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 " worldwide, 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

chose 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 mas ses. 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.

BLESSED BE.