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To: alt.pagan
From: mimir@stein.u.washington.edu (Al Billings)
Subject: History of Wicca Lecture
Date: 10 Mar 1993 08:16:52 GMT
   
HISTORY OF WICCA IN ENGLAND: 1939 - present day
   
   This talk was given by Julia Phillips at the Wiccan Conference in
   Canberra, 1991. It is mainly about the early days of the Wicca in
   England; specifically what we now call Gardnerian and Alexandrian
   traditions. The text remains "as given", so please remember when you
   read it that it was never intended to be "read", but "heard" and
   debated.
   
   Text begins:
   
   There are three main strands I intend to examine: one, Gardner's claim
   of traditional initiation, and its subsequent development; two,
   magical traditions to which Gardner would have had access; and three,
   literary sources.
   
   As we look at these three main threads, it is important to bear in
   mind that Gardner was 55 years old at the time of his claimed
   initiation; that he had spent many years in Malaya, and had an
   enormous interest in magic, Folklore and Mythology. By the time he
   published High Magic's Aid, he was 65, and 75 when "The Meaning of
   Witchcraft" appeared. He died in 1964, at the age of 80.
   
   Gardner was born in 1884, and spent most of his working adult life in
   Malaya. He retired, and returned to the UK in 1936. He joined the
   Folklore Society, and in June 1938, also joined the newly opened
   Rosicrucian Theatre at Christchurch where it is said he met Old
   Dorothy Clutterbuck.
   
   I chose 1939 as my arbitrary starting point as that was the year that
   Gerald Gardner claims he was initiated by Old Dorothy into a
   practising coven of the Old Religion, that met in the New Forest area
   of Britain. In his own words,
   
   "I realised that I had stumbled upon something interesting; but I was
   half-initiated before the word, "Wica" which they used hit me like a
   thunderbolt, and I knew where I was, and that the Old Religion still
   existed. And so I found myself in the Circle, and there took the usual
   oath of secrecy, which bound me not to reveal certain things." This
   quote is taken from The Meaning of Witchcraft, which was published in
   1959.
   
   It is interesting that in this quote, Gardner spells Wicca with only
   one "c"; in the earlier "Witchcraft Today" (1954) and "High Magic's
   Aid" (1949), the word Wicca is not even used. His own derivation for
   the word, given in "The Meaning of Witchcraft", is as follows:
   
   "As they (the Dane and Saxon invaders of England) had no witches of
   their own they had no special name for them; however, they made one up
   from "wig" an idol, and "laer", learning, "wiglaer" which they
   shortened into "Wicca".
   
   "It is a curious fact that when the witches became English- speaking
   they adopted their Saxon name, "Wica"."
   
   
   
   In "An ABC of Witchcraft Past and Present", Doreen Valiente does not
   have an entry for Wicca, but when discussing Witchcraft, does mention
   the Saxon derivation from the word Wicca or Wicce. In the more
   recently published The Rebirth Of Witchcraft, however, she rejects
   this Saxon theory in favour of Prof. Russell's derivation from the
   Indo-European root "Weik", which relates to things connected with
   magic and religion.
   
   Doreen Valiente strongly supports Gardner's claim of traditional
   initiation, and published the results of her successful attempt to
   prove the existence of Dorothy Clutterbuck in an appendix to "The
   Witches' Way" by Janet and Stewart Farrar. It is a marvellous piece of
   investigation, but proving that Old Dorothy existed does nothing to
   support Gardner's claims that she initiated him.
   
   In his book, "Ritual Magic in England", occultist Francis King does
   offer some anecdotal evidence in support of Gardner's claims. However,
   it is only fair to point out that in the same book, he virtually
   accuses Moina Mathers of murder, based upon a misunderstanding of a
   story told by Dion Fortune! With that caveat, I'll recount the tale in
   full:
   
   King relates that in 1953, he became acquainted with Louis Wilkinson,
   who wrote under the pen-name of Louis Marlow, and had contributed
   essays to Crowley's Equinox. He later became one of Crowley's literary
   executors. King says that in conversation, Wilkinson told him that
   Crowley had claimed to have been offered initiation into a witch
   coven, but that he refused, as he didn't want to be bossed around by a
   bunch of women. (This story is well-known, and could have been picked
   up anywhere.)
   
   Wilkinson then proceeded to tell King that he had himself become
   friendly with members of a coven operating in the New Forest area, and
   he thought that whilst it was possible that they derived their
   existence from Murray's "Witch Cult in Western Europe", he felt that
   they were rather older.
   
   King draws the obvious conclusion; that these witches were the very
   same as those who initiated Gardner. King claims that the conversation
   with Wilkinson took place in 1953, although "Ritual Magic in England"
   was not published - or presumably written - until 1970. However, on
   September 27 1952, "Illustrated" magazine published a feature by Allen
   Andrews, which included details of a working by, "the Southern Coven
   of British Witches", where 17 men and women met in the New Forest to
   repel an invasion by Hitler. Wilkinson had told King of this working
   during their conversation, which King believes to be proof that such a
   coven existed; there are some differences in the two stories, and so
   it is possible that two sources are reporting the same event, but as
   Wilkinson's conversation with King came after the magazine article, we
   shall never know.
   
