Wiccan Roots Gerald Gardner And The Modern Witchcraft Revival

Author : Philip Heselton
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 0 pages
File Size : 47,5 Mb
Release : 2000
Category : Magic
ISBN : 1861631103

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Wiccan Roots by Philip Heselton Pdf

...dispels many of the myths associated with Gerald Gardner and the development of modern Wicca. Heselton s research is excellent and his findings are well presented. This book is essential reading for anyone interested in, or practising, Wicca today. Graham King, The Museum of Witchcraft For those interested in the origin of Wicca this is a must-read book Wiccan Rede This book reveals a remarkable picture of the revival of witchcraft in England during the 1930s and 40s. Through years of research, the author has pieced together the story of how retired civil servant, Gerald Gardner, became involved in the worlds of naturism and folklore, which led him to discover a strange theatre run by an esoteric magical group known as the Crotona Fellowship. Here he made contact with a family of hereditary witches, whom the author has been able to identify, whose lineage dates back to Napoleonic times. The personalities of two key figures in the story, 'Old Dorothy' Clutterbuck, in whose house Gardner was initiated, and Dafo, his High Priestess, are brought to life, and photographs appear for the first time. Whatever the truth about Dorothy's involvement with witchcraft, extracts from her diaries, never before made public, reveal her as a pagan at heart. New light is shed on the momentous ritual the witches carried out in 1940 when invasion threatened, including the probable identity of those who gave their lives in the cause. Few witches, pagans or other students of modern religious movements will fail to be fascinated by the carefully researched revelations in this important book.

Author : Philip Hestleton
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 128 pages
File Size : 46,8 Mb
Release : 1999-10-01
Category : Electronic
ISBN : 1861630646

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Wiccan Roots - Gerald Gardner and the Modern Witchcraft Revival by Philip Hestleton Pdf

Author : Philip Heselton
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 0 pages
File Size : 45,5 Mb
Release : 2012
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
ISBN : 1870450795

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Witchfather: From Witch Cult to Wicca by Philip Heselton Pdf

A Life of Gerald Gardner Volume 2. From Witch Cult to Wicca by Philip Heselton From the author of the highly acclaimed "Wiccan Roots", this is the first full-length biography of Gerald Brosseau Gardner (1884-1964) - a very personal tale of the man who single-handedly brought about the revival of witchcraft in England in the mid 20th Century. From Gerald's birth into an old family of wealthy Liverpool merchants, through an unconventional upbringing by his flamboyant governess in the resorts of the Mediterranean and Madeira, it tells how, having taught himself to read, his life was changed by finding a book on spiritualism. During a working life as a tea and rubber planter in Ceylon, Borneo and Malaya, he came to know the native people and was invited to their secret rituals. But it was only on his retirement to England, settling on the edge of the New Forest in Hampshire, that destiny took him firmly by the hand. Through various twists and turns involving naturist clubs and a strange esoteric theatre, he became friends with a group of people who eventually revealed their true identity - they were members of a surviving witch coven. One evening in 1939, as the hounds of war were being unleashed, he was initiated into the 'witch cult' by these people, who called themselves 'the Wica'. Gardner was overwhelmed by the experience and was determined that the 'witch cult' should survive. This book chronicles his efforts over the remaining quarter century of his life to ensure not only that it survived but that it would become the significant player on the world religious stage that it now is - "the only religion that England has ever given the world", in the words of Ronald Hutton, Professor of History at the University of Bristol, who calls it "... a very fine book: humane, intelligent, compassionate, shrewd, and based upon a colossal amount of primary research". Born in 1946, Philip Heselton is a geographer and retired local government officer who has written extensively on Earth Mysteries and our spiritual relationship with the landscape. He has also carried out extensive research into the story of the modern witchcraft revival, chronicled in his books, "Wiccan Roots" and "Gerald Gardner and the Cauldron of Inspiration". Hutton has described him as being "... the most interesting, valuable and enjoyable author who has yet written on what is becoming one of the greatest riddles in the history of modern religion: the origins of pagan witchcraft. ... Nobody has ever done more than Philip Heselton to reveal the world of magic, paganism, naturism and faerie that lay behind the garden gates of inter-war English suburban villas; and perhaps only he could have done it at all."

