Wiccan history

ancathach

I felt it could be an interesting topic to start, at present im looking at sources. Which ones have you found useful?

joe.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/search.php?searchid=667008

PaulinCork

http://www.witchvox.com/trads/trad_feri.html

Talliesin

ancathach wrote:

I felt it could be an interesting topic to start, at present im looking at sources. Which ones have you found useful?

Well, I can't recommend The Triumph of the Moon: A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft by Prof. Ronald Hutton highly enough. It's a great book, and whether you accept his conclusions or not it's a great starting point for further investigation.

I've also been reading Gardner's Witchcraft Today and The Meaning of Witchcraft at last, which are vital primary sources, since really, whatever you may or may not believe about the Craft's history, it was the publication of Witchcraft Today that started the Craft as a publicly-known practice.

Nevyn

That would depend on what you are looking for Brian.

The roots of Wicca, or the histories of some of the traditions.

http://www.geraldgardner.com/index/main.shtml
http://www.themystica.com/mystica/articles/g/gardner_gerald_b.html

and witchvox does as Paul pointed out have a good grasp of the tradiations.

ancathach

I acctually meant it to open the topic for discussion rather than looking for points of information, although I do so love more points of information.

The history of Wicca will not be found in one place, so I
include the following list of possible sources one should read:

Starting way back when looking into such matters was a relatively new
phenomenon,

Doreen Valiente's "ABC Of Witchcraft", now out of print, but had some
interesting anecdotal historical points.

also her appendage to Janet And Stewart Farrar's "The Witches Way", pages
283-293 (Hale, 1983-84 I think, most easily acquired these days as part of
the volume, A Witches Bible")

A good starting point when looking specifically at Gerald Gardner is the
1960 biography "Gerald Gardner Witch" which was written by the Sufi mystic
Indries Shah and attributed to J.L. Bracelin. At this point it is worthy of
mentioning this is the story generally given as the discovery of Wicca, but
as a reading of subsequently listed works will reveal, it is best served
with a pinch of salt.

In challenge to this version of events we have Aiden Kelly's "Crafting The
Art Of Magic" published by Llewellynn in 91 I think, but this is in turn
rebutted by a critical review which spans about quarter the lenght of the
book and which points out its many flaws, which can be found at
http://www.wildideas.net/temple/library/frew.html

Kelly also released a book of similar subject matter called "Inventing
Witchcraft" in 1998, which I havent read so I cant comment on it as of yet,
but it apparently holds the same thesis as the Llewellyn published book. If
anyone has a copy of this title on this side of the water I would be
interested in hearing from you.

I suppose the next work of virtue is the history of Witchcraft of new,
Triumph Of The Moon by Professor Ronald Hutton, a work which throws much
light on the sources and origins of Wicca (Oxford press, 1998-9 methinks)

As much as Huttons thesis seemed to establish the modern origins of Wicca,
Philip Heseltons 2000 work, Wiccan Roots, makes a compelling case for the
existance of a real new forest coven (Capall Bann) and goes far beyond the
depth of Huttons work by becoming even more specialised in focus.

There is also his 2003 "Gerald Gardner And the Cauldron Of Inspiration"
detailing his retaionship with crowley, many key figures who influenced him
who he met via his nudism, Societies and groups he was involved in, the
content of High Magics Aid, the BOS contents and the sources of Gardnerian
Wicca, the Old Mill, and so forth. Heselton, upon last enquiry was planning
a further two books, one with more details on the old forest coven and a
proper biography of Old Gerald.

Also of great importance are Morgan Davis' "From Man To Witch- Gerald
Gardner 1946-1949 available from www.geraldgardner.com ; Allan T.
Greenfields The Secret History Of Modern Witchcraft in 1996, which is
floating around the web in several places, which explores a very thelemic
avenue; Roger Dearnaley's "The Influence Of Aleister Crowley On Ye Bok Of Ye
Art Magical http://www.cyprian.org/Articles/CrowleyBAM0.htm ; Thelema And
Wicca (2001) www.redflame.com/Gardner.html ; Influence of Dion Fortune:
http://www.sacred-texts.com/bos/bos474.htm

If problems are encountered with any of the online materials I have text,
HTML or PDF copies of most if not all of the above upon enquiry (but
acctually do look first).

Well there is the beginnings of a Wiccan history reading list, to which
there is probably more I could add, but it illustrates the scattered nature
of this information. Look at these sources, the sources sources and so forth
and so on- no one will hand you a ready made or complete history, but at
least now you have a few starting points.

Talliesin

ancathach wrote:

I acctually meant it to open the topic for discussion rather than looking for points of information

It's a big topic though, there's a lot of material there and probably too much for a single thread.

One thing I find interesting about Craft history is that much of it is a history of history, as changes in views and information on pre-Christian cultures and the degree to which Paganism and Witchcraft did or did not co-exist alongside Christianity in different parts of Europe at different times have lead to, and from, changes in Paganism and Witchcraft in the past 50 years.

cat_rant

What a delightfull amount of infromation sharing! It has already provent its worth in what little I have had the opertunity to read. Much appreciated links and dicussion.