   In the recently published "Crafting the Art of Magic", Aidan Kelly
   uses this same source to "prove" (and I use the word advisedly - the
   book "proves" nothing") that Gardner, Dorothy, et al created Wicca one
   night following a social get together! Of one thing we can be certain
   though: whatever its origin, modern Wicca derives from Gardner. There
   may of course be other traditional, hereditary witches, but even if
   they are genuine, then it is unlikely that they would have been able
   to "go public" had it not been for Gardner.
   
   There have been many claims of "hereditary" origin (other than
   Gardner's own!) One of the most famous post-Gardner claimants to
   "hereditary" status was actress Ruth Wynn-Owen, who fooled many people
   for a very long time before being exposed. Roy Bowers, who used the
   pseudonym Robert Cochrane, was another: Doreen Valiente describes her
   association with him in "The Rebirth of Witchcraft", and The Roebuck,
   which is still active in the USA today, derives directly from
   Cochrane, via Joe Wilson. "Witchcraft: A Tradition Renewed" by Evan
   John Jones with Doreen Valiente describes a tradition derived from
   Robert Cochrane. Alex Sanders, of course is another who claimed
   hereditary lineage, and like Cochrane, deserves his own place in this
   history, and we'll get to both of them later.
   
   Many people have been suspicious of Gardner's claims, and have accused
   him of making the whole thing up. They suggest that the Wicca is no
   more than the fantasy of an old man coloured by a romantic
   imagination. One particularly virulent attack upon Gardner came from
   Charles Cardell, writing under the pseudonym of Rex Nemorensis.
   
   One of Gardner's initiates who is still active in the Wicca today has
   an interesting tale to tell about Cardell, whom he knew:
   
   "Cardell claimed to be a Witch, but from a different tradition to
   Gardner's. Cardell was a psychopathic rat, with malevolent intent
   toward all and sundry. He managed to get a woman called Olive Green
   (Florannis) into Gardner's coven, and told her to copy out the Book of
   Shadows so that Cardell could publish it, and destroy Gardner. He also
   contacted a London paper, and told them when and where the coven
   meetings were held, and of course the paper got quite a scoop. Cardell
   led people in the coven to believe that it was Doreen Valiente who had
   informed on them.
   
   Doreen had just left Gardner in a bit of a huff after a disagreement;
   another coven member, Ned Grove, left with her. Anyway, the day the
   paper printed the exposure, Cardell sent Gardner a telegram saying,
   "Remember Ameth tonight". (Ameth was Doreen's Craft name, and as it
   has now been published, I see no reason not to use it here)."
   
   My informant also said that Olive Green was associated with Michael
   Houghton, owner of Atlantis book shop in Museum Street, who was the
   publisher of High Magic's Aid. Through this association, she also
   encountered Kenneth Grant of the OTO, although their association was
   not friendly.
   
   Cecil Williamson, the original owner of the witchcraft museum on the
   Isle of Man, and present owner of the Witchcraft Museum in Boscastle,
   has also published a number of articles where he states quite
   categorically that Gardner was an utter fraud; but, he offers only
   anecdotes to support these allegations.
   
   Although Gardner claimed his initiation occurred in 1939, we don't
   really hear anything about him until 1949, when "High Magic's Aid" was
   published by Michael Houghton.
   
   This book has very strong Solomonic leanings, but like Gardner's own
   religious beliefs, combined the more natural forms of magic with high
   ceremonial. In his introduction to the book, Gardner says that: "The
   Magical rituals are authentic, party from the Key of Solomon
   (MacGregor Mathers' translation) and partly from magical MSS in my
   possession)." Gardner did indeed have a large collection of MSS, which
   passed with the rest of his goods to Ripleys in Toronto after his
   death.
   
   Scire (pseudonym) was the name Gardner took as a member of Crowley's
   branch of the OTO; although it is generally agreed that his membership
   was purely nominal, he was certainly in contact with people like
   Kenneth Grant and Madeline Montalban (founder of the Order of the
   Morning Star).
   
   Gardner was given his OTO degree and Charter by Aleister Crowley, to
   whom he was introduced in 1946 by Arnold Crowther. As Crowley died in
   1947, their association was not long-lived, but Crowther confirms that
   the two men enjoyed each other's company.
   
   So, after that brief introduction we can have a look at the first of
   the strands I mentioned.
   
   In 1888, the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn was born, beginning a
   renaissance of interest in the occult that has continued to the
   present day. It is impossible to overstate the importance of the GD to
   modern occultists; not only in its rituals, but also in its
   personalities; and of course, through making available a large body of
   occult lore that would otherwise have remained unknown, or hidden in
   obscurity.
   
   I will be looking at this body of occult lore with other literary
   influences later, and will here concentrate on the rituals and
   personalities that have influenced Wicca.
   
   We cannot look at the GD in isolation from its own origins. It is
   descended from a myriad of esoteric traditions including
   Rosicrucianism, Theosophy, and Freemasonry. The latter in its own
   right, as well as via the SRIA - a scholarly and ceremonial
   association open to Master Masons only.
   