Author : Philip Heselton
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 436 pages
File Size : 54,7 Mb
Release : 2012-01-30
Category : Electronic
ISBN : 191366015X

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Witchfather - A Life of Gerald Gardner Vol2. From Witch Cult to Wicca by Philip Heselton Pdf

A Life of Gerald Gardner Volume 2. From Witch Cult to Wicca by Philip Heselton From the author of the highly acclaimed "Wiccan Roots", this is the first full-length biography of Gerald Brosseau Gardner (1884-1964) - a very personal tale of the man who single-handedly brought about the revival of witchcraft in England in the mid 20th Century. From Gerald's birth into an old family of wealthy Liverpool merchants, through an unconventional upbringing by his flamboyant governess in the resorts of the Mediterranean and Madeira, it tells how, having taught himself to read, his life was changed by finding a book on spiritualism. During a working life as a tea and rubber planter in Ceylon, Borneo and Malaya, he came to know the native people and was invited to their secret rituals. But it was only on his retirement to England, settling on the edge of the New Forest in Hampshire, that destiny took him firmly by the hand. Through various twists and turns involving naturist clubs and a strange esoteric theatre, he became friends with a group of people who eventually revealed their true identity - they were members of a surviving witch coven. One evening in 1939, as the hounds of war were being unleashed, he was initiated into the 'witch cult' by these people, who called themselves 'the Wica'. Gardner was overwhelmed by the experience and was determined that the 'witch cult' should survive. This book chronicles his efforts over the remaining quarter century of his life to ensure not only that it survived but that it would become the significant player on the world religious stage that it now is - "the only religion that England has ever given the world", in the words of Ronald Hutton, Professor of History at the University of Bristol, who calls it "... a very fine book: humane, intelligent, compassionate, shrewd, and based upon a colossal amount of primary research". Born in 1946, Philip Heselton is a geographer and retired local government officer who has written extensively on Earth Mysteries and our spiritual relationship with the landscape. He has also carried out extensive research into the story of the modern witchcraft revival, chronicled in his books, "Wiccan Roots" and "Gerald Gardner and the Cauldron of Inspiration". Hutton has described him as being "... the most interesting, valuable and enjoyable author who has yet written on what is becoming one of the greatest riddles in the history of modern religion: the origins of pagan witchcraft. ... Nobody has ever done more than Philip Heselton to reveal the world of magic, paganism, naturism and faerie that lay behind the garden gates of inter-war English suburban villas; and perhaps only he could have done it at all."

Author : Philip Heselton
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 332 pages
File Size : 41,7 Mb
Release : 2012-01-30
Category : Electronic
ISBN : 1913660168

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Witchfather by Philip Heselton Pdf

From the author of the highly acclaimed "Wiccan Roots", this is the first full-length biography of Gerald Brosseau Gardner (1884-1964) - a very personal tale of the man who single-handedly brought about the revival of witchcraft in England in the mid 20th Century. Spread across two volumes, the first is titled; Into the Witch Cult, the second; From Witch Cult to Wicca. From Gerald's birth into an old family of wealthy Liverpool merchants, through an unconventional upbringing by his flamboyant governess in the resorts of the Mediterranean and Madeira, it tells how, having taught himself to read, his life was changed by finding a book on spiritualism. During a working life as a tea and rubber planter in Ceylon, Borneo and Malaya, he came to know the native people and was invited to their secret rituals. But it was only on his retirement to England, settling on the edge of the New Forest in Hampshire, that destiny took him firmly by the hand. Through various twists and turns involving naturist clubs and a strange esoteric theatre, he became friends with a group of people who eventually revealed their true identity - they were members of a surviving witch coven. One evening in 1939, as the hounds of war were being unleashed, he was initiated into the 'witch cult' by these people, who called themselves 'the Wica'. Gardner was overwhelmed by the experience and was determined that the 'witch cult' should survive. This book chronicles his efforts over the remaining quarter century of his life to ensure not only that it survived but that it would become the significant player on the world religious stage that it now is - "the only religion that England has ever given the world", in the words of Ronald Hutton, Professor of History at the University of Bristol, who calls it "... a very fine book: humane, intelligent, compassionate, shrewd, and based upon a colossal amount of primary research". Born in 1946, Philip Heselton is a geographer and retired local government officer who has written extensively on Earth Mysteries and our spiritual relationship with the landscape. He has also carried out extensive research into the story of the modern witchcraft revival, chronicled in his books, "Wiccan Roots" and "Gerald Gardner and the Cauldron of Inspiration". Hutton has described him as being "... the most interesting, valuable and enjoyable author who has yet written on what is becoming one of the greatest riddles in the history of modern religion: the origins of pagan witchcraft. ... Nobody has ever done more than Philip Heselton to reveal the world of magic, paganism, naturism and faerie that lay behind the garden gates of inter-war English suburban villas; and perhaps only he could have done it at all."

