History

Much has been said about the respective paths within Paganism and Neo-Paganism, unfortunately there is also a wide range of fantasy floating around - usually concerning the origins of Wicca, the Burning Times - amongst other things, and to try and filter history and fact from fantasy is one of the aims of this section.

Wicca

"There are, of course, numerous other forms of Witchcraft still thriving that have
as much to do with Gerald Gardner as Tibetan Buddhism has to do with a certain stable
in Bethlehem" - Julia Phillips

Contrary to some popular beliefs that abound; Wicca is not hundreds of years (or more) of age being instead of fairly recent invention. Further as is hoped to show in the following article it owes far more to other sources then it does to Witchcraft.

Gerald Gardner

Gardner was born in 1884 and spent much of his life overseas before he retired and returned to England. Gardner was 55 when he was purportedly initiated, published 'High Magics Aid' at 65 and was 75 when 'The Meaning of Witchcraft' was published, he died in 1964 aged 79.
Gardner moved from London in 1938 and moved to the country where he came into contact with the Rosicrucian Order Crotona Fellowship; where it is thought that he was to meet those that would become his fellow Coven-members. In 1939 Gardner was to claim that he had been initiated into a Coven of the Old Religion that met in the New Forest - although not much was heard about him until 1949 when Houghton published High Magic’s Aid which had very strong Solomonic and high ceremonial leanings

With regards to the Coven he was to say:
“ 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.” (Gerald Gardner, The Meaning of Witchcraft, 1959.)

Despite all of this though concerning the origins of Wicca one thing that is relatively certain is that it derives from Gerald Gardner and his experiances of and influences from the Golden Dawn, OTO and Freemasonry. Later Gardner was to openly admit that what he was able to glean very little information or indeed knowledge from his said experiances of the New Forest Coven regarding WitchCraft.

It is interesting to note that Gardner spelt Wicca with only one “c” – in his earlier books; High Magic’s Aid (1949) and Witchcraft Today (1954) the word “Wicca” was not even used. His own derivation for the word, which can be found in The Meaning of Witchcraft, says the follows:
“ As [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’.”
However in An ABC of Witchcraft Past and Present Doreen Valiente did not have an entry for Wicca but instead mentioned a Saxon derivation from the word “Wicca” or “Wicce”. but later in The Rebirth Of Witchcraft she was to reject the saxon theory in favour of a Professor Russell’s derivation from the Indo-European root “Weik” which is said to relate to things connected with magic and religion.

Gardner and the Golden Dawn

The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn was born in 1888 descended from a variety of traditions which included Rosicrucianism, Theosophy and Freemasonry and has been exceedingly important in not only beginning an interest in the occult but also for the rituals and lore which were so influential towards the making of Wicca as was Aleister Crowley

Aleister Crowley was initiated into the Isis-Urania Lodge in 1898 and went on to creat his own order in 1903 - the Argenteum Astrum (Silver Star). In 1912 he was initiated into the OTO and later in 1921 succeeded to become Chief.
In 1946 he was said to have given Gardner an OTO Charter and it is from this and Crowley that Gardner was to introduce material from OTO and therefore indirectly the Golden Dawn into his 'lore of the covens'. It cannot be overstated enough how influential this was and Crowley's influence is very apparent throughout Wiccan rituals particularly his Gnostic Mass.

For example:

• The method of casting the circle – the visualization of the circle and the
pentagrams at the quarters – is based upon the standard Golden Dawn Pentagram
Ritual;
• Both the concept of and word “Watchtowers” are from the Enochian system of
Magic, passed to Wicca via the Golden Dawn (although the use is different);
• The Elements and colors generally attributed to the Quarters are those of the
Golden Dawn;
• The weapons and their attributions are a combination of Golden Dawn, Crowley
and The Key of Solomon.

In Witchcraft Today, Gardner was to say, “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 Golden Dawn was not the only influence; as was stated earlier Freemasonery also had an influence upon Gardner and a large impact upon Wicca - as not only were Crowley and others Masons but also both Gardner and at least one member of his coven were Co-Masons. Gardners was also said to be a friend of an author who published several books on Masonry and again many similiarities - possibly from his influence - between Wicca and Freemasonry show within phrases and concepts used. For instance:

• The Three Degrees
• “The Craft”
• “So Mote It Be”
• The Challenge
• “Properly Prepared”
• The First Degree Oath (in part)
• Presentation of the Working Tools at First Degree.