   Whether the German Lodge or Fraulein Sprengel actually existed is a
   matter still under debate; but either in fact or in spirit, this is
   the source for the "Cypher Manuscripts" which were used to found the
   Isis-Urania Lodge in 1888.
   
   As I'm sure everyone knows, Isis-Urania was founded by Dr
   Wynn-Westcott, Dr Woodman, and MacGregor Mathers. Not only were all
   three Master Masons; Wynn-Westcott and Mathers were also members of
   the Theosophical Society. The most important thing though is the fact
   the these three men were a ruling triumvirate that managed the affairs
   of the SRIA. This is important, for the SRIA included Hargrave
   Jennings in its membership, and Jennings is reputed to have been
   involved with a Pagan group at the end of the 19th century, which drew
   its inspiration from Apuleius - The Golden Ass.
   
   But back to the GD - whether the Cypher Manuscripts actually existed,
   or Wynn-Westcott manufactured them is now irrelevant; Mathers was
   commissioned to write-up the rituals into a workable shape, and thus
   the Golden Dawn was born.
   
   Members of the Isis-Urania Lodge at various times also included Allan
   Bennett, Moina Mathers, Aleister Crowley, Florence Farr, Maud Gonne,
   Annie Horniman, Arthur Machen, "Fiona Macleod", Arthur Waite and WB
   Yeats. Also associated were Lady Gregory, and G W Russell, or AE,
   whose "The Candle of Vision" was included in the bibliography of "The
   Meaning of Witchcraft". The literary and Celtic influences within the
   GD were immense.
   
   From the Isis-Urania Lodge sprang all the others, including the
   so-called Dissident Orders derived through Crowley. It is this line
   that some commentators trace to modern Wicca, so it is the one upon
   which we will concentrate.
   
   Aleister Crowley was initiated into the Isis-Urania Lodge on 18
   November 1898. As you most probably know, Crowley later quarrelled
   with MacGregor Mathers, and in 1903 began to create his own Order, the
   Argenteum Astrum, or Silver Star. In 1912, Crowley was initiated into
   the OTO, and in 1921, succeeded Theodor Reuss as its Chief.
   
   According to Arnold Crowther's account, it was in 1946, a year before
   Crowley's death, that Crowley gave Gardner an OTO Charter. Ithell
   Colquhoun says only that it occurred in the 1940s, and further states
   that Gardner introduced material from the OTO, and less directly from
   the GD, into "...the lore of his covens".
   
   As Doreen Valiente also admits, "Indeed, the influence of Crowley was
   very apparent throughout the (Wiccan) rituals.". This, Gardner
   explained to her, was because the rituals he received from Old
   Dorothy's coven were very fragmentary, and in order to make them
   workable, he had to supplement them with other material.
   
   To give an example of some of the lines by Crowley which are rather
   familiar to modern Wiccans:
   
   I give unimaginable joys on earth; certainty, not faith, while in
   life, upon death; peace unutterable, rest, ecstasy; nor do I demand
   aught in sacrifice.
   
   I am Life, and the giver of Life, yet therefore is the knowledge of me
   the knowledge of death.
   
   And of course, the Gnostic Mass has been immensely influential.
   
   Not only poetry, but also magical practices in Wicca are often derived
   from GD sources. For example:
   
   the way of casting the circle: that is, the visualisation of the
   circle, and the pentagrams at the quarters, are both based upon the
   standard GD Pentagram Ritual;
   
   both the concept and word "Watchtowers" are of course from the
   Enochian system of Magic, passed to Wicca via the GD (although I would
   like to make it very clear that their use within Wicca bears no
   relation to the use within Enochia - the only similarity is in the
   name);
   
   the Elements and colours generally attributed to the Quarters are
   those of the GD;
   
   the weapons and their attributions are a combination of GD, Crowley
   and Key of Solomon.
   
   In "Witchcraft Today", Gardner says, "The people who certainly would
   have had the knowledge and ability to invent (the Wiccan rites) were
   the people who formed the Order of the Golden Dawn about seventy years
   ago...".
   
   The GD is not the only influence upon Gardner; Freemasonry has had a
   tremendous impact upon the Wicca. Not only were the three founders of
   Isis-Urania Temple Masons, so too were Crowley and Waite; Gardner and
   at least one member of the first coven (Daffo) were both Co-Masons.
   Gardner was also a friend of JSM Ward, who had published a number of
   books about Masonry.
   
   Doreen describes Ward as a "leading Mason", but Francis King says only
   that Ward was, "a bogus Bishop... who had written some quite good but
   far-fetched books on masonry, and who ran a peculiar
   religious-cum-occult community called The Abbey of Christ the King..."
   Whether the books were far-fetched or not, we can assume that some of
   the many similarities between Wicca and Masonry are in some ways due
   to Ward's influence.
   
   Some of these include:
   
   The Three Degrees
   The Craft
   So Mote It Be
   The Challenge
   Properly Prepared
   The 1st Degree Oath (in part)
   Presentation of the Working Tools at 1st degree
   
   and so on.
   
   It seems to me quite clear that even if Gardner received a traditional
   set of rituals from his coven, they must have been exceptionally
   sparse, as the concepts that we know of as Wicca today certainly
   derive from ceremonial magic and Freemasonry to a very great extent.
   Indeed, Gardner always claimed that they were sparse.
   