Author : Gerald B. Gardner
Publisher : Weiser Books
Page : 338 pages
File Size : 44,6 Mb
Release : 2022-12-01
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
ISBN : 9781633412781

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The Meaning of Witchcraft by Gerald B. Gardner Pdf

"Those of us who use the word witch with all of the pride and fortification that it offers us do so thanks to Gardner’s lucid, liberating vision.”—Pam Grossman, author of Waking the Witch: Reflections on Women, Magic, and Power Often called the father of modern witchcraft, Gerald Gardner’s life and works were ground-breaking in opening the door for the modern revival of Wicca and neo-paganism. The Meaning of Witchcraft (originally published in 1959) was the first sympathetic book written from the point of view of a practicing witch. “The foundation of magical beliefs,” Gardner wrote, “of which witchcraft is a form, is that unseen Powers exist, and that by performing the right sort of ritual, these Powers can be contacted and either forced or persuaded to assist one in some way. People believed this in the Stone Age, and they believe it, consciously or not, today. It is now well known that most superstition is, in fact, broken-down ritual. The meaning of witchcraft is to be found not in strange religious theories about God and Satan but in the deepest levels of the human mind, the collective unconscious, and the earliest developments of human society.” The Meaning of Witchcraft is an enduring and invaluable source book for witches today. This Weiser Classics edition includes a new foreword by Pam Grossman, author of Waking the Witch. In it, Grossman revisits the historical role and mixed legacy that Gardner has played in the revival of witchcraft and magic in modern times.

Author : Philip Heselton
Publisher : Holmes Publishing Group Llc
Page : 438 pages
File Size : 43,6 Mb
Release : 2003
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
ISBN : 1861631642

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Gerald Gardner and the Cauldron of Inspiration by Philip Heselton Pdf

Author : Philip Heselton
Publisher : Llewellyn Worldwide
Page : 404 pages
File Size : 54,9 Mb
Release : 2016-06-08
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
ISBN : 9780738751955

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Doreen Valiente Witch by Philip Heselton Pdf

Heralded as one of the greatest figures in the history of modern witchcraft, Doreen Valiente made an unparalleled contribution to contemporary spiritual practice. This book tells her fascinating story, from her earliest encounters with the Craft to her work with Gerald Gardner and her emergence as one of the foremost thinkers in the revival of Paganism and witchcraft. Revealing previously unknown details drawn from first-hand testimony and her personal papers, Doreen Valiente Witch reveals how Valiente's singular vision captivated millions of modern witches and Pagans around the world. Published in association with the Centre for Pagan Studies and the Doreen Valiente Foundation. Praise: "Doreen Valiente is the mother of the modern witchcraft movement."—Christopher Penczak, bestselling author of The Inner Temple of Witchcraft "Doreen Valiente is a shining star, a heroine, and role model for the witchcraft community."—Judika Illes, author of Encyclopedia of Witchcraft "Doreen Valiente has been called the mother of modern witchcraft and that is no exaggeration. She helped open the path that many of us walk some variation of today, and led the way with a grace and strength we could all hope to emulate."—Deborah Blake, author of Everyday Witchcraft "I am thrilled to see at last a well-researched biography of Doreen Valiente...This is a must read for the historical and personal perspective on the modern adaptations of the Old Religion."—Ann Moura, author of the Green Witch series "Doreen Valiente was a seminal influence on the modern magical world. Her lasting contributions to our community are both valuable and vast."—Tess Whitehurst, author of Holistic Magic "An amazing story of a strong and powerful-minded woman who truly took her own spirituality by the reigns...The best way to describe this book is that it is not just a biography, but it is a public service and a true gift to the Craft community."—The Wild Hunt "It is a wonderful read...Philip Heselton writes beautifully and has researched with his usual care...Above all, he paints Doreen to the life, with accuracy and affection."—Ronald Hutton, Professor of History, University of Bristol

Author : Philip Heselton
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 0 pages
File Size : 49,8 Mb
Release : 2012
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
ISBN : 1870450809

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Witchfather by Philip Heselton Pdf

From the author of the highly acclaimed Wiccan Roots, this is the first full-length biography of Gerald Brosseau Gardner (1884-1964) a very personal tale of the man who single-handedly brought about the revival of witchcraft in England in the mid 20th Century. From his birth into an old family of wealthy Liverpool merchants, through an unconventional upbringing by his flamboyant governess in the resorts of the Mediterranean and Madeira, it tells how, having taught himself to read, his life was changed by finding a book on spiritualism.