Influence of Books

There are many things which influenced Gardner and the developement of Wicca; and this is books and other literary sources that were available to him at the time. Aside from the traditions mentioned earlier nowhere has it been mentioned of Gardner ever working in a magical lodge; much of his knowledge instead coming from written forms as opposed to practical forms of rites etc.
Many books that had an influence on him include those from Margaret Murray ( The Witch Cult in Western Europe - 1920? and The God of the Witches - 1931,) - her works have since been largely discredited - Charles Godfrey Leland’s Aradia: Gospel of the Witches - 1899, a lot of Crowleys work which was published during the pre and post war years, also authors such as MacGregor Mathers, Waite and Francis Barrett (The Magus), Sir Frazers The Golden Bough and one book of particular importance would have been The White Goddess - a work of poetry by Robert Graves and published in 1952, two years before Gardner published his first non-fictional book about Witchcraft.
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 on Witchcraft; and Godfrey Leland’s GypsySorcery – as well as a myriad of classic texts, from Plato to Bede.

Other Names

A short synopsis of a few of the people and 'Names' that were instrumental in the growth of Wicca as it is today.

Doreen Valiente (1922-1999):

Was born to Christian parents in 1922, many of the rituals that Wiccans are familiar with today were later added by Doreen Valiente who joined with Gardner in 1952; becoming is High Priestess in 1953. She also wrote the first version of Charge of the Goddess and helped create the Wiccan Rede, however when - in 1957 - Gardner produced the Wiccan Laws she broke away to form her own coven; eventually joining Cochranes coven when Gardner died in 1964.
Doreen was the author of ABC of Witchcraft Past and Present, Witchcraft For Tomorrow, Natural Magic, and The Rebirth of Witchcraft. It is said that when Doreen addressed the National Conference of the Pagan Way in 1997, she stated her opinion that "organized religion is nothing but a curse to humanity."

Robert Cochrane (1931-1966):

Cochrane ; who's real name was Roy Bowers; was born into a Methodist family and is another well known and somewhat controversial figure who - in some circles - was said to have been initiated into the Gardnerian tradition. Whatever the truth of this he started his own coven (“The Clan of Tubal Cain” also known as “The Royal Windsor Cuveen” or “1734.” and relatively obscure until the 1980's) at more or less the same time as the 'Witchcraft' laws were being repealed and Gardner was forming his own coven.

With regards the 1734 Cochrane himself described it as a 'puzzle' and in a letter written in 1966 was reported to have said;
" 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 is the Goddess of the Cauldron. Three that are the Queens of the Elements, fire belonging to Man alone and the Blacksmith God. Four 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 ("I am that I am") breaks down in Hebrew to the letters IHVH, or the Adom Kadomon (The Heavenly Man). Adom Kadomon 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 IHVH."

Cochrane met Doreen Valiente in 1964, presenting himself as a hereditary witch from a different tradition to Gardner. It is said that Valiente was completely taken in by Cochrane and for awhile worked with him in his coven until becoming disillusioned with him and leaving before his death in 1966.

Pat and Arnold Crowther:

Pat was born Patricia Dawson in Sheffield, her great grandmother of Brittany was a herbalist and a clairvoyant, who also told fortunes. Her grandmother Elizabeth (Tizzy) Machon (her maiden name) was a very small woman whose surname means "fairy." Her parents were able to train her in singing, dancing, and acting for stage and it was through this and subsequent travelling that she met her future husband Arnold a stage magician and ventriloquist who was close friends with Gardner and also introduced her to him.
Arnold was born in 1909 in Kent and was one of a pair of twins. He first met Gardner shortly before WWII and having known Crowley previously introduced Gardner to him in 1946.
In 1960 Gardner was to initiate Patricia; she in turn initiated Arnold; going on to marry him a few weeks later. They both took their second-degree initiation in 1961, with Patricia becoming a high priestess later that year. The Crowthers made their home in Sheffield and formed their own coven with the first member being initiated in December of 1961 whilst simultaneously continuing their instruction in the Craft with Gardner.
They are perhaps more widely known for the fact that it is from their line that the infamous Alex Sanders derives.