   It could be argued that all derive from a common source. That the
   appearance of a phrase, or technique in one tradition does not
   automatically suggest that its appearance elsewhere means that the one
   was taken from the other. However, Gardner admits his sources in many
   cases, and Doreen confirms them in others, so I think it is safe to
   presume that the rituals and philosophy used by Wicca descends from
   the traditions of Freemasonry and Ceremonial magic, rather than from a
   single common source. However, as Hudson Frew points out in his
   commentary upon Aidan Kelly's book, the phenomena of the techniques
   and practices of ceremonial magic influencing folk magic and
   traditions is widely recognised by anthropologists, and certainly does
   not indicate plagiarism. And of course there are many traditional
   witchcraft aspects in the Wicca.
   
   We have looked at the development of the magical orders which resulted
   from the British occult revival of the 19th and 20th centuries, and
   now we can see where this ties in with Wicca, and Gardner's claim of
   traditional initiation.
   
   I have here a "family tree" of the main branches of British Wicca. It
   is by no means exhaustive, and is intended to provide an outline, not
   a definitive history! I have included my own coven lines and
   development as an indication of the kind of "cross-over" of tradition
   which often occurs, not to suggest that these are the only active
   groups! Also, it would not be ethical for me to include details of
   other covens.
   
   We have two possible "hereditary" sources to the Gardnerian Craft:
   one, the Horsa Coven of Old Dorothy, and two, the Cumbrian Group which
   Rae Bone claims to have been initiated into before meeting Gardner.
   (NB: Doreen Valiente says that the Horsa Coven is not connected with
   Old Dorothy, but is another group entirely.) There is also sometimes
   mention of a St Alban's group that pre-dates Gardner, but as far as I
   know, this is mistaken. The St Albans group was Gardner's own group,
   which as far as research confirms, did not pre-date him.
   
   To return to Rae Bone: she was one of Gardner's HPSs, and her "line"
   has been immensely important to the modern Wicca; she was featured in
   the magazine series, "Man Myth and Magic" if anyone has a copy of
   that.
   
   In her heyday she ran two covens: one in Cumbria, and one in South
   London. Rae is still alive, and lives in Cumbria, although her last
   coven moved to New Zealand many years ago, and she is no longer
   active. No-one has ever been able to trace the coven in New Zealand.
   
   At this point, I will just mention George Pickingill, although he is
   not shown on the tree, as I think it extremely dubious that he had any
   connection with Gardner, or any other modern Wiccan.
   
   Pickingill died in 1909, whilst Gardner was still in Malaya. Eric
   Maple is largely responsible for the beginnings of the Pickingill
   myth, which were expanded by Bill Liddell (Lugh) writing in "The
   Wiccan" and "The Cauldron" throughout the 1970s. Mike Howard still has
   some of Liddell's material which he has never published, and I have
   yet to meet anyone within the British Craft who gives credence to
   Liddell's claims.
   
   In the book, "The Dark World of Witches", published in 1962, Maple
   tells of a number of village wise women and cunning men, one of whom
   is George Pickingill. There is a photograph included of an old man
   with a stick, holding a hat, which Maple describes as Pickingill. This
   photograph has subsequently been re-used many times in books about
   witchcraft and Wicca.
   
   Issue number 31 of "Insight" Magazine, dated July 1984, contains a
   very interesting letter from John Pope:
   
   "The photograph purporting to be Old George Pickingill is in fact a
   photo of Alf Cavill, a station porter at Ellstree, taken in the early
   1960s. Alf is now dead, but he was no witch, and laughed over the
   photograph when he saw it."
   
   A very respected Craft authority has told me that he believes the
   photo, which is in his possession, to be of Pickingill, but like so
   much to do with Craft history, there is no definitive answer to this
   one.
   
   Many claims were made by Liddell; some obviously from cloud- cuckoo
   land, others which could, by a stretch of the imagination, be
   accepted. The very idea of Pickingill, an illiterate farm labourer,
   co-ordinating and supervising nine covens across the breadth of the UK
   is staggering. To accept - as Liddell avers - that he had the likes of
   Alan Bennett and Aleister Crowley as his pupils bends credulity even
   further.
   
   The infamous photograph which Liddell claims shows Crowley, Bennett
   and Pickingill together has conveniently disappeared, and no-one
   admits to ever having seen it. Like most of Liddell's claims, nothing
   has ever been substantiated, and when pushed, he retreats into the
   time honoured favourite of, "I can't reveal that - you're not an
   initiate"!
   
   But to return to the family tree: the names of Doreen Valiente, Pat
   and Arnold Crowther, Lois Bourne (Hemmings), Jack Bracelin and Monique
   Wilson will probably be the most familiar to you.
   
