Living Witchcraft & Books On The Craft

Adapted from Dr. G. B. GARDNER & OTHER SOURCES

 

 

There have been many books written on witchcraft. The early ones were mostly propaganda written by the various churches to discourage & frighten people from having any connections with what was to them a hated rival, for witchcraft is a religion. Later there were books setting out to prove that this craft had never existed. Some of these books may have been inspired or even written by witches themselves. Latterly there have been many books dealing with witchcraft in a scientific way by such writers as Dr Margret Murray [Later initiated into Witchcraft.] R. Trevor Davis, Christene Hoyle, Arne Runeburg, Pennetthorne Hughes & Montague Summers.

The authors of these scholarly books on witchcraft had one fault though they knew that witches existed, none of them seemed to have asked a witch for his / her opinion or view on their religion, for after all, a witch's opinions should have some value, even if it did not fit in with preconceived opinions. Today some modern authors have interviewed the modern out of the broom closet witch, & even when the Christian author tries to discredit them, the original interview is published in full, giving the budding witch an insight into the mind & practise of witchcraft today.

During the 60's many books on witchcraft were published by witch's & others. Some were the real thing, some were a mixture of Pagan & Higher Magic practises, others were written by those with a little knowledge & a thirst for money & as usual the Christian church had its authors too. The revival of witchcraft in this period, which spread like wild fire due to the migration of " Hippie & Flower Power Children " world-wide, was of great concern to the established religions, & local governments using both "  Drug & Draft laws " persecuted anyone who resembled the new pagans, resulting in further migration. The youth discontented with the sterile narrow mindedness of the period embraced Paganism which allowed them to express themselves in any way they pleased. Being love orientated they preached " Love not War " for the witch believes in " Do what you will, but harm none". During this period covens mushroomed up in every town & city, unfortunately many were run by the youth themselves who only had limited knowledge. Most of these covens had no Life Initiation structures [ Birth rite, Handfastings, Parting of the ways, Death rites etc] so they failed & disbanded in time. In the end many returned to Christianity when they were ready to settle down. It is  interesting to note that many of the Hippie generation & their children, later joined Occult groups like the Masons, Rosicrucians, Theosophical  Society, Liberal Catholic church, Society of the Inner Light, Servants of  the Light, etc. as all of these organisations allowed for them to keep their  religion & believe in Paganism & magic. They were also more socially excepted by many, without the stigma of witchcraft, underground music, drugs, nudity,  group sexual rites & Satanism, which the general public  believed to be all one & the same thing. During this period many were initiated into older Covens & were properly trained, when the Hippie movement died, they continued within coven or as solitary witches & later formed the modern NEO- Pagan Family groups who are mostly found involved in Nature conservation activities today. In the late 80's the New Age movement was born, which combined Earth magic with astrology, alternate medicine & healing, Kabalistic & other Occult practises & was a great money spinner for some while the craze lasted.

In the enlightened 90's Paganism & Witchcraft is still seen as evil, perverted, drug orientated & associated with prostitution, child molestation, pornography, Rock bands & Satanism by Christians who have forgotten their own racial Paganism or fear it..

Satanism is indeed on the increase among the young Christians who are unhappy with their religion. But this has nothing to do with witchcraft for we honour all Gods, & as  true Pagans  never run down any religion for there are many paths to the energy called God / Goddess by man & each one has the right to choose their path. The exception to the rule being, when we are confronted by the modern " Born Again " who in his / her arrogance thinks his / her way is the only one & we need saving from their devil & wont take your smile & no thank you seriously. It is up to each Pagan to deal with this sort of attack in the way he / she feels is best. Here we are dealing with an individual not the Christian church itself.

In the 90's we have a new problem, too many books on the market, most written by people with limited knowledge of witchcraft, some authors even refer to our Sabbats by using Christian names for them instead of our ancient ones. Examples being, Lammas , Candlemas, All Souls & All Hallows etc. Mankind has always had its dark side & drug abuse, child abuse, wife abuse, husband abuse, rape, murder, incest, alcohol abuse, pornography, prostitution, sexual perversions, nudity & blood sacrifice are a part of human nature & are found within all religious groups world wide. We as witches can no longer be held responsible for all that other religions find repulsive in their followers. We are separate from their conception of evil due to our religion & each one of us must work to separate Wicca from the label of Satanism which is Christianity's off spring & only as old as Christianity itself. Witchcraft dates back to the dawn of time & we should be proud of our heritage & speak up when our religion & Gods are attacked by the ignorant masses. It is our duty to educate them & make our religion one that is recognised. For those of you who will eventually have your own training covens, be prepared for the lunatic fringe that will only be attracted to your coven for cheap thrills, seeing it as a means to control others, a means to have access to drugs & provide them with unlimited sex partners, your training will also give them unlimited amounts of material goods & money & enable them to run naked through church yards at night, do diabolical rites involving blood sacrifice, using upside down crosses & pentacles etc. Fortunately these people will soon leave, giving you the opportunity to train those that will follow the ancient ways & become true Pagans working for the good of mankind & the Beloved Earth.