Author : Michael Howard
Publisher : Llewellyn Worldwide
Page : 180 pages
File Size : 42,7 Mb
Release : 2010-09-08
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
ISBN : 9780738722887

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Modern Wicca by Michael Howard Pdf

An insider's look at the history of Witchcraft The evolution of Wicca is as dynamic and colorful as the Witches who helped shape it. One of the most enigmatic and progressive practitioners of his time, Gerald Gardner was arguably the most instrumental Witch in spreading the Craft around the world. Drawing on his decades of personal involvement with Wicca, Michael Howard offers an intimate portrait of Gerald Gardner's life and traces the history and development of modern neo-pagan Witchcraft. Howard reveals little-known facts and stories surrounding the men and women who shaped Wicca over the past sixty years, including Aleister Crowley, Alex Sanders, and influential initiates such as Doreen Valiente. From the Museum of Magic and Witchcraft on the Isle of Man to the origins of the Book of Shadows, Modern Wicca tracks the expansion of Wicca as it spread from the United Kingdom to the United States and beyond-and takes you inside the political controversies, behind-the-scenes rivalries, and once-guarded secrets of pagan ritual, Wiccan spells, and the Craft of the Wise. Praise: "This is an extremely important book, representing an account of Wiccan history from somebody who has himself been a major actor in it."—Ronald Hutton, author of The Triumph of the Moon

Author : Murphy Pizza,James R. Lewis
Publisher : BRILL
Page : 661 pages
File Size : 51,6 Mb
Release : 2009
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9789004163737

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Handbook of Contemporary Paganism by Murphy Pizza,James R. Lewis Pdf

Contemporary Paganism is a movement that is still young and establishing its identity and place on the global religious landscape. The members of the movement are simultaneously growing, unifying, and maintaining its characteristic diversity of traditions, identities, and rituals. The modern Pagan movement has had a restless formation period but has also been the catalyst for some of the most innovative religious expressions, praxis, theologies, and communities. As Contemporary Paganism continues to grow and mature, new angles of inquiry about it have emerged and are explored in this collection. This examination and study of contemporary Paganism contributes new ways to observe and examine other religions, where innovations, paradoxes, and inconsistencies can be more accurately documented and explained.

Author : Suzanne Ruthven
Publisher : Moon Books
Page : 200 pages
File Size : 43,8 Mb
Release : 2013-08-30
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
ISBN : 9781782791553

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Traditional Witchcraft and the Pagan Revival by Suzanne Ruthven Pdf

Traditional Witchcraft and the Pagan Revival takes us on a journey into the past, along the highways and byways of our pagan heritage to discover when the different aspects of magical influence entered traditional witchcraft. It will appeal to everyone with an interest in magic, witchcraft and paganism - from grass roots to the more advanced levels of Wicca - who wish to learn more about the different traditions and their antecedents. ,

Author : Raymond Buckland
Publisher : Llewellyn Worldwide
Page : 254 pages
File Size : 49,8 Mb
Release : 1995
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
ISBN : 1567181015

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Witchcraft from the Inside by Raymond Buckland Pdf