   Jack Bracelin is the author of Gardner's biography, "Gerald Gardner,
   Witch", (published 1960) now out of print, although still available
   2nd hand, and in libraries. (In Crafting the Art of Magic, Kelly
   claims that this book was actually written by Idries Shah, and simply
   published under Bracelin's name. As with every other claim, Kelly
   offers no evidence of this)
   
   I have seen a copy of Bracelin's Book of Shadows, which it is claimed
   dates from 1949, although in The Rebirth Of Witchcraft, Doreen says
   that Bracelin was a "relative newcomer" in the mid-1950s. I have also
   been told by two different sources that Bracelin helped Gardner write
   "The Laws". In The Rebirth Of Witchcraft, Doreen states that she did
   not see The Laws until the mid 1950s, when she and her partner Ned
   Grove accused Gardner of concocting them in order to re-assert control
   over the coven. As Bracelin was in the Gardner camp during the
   break-up of the group, it seems reasonable that he did in fact help
   with their composition. (NB: Alex Sanders increased the number of "The
   Laws" much later - these appeared in June Johns' book, "The King of
   the Witches")
   
   Although Doreen claims that the reason for the coven break-up was the
   fact that Gardner and Bracelin were publicity crazy, there was another
   reason, which was the instatement of a new lady into the coven,
   effectively replacing Doreen as HPS. This is also the main reason for
   Gerald's Law which states that the HPS will, "...gracefully retire in
   favour of a younger woman, should the coven so decide in council."
   Needless to say, Doreen was not impressed, and she and Ned left the
   coven under very acrimonious circumstances. It was quite some time
   before Doreen had contact with Gardner again, and they never quite
   regained the degree of friendship that had previously existed.
   
   Monique and Campbell Wilson are infamous, rather than famous, as
   Gardner's heirs who sold off his magical equipment and possessions
   after his death, to Ripleys in the USA.
   
   Monique was the last of his Priestesses, and many Wiccans today still
   spit when her name is mentioned. Pat Crowther was rather scathing
   about her recently in an interview, and in The Rebirth Of Witchcraft,
   although Doreen tells of the sale of Gardner's magical possessions to
   Ripleys, she doesn't ever mention the Wilsons by name. In effect, the
   Craft closed ranks against them, and they became outcasts.
   
   Eventually, in the face of such opposition they had to sell the Museum
   in Castletown, and they moved to Torremolinos, where they bought a
   cafe. Monique died nine years after selling the Museum. It is rumoured
   that Campbell Wilson moved to the USA, and met with a car accident
   there: this is only hearsay though - I really do not know for sure
   what happened to him.
   
   However, Monique was influential in a way that even she could not have
   imagined, when in 1964 or 5 she initiated Ray Buckland, who with his
   wife Rosemary (later divorced), was very influential in the
   development of the Wicca in the USA.
   
   Fortunately, Richard and Tamarra James managed to buy the bulk of
   Gardner's collection back from Ripleys in 1987, for the princely sum
   of US$40,000, and it is now back within the Craft, and available for
   initiates to consult and view.
   
   D and C S. are probably completely anonymous, and if it were not for
   the fact that C initiated Robert Cochrane (briefly mentioned earlier)
   they would probably stay that way!
   
   Cochrane's origins are obscure, but I have been told that he was
   initiated into the Gardnerian tradition by C S, and met Doreen
   Valiente through a mutual acquaintance in 1964. When he met Doreen,
   however, he claimed to be a hereditary witch, from a different
   tradition to Gardner's, and as Doreen confirms, was contemptuous of
   what he called "Gardnerian" witches. Indeed, Doreen believes he coined
   the term, "Gardnerian".
   
   Doreen said she was completely taken in by Cochrane and for a while,
   worked with him and the "Clan of Tubal-Cain" as he described his
   tradition, which was also known as "The Royal Windsor Cuveen", or
   1734.
   
   The figures "1734" have an interesting history. Doreen gives a rather
   strange account of them in The Rebirth Of Witchcraft, which
   contradicts what Cochrane himself describes in a letter to Joe Wilson,
   dated "12th Night 1966", where he says,
   
   "...the order of 1734 is not a date of an event but a grouping of
   numerals that mean something to a witch.
   
   "One that becomes seven states of wisdom - the Goddess of the
   Cauldron. Three that are the Queens of the Elements - fire belonging
   alone to Man, and the Blacksmith God. Four that are Queens of the Wind
   Gods.
   
   "The Jewish orthodoxy believe that whomever knows the Holy and
   Unspeakable name of God has absolute power over the world of form.
   Very briefly, the name of God spoken as Tetragrammaton ... breaks down
   in Hebrew to the letters YHVH, or the Adam Kadmon (The Heavenly Man).
   Adam Kadmon is a composite of all Archangels - in other words a poetic
   statement of the names of the Elements.
   
   "So what the Jew and the Witch believe alike, is that the man who
   discovers the secret of the Elements controls the physical world. 1734
   is the witch way of saying YHVH." (Cochrane, 1966)
   
   Although Doreen says that Cochrane's group was small, it still proved
   to be remarkably influential. As well as Cochrane and his wife (whom
   Doreen refers to as "Jean") and Doreen herself, there were others who
   are well-known today, and a man called Ronald White, who very much
   wanted to bring about a new age in England, with the return of King
   Arthur.
   
   In The Rebirth Of Witchcraft, Doreen elaborates upon the circumstances
   surrounding the death of Cochrane: the bald facts are that he died at
   the Summer Solstice of 1966 of an overdose. Craft tradition believes
   that he became in fact, and of his own choice, the male ritual
   sacrifice which is sometimes symbolically enacted at the height of
   Summer.
   
