merry Meet and Merry Part".

Blessed Be – Very likely came from the Bible.

Oak, Ash and Thorn – Was borrowed from Rudyard Kipling’s A Tree Poem in the novelette Puck of Pook’s Hill. Although Kipling was a Christian, he wrote several odes to the Goddess, a poem about a working-class man drafted as a soldier called "Chant-Pagan", and stories featuring Pagan characters and legends from India, Africa and Europe. However, the three trees are used together in a charm for protection which predates Kipling’s birth.

Herbalism – Many of the herbal unguents or potions listed in Gardner’s Book of Shadows seem to be authentic, as are his suggestions for psychic healing. Some of his descriptions are similar to modern-day herbalism, hypnosis, neural-linguistic programming, and the power of suggestion. Gardner likely got these ideas from herbalists, "granny" healers or "old wives", who may have still been practicing their Craft amongst the working classes in Britain.

Coven – Margaret Murray claimed to have found several references in the witch trial transcripts to covens of thirteen witches, but in an actual count, there were only a couple, most notably the trial of Isobel Gowdie in 1662. Nonetheless, the name seems to have some prior use. The word came from the Latin "convenire", which means to agree or assemble. The French terms "covenant" and "convent" arose from this root word. Coven could have fallen into general usage as a dialect pronunciation of "convene". Several Irish folktales include six pairs of fairies or magical beings dancing and copulating in the presence of one "man in black" or fairy king, which may have set a precedent for the witch coven of thirteen. Witches in Venice met to talk shop, including the exchange of recipes and spells, according to one witch trial transcript.

Mother Goddess – Gardner wrote that his belief in the gods was a "personification of cosmic power", rather than an absolute belief in a Great Mother or God of the Hunt. It is probable that Gardner borrowed the idea of Goddess from Dr. Murray’s anthropology books, from Dion Fortune’s The Sea Priestess, or from the writings of Frazer, Leland, Crowley or Robert Graves, but he may also have encountered goddess worship by speaking to hereditary Pagans. Many pre-Christian legends, poems and songs about goddesses were common among the British working class. There are dozens of goddess images, place-names and legends surviving in the U.K. to the current era, some of which are unique to one locality, others widespread throughout the Islands. Gardner pointed out that the British pantheons were often local or tribe-specific. He tended to combine Diana, Aradia, Brighid, Cerridwen, Arianrhod and the Matronae as one goddess figure, identifying them as British, although many were actually Romano-British, including Diana. The Church wrote about women who worshipped "Diana, a goddess of the pagans" in 906 C.E. In the text of a witch trial from the sixteenth century, an English woman is accused of worshipping "Diana, goddess of the pagans".

Most of the feminist content of Gardnerian Wicca, including the "Charge of the Goddess", was added by Ms. Valiente. A similar, but not identical invocation is found in Leland’s Aradia. The "Descent of the Goddess into the Underworld" was borrowed from Crowley’s "Gnostic Mass", which likely came from the legends of Inanna, Persephone, Kore or Rhiannon. This idea may have been lifted from the Egyptian Isis and Osirus legend. However not all traditional witches believed in a Goddess or a God, instead personifying Nature as divine. (Please see ‘Mother Goddess", below.)

Drawing Down the Moon – This may have been an ancient belief. The Hindu concept of the Avatar means that an individual ritualistically "becomes" another entity, or takes on the aspect of a deity. Different versions of this ceremony are performed by the spiritual leaders of many cultures. Allowing oneself to be possessed by a god, spirit or animal totem during a ceremony is a very old shamanic practice. Anthropologists and sociologists who study ritual, sacred masks, dances and spiritual theatrics of various societies have extensively documented the avatar phenomenon. The Roman writer Horace wrote that witches had the ability to call the moon down from the sky. A Bronze Age vase found in Greece depicts two women performing the Moon ritual. Doreen Valiente likely wrote the Wiccan ceremony, borrowed from Crowley and other sources, which may in turn be based on an older custom.

Deosil and Widdershins: Deosil, sometimes spelled "deasol", may have come from the Latin "deo" as a name for a god and "sol" for the sun. In an Irish dialect, it meant to dance sunwise and was pronounced jesh-ill. In Scotland it was called "southways". Widdershins is from a late Germanic dialect and means to unwind, probably related to spinning bobbins. It has also been used as a term in folk dancing. The practice of moving clockwise or sunwise to invoke, and counter-clockwise or anti-sunwise to banish, probably came from ceremonial magic.

Chants: In Gardner’s Book of Shadows, he discusses using sound to invoke magical energies. He was one of the first modern writers to make the connection between chanting and mental transformation. Several of his chants come from various folkloric sources and languages, including the Scots chant for fairies to return to their own realm, a Basque invocation, and rhymes documented in British witch tirals.

Although we can look up most of these sources for ourselves, we still have no way to determine how each one actually contributed to the Wiccan religion. We have no concrete proof about which magical or religious practices Gerald Gardener read about in books, or discovered through study of artifacts, or what ceremonies he really witnessed firsthand. He may have found several diverse references to one particular item, such as the use of a ritual knife by Malaysians, East Indians, and Anglo Saxons. Or he might have just possessed a truly amazing imagination, and made everything up by himself.