History and Revitalization movement

Wicca history is a rich and complex tapestry to understand where it stands today one must understand its past. Wicca is over half century old and can be traced back to the writer, Gerald Gardner, who was born in 1884 a British national. He published a book Witchcraft Today (1954). Gardner is described as avid antiquarian or amateur archeologist and folklorist who had an interest in the occult, stated Ronald Hutton (Hutton 1999: 205). Hutton bases his theory of Gardner’s movement to “neo-pagan” traditions to his retirement in England countryside in the 40’s where he combined folk traditions with anthropology theories of Margaret Murray1 and formal practices of ceremonial magic (ibid.210) in Witchcraft Today (1954). Gardner states that he was initiated into a traditional Coven, which pre-sided Christian beliefs (Gardner 2004 [1954]: 26). Margot Adler writes in her book Drawing Down the Moon (1981), that Gardner’s coven was located in England and knows as New Forest Coven and was led by  “Old Dorothy” (Adler 1981 [1979]: 61). If this is true very little evidence steel exist today of this coven. Students of Gardner’s doubt that this coven ever existed, “The veracity of Gardner’s claims to have found secret, organized, traditional covens is doubted today, even by most of his [followers],” writes Linda Jencson, a cultural anthropologist (Jencson 1989: 3). Even with this knowledge his theory and beliefs inspire people all over the world to practice Wiccan. (Gardner 1954; Buckland 2002; Farrar and Farrar 1984). Gerald Gardner and Barner-Berry “founded what is now known [by practitioners] as the Gardnerian tradition, considered by many to be the dominant tradition in contemporary Wicca”. Gardner’s thoughts and ideas are the foundations of what most modern Wicca rituals are based on.

 

 

 

Gerald Gardner, his England Countryside home 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wicca has distinguishing itself from Western religion in a few different ways: they worship multiple gods in divine couples that very widely. They have eight seasonal holidays called Sabbaths. Wiccan groups have a complex ideology of birth, death, and rebirth of the Horned God, “consort” of the Eternal Goddess. There are two ways that Wiccans practitioners practice their beliefs, first is part of a coven, second being a solitarie practice which is most common according to Berger (Berger et al. 2003: 4). 

The feminism movement plays a part in how fast Wicca has increased in popularity. Where previously men hold spiritual leadership in a community now women are creating a new social order based on equality or reverence for women. Writer, Jean Heriot, shares her opinion that “practitioners of feminist spirituality … women will eventually be able to change the patriarchal social order to an egalitarian one in which connections among individuals, the social and physical world,”(Adams and Salamone, eds. 2000: 116). This movement reflects a revitalization movement. Where it is an organized, effort by members to change a society construct and create a more satisfying culture. We can read examples of the four principles of a revitalization movement in The Spiraldance (Starhawk 1979).