   The Royal Windsor Cuveen disbanded after Cochrane died, only to be
   re-born from the ashes at Samhain that year under a new name - The
   Regency. All of its early members were from the Royal Windsor Cuveen,
   and they were under the leadership of Ronald White. The Regency proved
   to be of great importance to the development of the Wicca, although
   its existence was kept a fairly close secret, and even today, there
   are relatively few people who have ever heard of it.
   
   Meetings were held in North London, at a place called Queens Wood. As
   well as Ron White and Doreen Valiente, members included "John Math",
   founder of the Witchcraft Research Association in 1964, and editor of
   Pentagram magazine, and the founder of the Pagan Movement, Tony Kelly.
   At its height, there were frequently more than 40 in attendance at
   rites, which tended to be of the dramatic, pagan kind rather than the
   ceremonial associated with high ritual magic. The Regency operated
   fairly consistently for over twelve years, finally disbanding in 1978.
   The Membership roll reads like a who's who of the British Wicca! Some
   of the rites have been incorporated into modern Wiccan rituals - in
   fact, one was used at the Pan European Wiccan Conference 1991 with
   very great success.
   
   Moving back over to Rae Bone's line, there are a number of influential
   people here, mainly through her initiates, Madge and Arthur, who
   probably take the award for the most prolific pair in Wiccandom! Rae,
   although initiated by Gardner, does of course also claim a hereditary
   status in her own right.
   
   Madge and Arthur's initiates include:
   
   John and Jean Score
   
   John Score was the partner of Michael Houghton (mentioned earlier),
   and the founder of the Pagan Federation, which is very active today.
   
   Houghton died under very mysterious circumstances, which is briefly
   mentioned in "The Sword of Wisdom" by Ithell Colquhoun. My Craft
   source told me that this was actually a ritual that went badly wrong,
   and Houghton ended up on the wrong end of some fairly potent energies.
   
   There is an interesting anecdote about Houghton in The Rebirth Of
   Withcraft, which is taken from "Nightside of Eden" by Kenneth Grant,
   and agrees in some respect to a similar story that I was told some
   years ago. Doreen suggests in The Rebirth Of Witchcraft that the story
   may relate to a magical working involving Kenneth Grant and his wife,
   Gardner, Dolores North (Madeline Montalban), and an un-named witch,
   who was probably Olive Green.
   
   They were all to perform a ritual together, supposedly to contact an
   extra-terrestrial being. The material basis for the rite, which took
   place in 1949, was a drawing by AO Spare.
   
   Apparently soon after the rite commenced, a nearby bookseller (Michael
   Houghton) turned up and interrupted proceedings. On hearing that
   Kenneth Grant was within, he declined to enter, and wandered off. The
   rite was disrupted, and the story goes that everyone just went home.
   
   Kenneth Grant claims that as a result of disturbing their working,
   Houghton's marriage broke up, and that Houghton died in mysterious
   circumstances. In fact, the Houghton divorce was a cause celebre, with
   her suing him for cruelty because he boasted of being a Sagittarian
   while sneering at her because she was only a dingy old Capricorn!
   
   The interrupted ritual could well have taken place. Madeline had a
   flat near to Atlantis (Houghton's shop), and would certainly have
   known both Grant and Houghton. I know for a fact that Madeline was
   acquainted with Gerald, although her opinion of both him and the Wicca
   was rather poor. One of Madeline's older students told me that she
   thought Gardner rather a fraud, and ritually inept. She also had a
   very low opinion of Wiccans, and refused to allow her own students to
   participate in Wiccan rites. The reason for this lies in an anecdote
   which Doreen doesn't relate: the story goes that Madeline agreed to
   participate in a rite with Gerald, which turned out to involve
   Madeline being tied up and tickled with a feather duster! The great
   lady was not amused.
   
   Prudence Jones
   
   Prudence was for many years the president of the Pagan Federation, and
   editor of its newsletter. She inherited her role from John Score,
   after he passed away. With Nigel Pennick, Prudence also runs the Pagan
   Anti-Defamation League (PADL), and is an active astrologer and
   therapist. She has edited a book on astrology, and with Caitlin
   Matthews, edited "Voices from the Circle", published by Aquarian
   Press. Although Prudence took her degree in Philosophy, her main
   interests lie in the areas of the Grail and troubadour tales, and she
   has published privately an excellent essay on the Grail and Wicca. She
   is also a very highly respected astrologer, who lectures extensively
   in Britain.
   
   Vivianne and Chris Crowley
   
   Vivianne Crowley, is author of "Wicca - The Old Religion in the New
   Age", and also secretary of the Pagan Federation. She has a PhD in
   Psychology, and is perhaps the only person to have been a member of
   both a Gardnerian Coven and an Alexandrian one simultaneously!
   
   Vivianne is very active at the moment, and has initiated people in
   Germany (having memorised the ritual in German - a language she
   doesn't speak!), Norway, and - on the astral - Brazil. As a result of
   her book, she receives many letters from people from all around the
   world, and organised the first ever pan-European Wiccan conference,
   held in Germany 1990. The second conference was held in Britain at the
   June solstice, and the third (1992) in Norway. In 1993, the Conference
   will be in Scotland.
   