Alex Sanders:

It is no secret that Alex – far from being initiated by his grandmother when he was seven, as he liked to tell people – was in fact turned down for initiation by Pat Crowther in 1961. Infact he was initiated by Pat Kopinski - a maid who'd left the Crowthers "because Pat refused to give her her 2nd degree." in 1962.
Sanders was to later found the Alexandrian tradition; marrying Maxine Morris and making her his High Priestess. They were to go their own ways in the early 1970's with Maxine continuing to run the Coven and teaching the Craft, Alex however left for Sussex where some say he went into seclusion until his death in 1988 but others say that he and a medium named Derek Taylor began anew by 'resurrecting' the Ordine Della Luna from Constantinople (supposedly one of the oldest continuous covens on earth that Sanders allegedly claimed to have been initiated into) as the esoteric order Ordine Della Nova.
Doreen Valiente was to say that Alex later met Gardner, and was allowed to copy from the Book of Shadows. Craft tradition alleges that he stole what he could from Pat Kopanski before leaving the group, and that the main differences between the Alexandrian and Gardnerian Books of Shadows occur where Alex misheard, or miscopied 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 different. It is usually very easy to spot whether someone is an Alexandrian, or Gardnerian initiate.

Janet and Stewart Farrar:

Possibly the most famous or well known initiates to come out of Alex and Max's tradition are Janet and Stewart Farrar who left them to form their own coven in 1971. Through their books and other publishings they have probably done more - and had more influence - on how the present face of Wicca is presented.
Janet was born in 1950 in London, both her parents were Church of England and were hospital workers. She was initiated into Alex and Maxines coven in 1970.
Stewart was born in 1916 and was raised as a Christian Scientist, in 1969 whilst working as a feature writer on an assignment involving Witchcraft he was to meet Alex and Maxine Sanders. In 1970 he was initiated into their coven and there met his future wife Janet.
Later that year they went to form their own coven in London and in 1976 they moved to Ireland, forming a new coven there before returning to England in 1988.

They have written or co-authored numerous books including; Eight Sabbats for Witches (1981); The Witches' Way (1984) - in the United States both books were combined and published as A Witches Bible Compleat; The Witches' Goddess (1987); Life & Times of a Modern Witch (1987); and The Witches' God (1989) - a companion to The Witches' Goddess. Stewart also wrote a number of fiction books, including seven occult novels; The Twelve Maidens (1974); The Serpent of Lilith (1976); The Dance of Blood (1977); The Sword of Orley (1977); Omega (1980); Forcible Entry (1986); and Blacklash (1988).

Raymond and Rosemary Buckland:

Ray Buckland had been studying the occult for many years when in the late 1950's he first read Gardners Witchcraft Today
He began corresponding with Gardner around 1960 and realising how important the Gardnerian movement was going to be, himself and Rosemary travelled to Scotland in 1963 where - as arranged by Gardner - they were trained by Monique Wilson and initiated. With a copy of the Gardnerian Book of Shadows they returned to the states to form their coven and where they (now also known as Robat and Rowen) also opened the Buckland Museum of Folklore, Magick and the Supernatural. It might be of interest that the `original material' that was handed down by Gardner was just the bare bones . In fact, there were fewer than 100 pages in the Book of Shadows in 1972.
Immediately after the coven was formed, Wicca began to spread over the United States leaving no city unaware that it was there. People attracted to the God and Goddess faith began to create variations, and these variations are now referred to as neo-pagan Wicca . Some neopagan groups differ primarily from Wicca groups because of their rejection of the designation 'witch'.
In 1972, Lady Rowen retired, turning the coven over to Theos and Phoenix (Judy and Tom Kneitel). At first the Bucklands remained as Elders in the coven, but then they parted ways with each other and started becoming less active in the coven. When Theos and Phoenix realized that Rowen would no longer be available to answer questions, they picked her brain about everything and anything she could remember about oral traditions and about how the coven actually operated, thus creating the longest single document in the current Gardnerian Book of Shadows, the "Notes and Guidelines," which was at first intended to be mere guidelines, but over the years has solidified into rigid rules and regulations. Most of the controversies in the American Gardnerian movement for the last 30 years have resulted from text in this document, which never existed in England.

