| History of Wicca in England 1939 to Present |
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. ~
Used with Permission of the Author.
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.
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. ~
Used with Permission of the Author.
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.