   John and Kathy (Caitlin) Matthews, are probably well-known to
   everyone, but possibly their Gardnerian initiations are not such
   common knowledge. The story that John Matthews relates in "Voices from
   the Circle" is essentially the one which he told the HPS who initiated
   him.
   
   Pat and Arnold Crowther
   
   I have left Pat and Arnold till last, as it is from their line that
   the infamous Alex Sanders derives! It is no secret anymore that Alex,
   far from being initiated by his grandmother when he was seven, was in
   fact turned down by Pat Crowther in 1961, but was later accepted by
   one of her ex-coven members, Pat Kopanski, and initiated to 1st
   Degree.
   
   In "The Rebirth of Witchcraft" Doreen says that Alex later met
   Gardner, and was allowed to copy from the Book of Shadows; Craft
   tradition is somewhat different! It has always been said (even by
   Alex's supporters!) that he pinched what he could from Pat Kopanski
   before being chucked out, and that the main differences between the
   Alexandrian and Gardnerian Books of Shadows occur where Alex
   mis-heard, or mis-copied something! There are certainly significant
   differences between the two Books; some parts of Gardnerian ritual are
   quite unknown within the Alexandrian tradition, and the ritual
   techniques are often different. It is usually very easy to spot
   whether someone is an Alexandrian, or Gardnerian initiate.
   
   Alex needed a HPS, and as we know, chose Maxine Morris for the role.
   Maxine is a striking Priestess, and made a very good visual focus for
   the movement which grew in leaps and bounds.
   
   In the late 1960s, Alex and Maxine were prolific initiators, and a
   number of their initiates have become well known. Some came to
   Australia, and there are still a number of covens in the UK today
   whose HP and/or HPS was initiated by Alex or Maxine.
   
   Alex and Maxine's most famous initiates are almost certainly Janet and
   Stewart Farrar, who left them in 1971 to form their own coven, first
   in England, then later, in Ireland. Through their books, they have
   probably had the most influence over the direction that the modern
   Craft has taken. Certainly in Australia, the publication of "What
   Witches Do" was an absolute watershed, and with Janet and Stewart's
   consistent output, their form of Wicca is more likely to become the
   "standard" than any other type.
   
   Since their early days of undiluted Alexandrianism, they have drifted
   somewhat towards a more Gardnerian approach, and today, tell everyone
   that there are no differences between the two traditions. In fact,
   despite the merging that has been occurring over the last few years,
   there are very distinct differences between the traditions; some
   merely external, others of a very significant difference of
   philosophy.
   
   Seldiy Bate was originally magically trained by Madeline Montalban,
   and then took an Alexandrian initiation from Maxine and Alex. Her
   husband, Nigel, was also initiated by Maxine, and they have been
   "public" witches for a number of years now, often appearing on TV,
   radio and in the press. Their background in ritual magic is expressed
   in the type of coven that they run; a combination of Wicca and
   Ceremonial Magic.
   
   In 1971, Alex and Maxine went their separate ways. David Goddard is a
   Liberal Catholic Priest, and for many years, he and Maxine worked in
   the Liberal Catholic faith, and did not run a coven of any kind. Then
   in 1984, Maxine gathered together a group again, and started
   practising a combination of Wicca, Qabalah and Liberal Catholicism.
   She and David separated in 1987, and since then her coven has been
   exclusively Wiccan. In 1989, she married one of her initiates,
   Vincent, and they are still running an active coven in London today.
   
   Alex's history after the split was a little more sordid, with one girl
   he married, Jill, filling the gutter press with stories about Alex
   being homosexual, and defrauding her of all her money to spend on his
   boyfriends. Sally Taylor was initiated by Maxine and David, but then
   transferred to Alex. She was trained by him, and then started her own
   group.
   
   I'd now like to focus upon the last of the strands which I believe has
   been influential upon the birth and development of Wicca; that of the
   literary traditions and sources to which Gardner would have had
   access. To a certain extent these are contiguous with the magical
   traditions described earlier, as nowhere is it ever suggested that
   Gardner did in fact ever work in a magical Lodge, so we must assume
   that his knowledge came from the written form of the rites, not from
   the actual practise of them.
   
   From reading Gardner's books, it is quite apparent that Margaret
   Murray had a tremendous impact upon him. Her book, "The God of the
   Witches" was published in 1933, and twelve years previously, "The
   Witch Cult in Western Europe" had appeared. "The God of the Witches"
   has been tremendously influential on a number of people, and certainly
   inspired Gardner.
   
   In fact, "Witchcraft Today", published by Gardner in 1954 contained a
   foreword by Margaret Murray. At this time, remember, Murray's work was
   still taken seriously, and she remained the contributor on the subject
   of witchcraft for the Encyclopedia Britannica for a number of years.
   
   Now of course her work has been largely discredited, although she
   remains a source of inspiration, if not historical accuracy. In
   Gardner's day, the idea of a continuing worship of the old pagan gods
   would have been a staggering theory, and in the second article in my
   series about Murray (published in The Cauldron), I made the point that
   Murray may have had to pretend scientific veracity in order to get her
   work published in such times. Don't forget that Dion Fortune had to
   publish her work privately, as did Gardner with High Magic's Aid.
   Carlo Ginzburg's excellent book, "Ecstasies", also supports Murray's
   basic premise; although of course he regrets her historical
   deceptions.
   
