Wiccan Roots: Gerald Gardner and the Modern Witchcraft Revival

by Philip Heselton

"...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 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.

Genres: Wicca, Religion, Witchcraft, History, Nonfiction, Occult, Spirituality

340 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2000

Reviews

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wiccan Roots is the first part of Philip Hestleton's two part exploration of the beginnings of Wicca. In particular he tries to find evidence of a New Forest Coven of which all of modern Gardenerian and Alexandrian Wicca is a descendant. If you are a Wiccan or like me just interested in Witchcraft this putative ancestry is a very important matter. Hestleton is both thorough and ingenious in trying to find facts which support his thesis. His account of the Rosicrucian Group to which the New Forest Coven also probably belonged is inovative and entertaining. A group of possible witches in Southampton seemed just plausible to me, (basing my opinion on years of contact with similar groups.)All in all a very good read if you are interested in that kind of thing. I look forward to reading Gerald Gardener and the Cauldron of Renewal

[Gryffin Veritas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful work looking more deeply into Gardner and the origins of Gardnerian Wicca. It's the one to read after Hutton's "Triumph of the Moon" as it goes further than Hutton was able to.