The word Witchcraft has been misunderstood for centuries. In the past 500 years, millions of people have faced persecution, torture, and even death after being accused of practicing Witchcraft. For many people the word "Witch" still conjures up images of secret spells and diabolical midnight rituals. So what exactly is Witchcraft (also called Wica or Wicca), and how did it evolve into one of today's fastest-growing religions? Witchcraft From the Inside presents the history of Witchcraft-from its roots in ancient fertility religions, to the madness of the Malleus Maleficarum and the European Witch trials, to the growth of modern Wicca in Britain and the United States. Essays contributed by leading Wiccan authorities explore the present state of Wicca and provide a glimpse into the future of this peaceful nature religion. Author Ray Buckland studied Witchcraft under Gerald Gardner, the man largely credited for the revival of Witchcraft and the establishment of Wicca as a modern religion. Mr. Buckland was instrumental in bringing Gardnerian Witchcraft from England to the United States and is considered to be one of the leading American authorities on Witchcraft. In the following excerpt, Mr. Buckland explains the mundane truths behind the seemingly horrific ingredients of the legendary "witches' brews". We know, from Shakespeare and other sources, that the Witches threw into their pots the most gruesome ingredients, right? There were things like the tongue of a snake, bloody fingers, catgut, donkey's eyes, frog's foot, goat's beard, a Jew's ear, mouse tail, snake head, swine snout, wolf's foot, and so on. Pretty disgusting by the sound of it-if you take them at face value! In fact these were all the most innocuous of ingredients: normal plants and herbs. Today all plants have a Latin name, so that they may be distinct and positively identified. Yet years ago they were known only by common, local names. A plant or herb might be known by one name in one part of the country and a quite different name in another part of the country. And these names were colorful ones, frequently given to the plant because of its looks, color, or other attributes. In the above list, adder's tongue was a name given to the dogtooth violet (Erythronium americanum); bloody fingers was the foxglove (Digitalis purpurea); catgut was the hoary pea (Tephrosia virginiana); donkey's eyes were the seeds of the cowage plant (Mucuna pruriens); frog's foot was the bulbous buttercup (Ranunculus bulbosus); goat's beard was the vegetable oyster (Tragopogon porrofolius); Jew's ear was a fungus that grew on elder trees and elm trees (Peziza auricula); mouse tail was common stonecrop (Sedum acre); snake head was balmony (Chelone glabra); swine snout was the dandelion (Taraxacum dens leonis); and wolf's foot was bugle weed (Lycopus virginicus). So the seemingly fearsome concoctions that the Witches mixed up in their cauldrons were nothing more than simple herbs going into a cookpot!

Author : Doreen Valiente
Publisher : The Crowood Press
Page : 243 pages
File Size : 47,6 Mb
Release : 2018-01-31
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
ISBN : 9780719826931

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The Rebirth of Witchcraft by Doreen Valiente Pdf

Since 1951, when the last of the Witchcraft Acts was repealed, many books have been written about the reappearance of witchcraft and the development of a pagan theology. Churchmen have denounced it. Sociologists have wondered at it. Journalists have penned sensational stories about it. But until the publication of this book, no one had told the real story of it from the inside as frankly as it is told here. Doreen Valiente, one of witchcraft's most widely known figures, was a close friend of the late Gerald Gardner, generally regarded as the founder of present-day witchcraft. Initiated by him and for a time High Priestess of his coven, Doreen Valiente helped him rewrite his seminal Book of Shadows. She records the break with Gardner that split his coven, the controversy surrounding Alex Sanders, 'King of the Witches' and memories of many other witches whom she has known, including the lady called 'Dafo', Robert Cochrane, Leslie Roberts and Sybil Leek. Doreen Valiente took part in many witchcraft rituals and had strange psychic experiences as a result. Described here are the clairvoyant communications she received purporting to come from 'John Brakespeare', an eighteenth-century witch. The Rebirth of Witchcraft traces the lineage of the present-day witchcraft from its forerunners through to modern feminist neo-paganism and the new wave of interest in ecology and holistic medicine.

Author : Gerald Brosseau Gardner
Publisher : DigiCat
Page : 149 pages
File Size : 46,5 Mb
Release : 2023-11-23
Category : Religion
ISBN : EAN:8596547731047

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Witchcraft Today by Gerald Brosseau Gardner Pdf

The Meaning of Witchcraft is a non-fiction book written by Gerald Gardner. Gardner, known to many in the modern sense as the "Father of Wicca", based the book around his experiences with the religion of Wicca and the New Forest Coven. He claimed he was allowed to tell more than ever before and cast light on the rituals and beliefs of witches. The book's main message was that neither the practices of witches nor their intents were harmful. The book tells the history of witchcraft in Europe. The author traces back to pre-Christian times, studies the rituals and beliefs of templars, and states that the belief in fairies in ancient, medieval, and early modern Europe was connected with a secretive pygmy race that lived alongside other communities. The preface to this book was Margaret Murray, who stated that witchcraft took its root in the pre-Christian religions and had nothing to do with spell-casting and other evil practices. Instead, Murray proposes to view witchcraft as "the sincere expression of that feeling towards God which is expressed, perhaps more decorously though not more sincerely, by modern Christianity in church services."