   There were of course other sources than Murray. In 1899, "Aradia:
   Gospel of the Witches" was published. Most of Crowley's work was
   available during the pre- and post-war years, as were the texts
   written and translated by MacGregor Mathers and Waite. Also readily
   available were works such as The Magus, and of course the classics,
   from which Gardner drew much inspiration.
   
   Of paramount importance would have been "The White Goddess", by Robert
   Graves, which is still a standard reference book on any British
   Wiccan's bookshelf. This was published in 1952; three years after High
   Magic's Aid appeared, and two years before Gardner's first
   non-fictional book about witchcraft. I would just like to say at this
   point that Graves has taken some very unfair criticism in respect of
   this book. The White Goddess was written as a work of poetry, not
   history, and to criticise it for being historically innaccurate is to
   miss the point. Unfortunately, I agree that some writers have referred
   to it as an "authority", and thus led their readers up the garden
   path. This is not Graves's fault, nor do I believe it was his
   intention.
   
   Another book which has had a profound influence on many Wiccans, and
   would undoubtedly have been well known by Gardner is "The Golden
   Bough"; although the entire book was written based upon purely
   secondary research, it is an extensive examination of many pagan
   practices from the Ancient World, and the emphasis of the male
   sacrifice could certainly have been taken from here equally as well as
   from Murray. Certain of the Gardnerian ritual practices were almost
   certainly derived from The Golden Bough, or from Frazer's own sources.
   
   In "Witchcraft Today" Gardner mentions a number of authors when
   speculating where the Wiccan rites came from. He says that, "The only
   man I can think of who could have invented the rites was the late
   Aleister Crowley."
   
   He continues to say, "The only other man I can think of who could have
   done it is Kipling...". He also mentions that, "Hargrave Jennings
   might have had a hand in them..." and then suggests that "Barrat (sic)
   of The Magus, circa 1800, would have had the ability to invent or
   resurrect the cult."
   
   It's possible that these references are something of a damage control
   operation by Gardner, who, according to Doreen, was not too impressed
   when she kept telling him that she recognised certain passages in the
   Witch rites! "Witchcraft Today" was published the year after Doreen's
   initiation, and perhaps by seeming genuinely interested in where the
   Rites came from, Gardner thought he might give the appearance of
   innocence of their construction!
   
   As mentioned previously, Gardner also had a large collection of
   unpublished MSS, which he used extensively, and one has only to read
   his books to realise that he was a very well-read man, with
   wide-ranging interests. Exactly the sort of man who would be able to
   draw together a set of rituals if required.
   
   The extensive bibliography to "The Meaning of Witchcraft" published in
   1959, demonstrates this rather well. Gardner includes Magick in Theory
   and Practice and The Equinox of the Gods by Crowley; The Mystical
   Qabalah by Dion Fortune; The Goetia; The White Goddess (Graves); Lady
   Charlotte Guest's translation of The Mabinogion; English Folklore by
   Christina Hole; The Kabbalah Unveiled and the Abramelin by Mathers;
   both Margaret Murray's books and Godfrey Leland's Gypsy Sorcery, as
   well as a myriad of classic texts, from Plato to Bede!
   
   Although this bibliography postdates the creation of Gardnerian Wicca,
   it certainly indicates from where Gardner draws his inspiration from.
   There are also several books listed which are either directly, or
   indirectly, concerned with sex magic, Priapic Cults, or Tantra.
   
   Hargrave Jenning, mentioned earlier, wrote a book called "The
   Rosicrucians, their Rites and Mysteries", which Francis King describes
   as a book, "concerned almost exclusively with phallicism and phallic
   images - Jennings saw the penis everywhere."
   
   As I mentioned earlier, Hargrave Jennings, a member of the SRIA, also
   belonged to a group, described as a coven, which met in the Cambridge
   area in the 1870s, and performed rituals based upon the classical
   traditions - specifically, from The Golden Ass. There is no evidence
   to support this, except that there are often found references to a
   "Cambridge Coven" linked to Jennings' name. Many of the rituals we are
   familiar with today were of course later additions by Doreen Valiente,
   and these have been well documented by both her and the Farrars, in a
   number of books. Doreen admits that she deliberately cut much of the
   poetry by Aleister Crowley, and substituted either her own work, or
   poems from other sources, such as the Carmina Gadelica.
   
   Of course we can never really know the truth about the origins of the
   Wicca. Gardner may have been an utter fraud; he may have actually
   received a "Traditional" initiation; or, as a number of people have
   suggested, he may have created the Wicca as a result of a genuine
   religious experience, drawing upon his extensive literary and magical
   knowledge to create, or help create, the rites and philosophy.
   
   What I think we can be fairly certain about is that he was sincere in
   his belief. If there had been no more to the whole thing than an old
   man's fantasy, then the Wicca would not have grown to be the force
   that it is today, and we would not all be sitting here in Canberra on
   a Saturday morning!
   
   TEXT ENDS
   
   
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