Ray however became aware that there were many flaws that he had come to perceive in the Gardnerian tradition. He then went on to design a version of the Craft that did not suffer from those flaws. And so he founded Seax-Wica as a Craft tradition that recognized self-initiation, allowed democratic governance of the coven, and encouraged creativity, among its other advantages. He was later to comment that "Samhain 1973 was to be the first actual Seax-Wica Sabbat held.

Ray Buckland's books include Practical Candle Burning, Advanced Candle Burning, Witchcraft from the Inside, The Complete Book of Witchcraft, Buckland's Complete Gypsy Fortune Teller, The Truth About Spirit Communication, The Magick of Chant-O-Matics and Practical Color Magick.

There are only three fully recognized Gardnerian lineages in the United States: The Long Island Line (from Raymond and Rosemary Buckland), The Kentucky Line and the Donna Cole Line. A fourth line, the emerging California Line, is an offshoot of the Long Island Line. Gardnerians in the United States tend to be highly attentive to lineage and its traceability. Some American Gardnerian Witches will not recognize the initiation of another if the initiation was through a male.

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Shamanism

"It is easy to go down into Hell; night and day, the gates of dark Death stand wide; but to climb back again, to retrace one's steps to the upper air -- there's the rub, the task." -- Virgil, 'Aeneid'

A short article on the differences between calling yourself a Shaman or a Shamanic/ Shamanistic Practitioner and why those differences are so important.

Shaman

Shaman originally referred to the traditional healers of Turkic-Mongol areas such as Northern Asia (Siberia) and Mongolia, a "shaman" being the Turkic-Tungus word for such a practitioner and literally meaning "he (or she) who knows".
Objections to the use of shaman as a generic term have been raised by both academics and traditional healers especially given that the word comes from a specific place, people, and set of practices. This includes criticism of New Age and modern Western forms of Shamanism, which - to a great degree - misrepresent or 'dilute' genuine indigenous practices. Today, the original use of Shamans, once possibly universal, survives primarily- and in many cases solely - among indigenous peoples.

In those indiginous cultures where a Shaman still has - or did have - an active part, the shaman play a priest-like role; however, there is an essential difference between the two, as American mythology scholar Joseph Cambell describes:
" The priest is the socially initiated, ceremonially inducted member of a recognized religious organization, where he holds a certain rank and functions as the tenant of an office that was held by others before him, while the shaman is one who, as a consequence of a personal psychological crisis, has gained a certain power of his own."

A shaman may be initiated via a serious illness {also called shamanistic inititatory crisis}, a psycho-spiritual crisis, or a rite of passage, observed among those becoming shamans. The episode often marks the beginning of a time-limited episode of confusion or disturbing behavior where the shamanic initiate might sing or dance in an unconventional fashion, or have an experience of being "disturbed by spirits". The symptoms are usually not considered to be signs of mental illness by interpreters in the shamanic culture; rather, they are interpreted as introductory signposts for the individual who is meant to take the office of shaman - by being struck by lightning or by a near-death experience and there usually is a set of cultural imagery expected to be experienced during shamanic initiation regardless of method.
In some societies shamanic powers are considered to be inherited, whereas in others shamans are considered to have been "called": Among the Siberian Chukchis one may behave in ways that Western clinicians would characterize as psychotic, but which Siberian culture interprets as possession by a spirit who demands that one assume the shamanic vocation. Among certain South American tribes shamans are called in their dreams.

Shamanics or Shamanistic

Shamanic and Shamanistic practices (which are westernised to a greater or lesser degree) continue today around the world. Core Shamanics is probably the better known of these practices.
Core Shamanics is a system of beliefs and practices from around the globe which is not a fixed belief system but focus's instead on such practices as trance journeying, teachings from such as Carlos Castaneda and other spiritualities usually through the use of drumming and ritual dance. It is important to note that those who practice Core Shamanism do not call themselves Shamans prefering instead to call themselves Shamanic practitioners.

