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ago, and she is no longer active.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 happpened 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 tthe 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!
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 happpened 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 tthe 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!
