Contributors to Modern Paganism

We discussed briefly in class modern paganism and the name Gerald Gardner was brought up. It was said he was contributed to the revival of modern witchcraft. However, when doing some research online I found that a man that lived before Gardner by the name of Charles Leland (1824-1903) wrote about Italian witchcraft and many of his writings are hugely influenced in Gardner's work. Leland's most influential books are Aradia and the Gospel of the Witches. Before Leland, no other books existed that contained material from a with practitioner. Leland was a prolific collector and spent most of his spare time collecting Witch lore and purchasing items of antiquity. One of his most prized possessions was the Black Stone of the Voodoos. It is believed that there are only five or six of these stones, or “conjuring stones” existing in the whole of America. The stones are small black pebbles thought to have originally arrived from Africa during the slave trade, and whoever succeeds in obtaining one would become a Master of Voodoo recognized by all other Voodoo practitioners in America. Leland somehow obtained one and this he exhibited at the Folk-Lore Congress in London during 1891.

I posted the youtube video because it shows some great photos of some of these contributors. I will briefly describe each of them and provide links for you to learn more about each if you are interested.

Gerald Garner: Considered a central figure in the Wiccan revival of the 1950's and 1960's. He developed his own coven called Gardnerian Wicca. To become part of this coven involves initiation and works on a degree system. What happens in the initiation is never shared outside the coven. He worked closely with a woman named Doreen Valiente. she disapproved of him when he went public with his coven after England repealed the last of the witchcraft laws in 1951.

Doreen Valiente: The mother of modern witchcraft. She was the High Priestess of Gardner and co-wrote and edited many of his books. Eventually Doreen left Gardner's coven and started her own, Ned Grove. In her later life, she dedicated her time to public speaking to ensure genuine information about paganism and to counter the many misconceptions about it's religion.

Aleister Crowley: We have discussed a good amount about "The Beast", so I will not go into him here except for providing a few links to information concerning him.

Alex Sanders: king of the Witches. He founded the Alexandrian Tradition of Wicca. He claims his grandmother initiated him into the religion having him learn the rite of witches through the Book of Shadows. After she died, he went through depression and fell into the study of "Abra-Melin" magic.

Raymond Buckland: He has studied the occult and the metaphysical for over forty years and has wrote many books the subjects. He also has been a technical advisor for films that involve these subjects. Buckland was the agent for Gerald Gardner and he was the person that introduced Gardnerian Wicca into America. Seax-Wicca was his own personal tradtion of witchcraft.