The New Age and NeoPaganism movements imported many ideas; not only from shamanism but Eastern religions as well and - as in other beliefs that have been imported - many indiginous users of these ideas frequently condemn New Age useage as not only misunderstood but also superficial. Many occult and esoteric circles try to re-invent shamanism into a modern form drawing from Core Shamanism along with various forms of indiginous Shamanism. What many indiginous practitioners find offensive is folks from Western cultures claiming to be Shamans; not only are such 'Plastic shamans' viewed as hucksters out for money or ego; but also many Shamanistic cultures feel that there is a very real danger that their voices and traditions will be swamped, commercialised and distorted beyond comprehension.

Going by the many subject matters on Shamans, Shamanics and Shamanistics that are available; going on a weekend Shamanics course does not make you a Shaman - as some may and indeed do claim - but instead gives you a grasp on how Shamanics and Shamanistic may help you and others by either following (or incorperating into your life) a Shamanic/Shamanistic path or way

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The Burning Times
A short introduction to the Burning Times
by
Sue Halewood

It is important to remember that many of those who died as a result of the witchcraft scares were not in the remotest way what we would now called Witches. Many were elderly, the lonely, the misfits. Men and women and children alike were prosecuted as were rich and poor

The roots of the witchcraft persecution stem not from a religious source but a political one, disguised as religious. During the eleventh century, Europe was wracked by wars, all of which cost money. Philip of France found himself in the situation of having a bankrupt treasury and was banned from rasing further taxes from the lay people by a bull issued by Pope Boniface VIII so began what could be considered the first step towards later witch trials – He expelled all the Jews under the excuse of doing God’s work and seized their considerable assets, in doing so opened the flood gates for later political actions carried out under the guise of religion.
No doubt buoyed by his success with the Jews Philip then turned his eyes in the Knights Templar, the Templars at this time were the richest and arguably most powerful religious order in the world, their wealth was much more then that of most European countries and their power threatened monarchies and the Vatican alike. To start with the Vatican continued to support the Templars and to combat this enemies began a campaign of disinformation. The Knights were accused of being Devil worshipers, of being practicing homosexuals and descriptions of rites closely resembling later descriptions of the antics of Witches covens. The campaign was successful enough that in 1307 Pope Constantine officially dissolved the order, declaring the knights to be heretics.
Heretics had been widely persecuted at this stage for 150 years since the destruction of the Cathar movement in the early 1200s, in 1227: Pope Gregory IX had established the Inquisitional Courts to arrest, try, convict and execute heretics and in 1252: Pope Innocent III authorized the use of torture. However in 1258: Pope Alexander IV instructed the Inquisition to confine their investigations to cases of heresy. They were to not investigate charges of divination or sorcery unless heresy was also involved.
The sentence for heresy at this time was death by fire, usually tied to a stake, it is not known how many heretics died during this time but it is likely that it far outnumbered those that died accused of witchcraft.
In the 1340s the Black Death swept across Europe encouraging a number of conspiracy theories, Jews and Muslims were accused of poising wells and so for the first time were witches.
During the following one hundred years a number of theological texts began to appear trying to proof the existence of a Devil worshiping witch religion but it was not until 1450 that the Vatican began active persecution of them. 1450 was also the year of the introduction of movable type and the wider availability of texts such as those condemning witchcraft and it is certain that this greatly exaggerated the persecutions that followed.
Again we see a gap of approximately 100 years during which very few Witchcraft trials are recorded despite Pope Innocent VIII 1484 bull "Summis desiderantes" which promoted the tracking down, torturing and executing of Satan worshipers although an increasing number of books on the subject begin to appear, the most influential being “Malleus Maleficarum” (The Witches' Hammer). Although today psychiatrists show it to be the work of a sexually frustrated mad man and it was quickly abandoned by the church, it did however become a manual on how to identify Witches to many people.

