|
|
|
|
The most well known of Craft traditions is Gardnerian, originated by Gerald Gardner in the early fifties. Gardner, a retired British civil servant, was initiated by Old Dorothy into the New Forest coven in 1939. In 1949 he published High Magic's Aid, an outwardly fictional account of medieval witchcraft that contained practices of the Craft of Gardner's time. After the last laws against witchcraft were repealed in 1951, Gardner published Witchcraft Today which more openly described the ways of Craft groups. Not until The Meaning of Witchcraft (1959) did he use the word "wica". Doreen Valiente can easily be considered to be the "mother of Wicca" for her significant influence in Gardner's work, notably for editing Gardner's notes into book of shadows. Structurally, Gardnerian has three degrees, and each group is headed up by a high priestess and high priest. These leaders usually third degree. Each member of a coven is initiated into it by a member of the opposite sex, and can hence trace their lineage back to Gerald Gardner. Magical work is mainly done in pairs, male and female, reflecting the polarity of the Goddess and Horned God. Gardner combined the more natural forms of magic with high ceremonial, supplementing what ritual forms he had passed on to him with material from outside the "Old Religion". Central to Gardnerian ritual is the ritual circle, within which covens raise energy, usually while skyclad. Each part of a circle being cast is done with due care to polarity, from the placement of ritual tools to the position of each covener. Although a circle may be cast at any time, each full moon and the eight seasonal festivals are celebrated. This cycle reflects the cycle of birth, death and rebirth, with reincarnation and fertility being essential Gardnerian beliefs. The means with which power is raised in circles are eightfold, often called the eightfold path of magick. These paths are; meditation, invocation, trance, natural substances, dance, cords, scourge and the Great Rite. Ethically, Gardnerians are guided by the Rede, which states "An' it harm none, do what ye will". Often this is attributed to Crowley's influence, but as Valiente points out "do what thou wilt" is by no means new, and has been used by Christian writers. Rather than make any action permissible, the Rede holds its adherents responsible for their actions. Gardnerian Wicca has a controversial history. Its apparently modern origins have attracted criticism both scathing, as with Aiden Kelly's Crafting the Art of Magic, and more moderate in Ronald Hutton's Triumph of the Moon. Some easily referenced sources of material in published versions of the Book of Shadows include Crowley, Kipling, Blake, and Yeats. Probably most important is the contribution of Valiente, who wrote the charge of the Goddess and helped shape much of the Book of Shadows. Gardnerian Craft remains one of the first revivals of paganism, paralleled by changes in Druidism (which never really went away), and an interest in pagan texts of Northern Europe amongst others. |
Last updated: February 01, 2005.
|