The period commonly known as the “Burning Times” erupted in 1550 and again lasted for approximately 100 years and coincided with a period of great insecurity in Europe. Witch persecutions were not consistent throughout Europe but are rather characterised by small local flare ups, the majority of those in England being in the years prior and during the English civil War.

The attitude towards witches also varied greatly, in Spain the infamous Inquisition only accused witches of heresy and as a result very few Witches died, in England Witchcraft was considered a legal, rather then religious crime so only those accused of doing actual harm could be prosecuted. The majority of the atrocities that occurred were in Scotland and the states that now make up the country of Germany, both of which were still greatly influenced by the Vatican. European countries that enjoyed a reasonable peaceful and stable time, such as most of Scandinavia, prosecuted very few witches.

The treatment of witches is surrounded by mythology; the traditional idea of mobs dragging men and women to the stake to be burned alive is largely incorrect. In England, Spain and most of Europe burning alive was a punishment reserved for heretics witches were usually tried by legally appointed courts and if found guilty were hung.
Contemporary Scottish reports often mention Witches being burned, but a deeper examination of records suggests that the correct punishment for witches was to be hung and the body burned, this fits in much better with the Catholic attitudes of the time. A hung body can be seen to be dead, a burnt one could be claimed to have magically vanished from the flames but on the other hand burning the body denied the victim the possibility of resurrection, to Catholics a fate far worse then Death. The Scots also seemed to have taken aboard the bull allowing torture of Satanists which undoubtedly explains the so called confessions of Scottish witches regarding covens and satanic rituals

The German states were undoubtedly responsible for the worst of the atrocities. Records from this time are patchy and often obviously exaggerated, while many executions were of the hang and burn type it does seem likely that many were in fact burned alive, although this cannot be proved one way or another, like the Scots they seem to have employed barbaric torture methods.

As said earlier English witch trials reached their Zenith during the years of the English Civil War and is likely that witches became a useful scapegoat for the insecurities of the time. English Witch trials however are notable for the fact that in retrospect few if any of those that died could truly claim to be witches. Often people were accused for political reasons, it seems that may politicians saw their careers ended after their wives or daughters were accused of witchcraft, even if ground not guilty the stain would remain on the family. By the end of the burning times it is obvious that even lay people were accusing enemies of witchcraft, the most noticeable of these cases being that of the Pendle Witches were two families accused each other of being covens of witches, in truth is highly unlikely that any of the family members had anything to do with it.
A peculiarly English factor was the appearance of witch hunters, although a number of them are often reported only Mathew Hopkins the infamous witch finder General can be proved to have existed, although he may well have had his copy cats. Contrary to common belief Hopkins however was not officially appointed, his title of witch finder General was a total fabrication, he was in fact a failed lawyer who found he could make more money by indulging in his sadistically fantasies and charging town and parish councils for finding witches.

After 1650 Europe once again entered a more peaceful phase and Witch trials gradually decreased helped by the publication of several influential books denouncing the idea of Magic and therefore witches although there continued to be a number of flare ups most noticeably that in Salem USA in 1690

So how many people died during the burning times? It is impossible to say, in those countries were witchcraft was a civil crime and torture rare it is likely that many committed to trial were in fact released, in England many of those found guilty were imprisoned rather then executed. In Scotland, Germany and parts of France where torture was more widely used then the conviction rate was obviously much higher. It must also be remembered that Witch persecutions tended to follow a pattern of short localised scares rather continuous. A figure of 9,000,000 is often mentioned in Neo-Pagan literature but considering that the entire population of Europe at this time did not exceed 25, 000, 0000 this is highly unlikely. Simply going on written evidence the true figure is likely to be in the tens of thousands.

Copywrite Sue Halewood July 2006 - all rights reserved, no part of this article may be reproduced without the express permission of the author

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Druids

**Main article currently being revised**

Modern Druidic Movements:

Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids (OBOD):

There are two beliefs concerning the development of this group. One traces their origin to the Ancient Order of Druids (AOD) by Henry Hurle in England in 1781. This group repeatedly split due to internal dissension into many separate organizations. By 1918, there were five groups attempting to perform solstice ceremonies at Stonehenge; all were breakaway groups from the original Ancient Order of Druids. By 1955, all had disappeared except for the British Circle of Universal Bond which subsequently split in 1963 to form the OBOD. The other lineage is claimed by the OBOD who trace their ancestry back through the AOD to a group founded in England in 1717 by John Toland. He is said to have combined local groups of Druids (called groves) from a 10 locations into the Mother Grove.
The OBOD's current address is: PO Box 1333, Lewes, East Sussex, England, BN7 3ZG. Email address: office@obod.co.uk

The British Druid Order (BDO)

The British Druid Order was founded in 1979 by Philip Shallcrass and Emma Restall Orr. They "see Druidry as a process of constant change and renewal whereby the tradition is continually recreated to address the needs of each generation." They currently have about 3,000 members, mostly in the UK.
3 Their address is: British Druid Order, PO Box 29,
St Leonards-on-Sea, East Sussex TN37 7YP, England. Email addresses are: greywolf@druidorder.demon.co.uk and bobcat@nemeton.demon.co.uk

The Reformed Druids of North America:

This movement started as a type of undergraduate prank at a midwestern U.S. college (Carleton College at Northfield, MN) in 1963. (One source says 1957). The administration had required that all students to attend church. Some students invented the RDNA as a reaction to this rule. The leaders were amazed when many of the students wanted to continue the RDNA, even after the protest against the administration had been won. From this source, a number of Neopagan Druidic movements have split off, including: Ar nDraiocht Fein: (ADF) This can be loosely translated as "our own Druidism". Their name is pronounced "arn ree-ocht fane". It was founded by Isaac Bonewits who is currently the Archdruid Emeritus. The ADF emphasizes scholarly research, and " a blend of ancient practices and modern realities". His motto is "paganize mainstream religion by mainstreaming paganism". Their goal is to recreate a Pan-European Druidism, involving elements from Baltic, Celtic, Germanic Slavic and even pre-classical Greek and Roman beliefs. The ADF publishes a quarterly ADF journal, a bimonthly News from the Mother Grove, and a semi-yearly Druid's Progress.
Their address is: PO Box 516, East Syracuse, NY 13057-0516. Email address: kithoward@delphi.com

The Henge of Keltria:

Five ADF members compiled a list of 13 concerns about the ADF at the Pagan Spirit Gathering in 1986, Emulating the actions of Martin Luther, they attached the list to the door of Isaac Bonewits' van in 1986 . Fortunately for Isaac, they used tape in place of the nails that a Christian urban legend says that Martin Luther used. Keltria has focused on ancient Celtic religion and holds only non-public rituals. They published a journal: Keltria: A Journal of Druidism and Celtic Magick" from 1986 to 1998.

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Festivals

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Source Links

This section contains links to internet sources and details of books - further information on books can be found in the Reading Room - used for information regarding the articles written. I feel that they are invaluable for those wishing to know the actual history as opposed to wishful or fantasy thinking. Many of these links contain other relevant links for more information

Gerald Gardner - geraldgardner.com is an online resource for information on Gerald Brosseau Gardner (1884-1964) and his influence on modern Wicca
The Modern Witchcraft Movement
Doreen Valiente - Doreen Valiente's Bibliography
Early Gardnerian Craft - An Annotated Chronology and Bibliography of the Early Gardnerian Craft by Roger Dearnaley
History of Wicca - Talk given by Julia Phillips
Aleister Crowley Foundation - has links to many of the main names behind the scenes
Aliester Crowley
Margaret Murray
The Evolution of Wiccan Ethics -a work in progress but well worth checking
Wicca
Ronald Hutton - Contains a list of relevant books
Janet and Stewart Farrar
Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn
Alex Sanders
Druidry and Neo-druidism
A little History of Druidry - By Philip Shallcrass
A Little Bit About Druidry - by Pauline Kennedy Allan
The Roots of Modern Druidism
Sacred Texts - an invaluable collection of books and literary works available to read online.
Hartwell Centre for Shamanics -
Nicholas Noble Wolf - Traditional Shaman and Honored Man
Siberian Shamanism
Nicholas Breeze Wood - articles on NA Shamanism
So You Wanna Be A Shaman? - this article by Joseph Bearwalker Wilson is well worth a read

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