Gardnerian Wicca, or Gardnerian Witchcraft, is a mystery cult[1][2] tradition or denomination in the neopagan religion of Wicca, whose members can trace initiatory descent from Gerald Gardner. The tradition is itself named after Gardner (1884–1964), a British civil servant and scholar of magic. The term "Gardnerian" was probably coined by the founder of Cochranian Witchcraft, Robert Cochrane in the 1950s or 60s, who himself ridiculed the tradition.[3]
Gardner claimed to have learned the beliefs and practises that would later become known as Gardnerian Wicca from the New Forest Coven, who he claimed initiated him into their ranks in 1939. For this reason, Gardnerian Wicca is usually considered to be the earliest tradition of Wicca still extant, from which most subsequent Wiccan traditions are derived.
From the New Forest coven, Gardner formed his own Bricket Wood coven, and in turn initiated a series of women who acted as High Priestesses, founding further covens and 'downlines' of initiation. In the UK and most Commonwealth countries someone claiming to be Wiccan is usually understood to be claiming initiatory descent from Gardner, either through Gardnerian Wicca, or through a derived branch such as Alexandrian Wicca or Algard Wicca. In North America, where the term "Wicca" has come to include many unlineaged groups and individuals, the lineaged traditions are termed "British Traditional Wicca".
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Gardnerian Wiccans organise into covens, that traditionally, though not always, are limited to thirteen members. Covens are jointly led by a High Priest and High Priestess.
Gardnerian Wicca and other forms of British Traditional Wicca operate as an initiatory mystery cult; membership is gained only through initiation by a Wiccan High Priestess or High Priest. Any valid line of initiatory descent can be traced all the way back to Gerald Gardner, and through him back to the New Forest Coven.
Rituals and coven practices are kept secret from non-initiates, and many Wiccans also maintain secrecy regarding their membership.
In Gardnerian Wicca, there are three grades of initiation. Ronald Hutton suggests that they appear to be based upon the three grades of Freemasonry.[4]
In Gardnerian Wicca, the two principal deities are the Horned God and the Mother Goddess. Gardnerians use specific names for the God and the Goddess in their rituals. Doreen Valiente, a Gardnerian High Priestess, claimed that there were more than one. She claimed that Gardner referred to the Goddess as Airdia or Areda, which she assumed was derived from Aradia, the deity that Charles Leland had claimed was worshipped by Italian witches. She said that the God was referred to with the title of Cernunnos, or Kernunno, which was Celtic and meant "The Horned One". Another name by which Gardnerians called the God was Janicot (pronounced Jan-e-ko), which she believed was Basque in origin.[5]
The tradition has a focus on community, placing great emphasis on ethical conduct and reverence towards all sentient beings as central to spiritual maturity. The basic principle of acting "with harm to none" is mentioned repeatedly in the Ordains,[6] a body of traditional guidelines for behavior both within the coven and within the larger human community.
The belief that "ye may not be a Witch alone" extends the idea that personal growth, both intellectually and spiritually, is dependent on and affects one's surroundings and the people therein. This concept is not limited to magical or overtly religious behavior, but includes also one's day-to-day life and conduct. For example, Gardnerian High Priestess Eleanor Bone was not only one of the most respected elders in the tradition, but also a matron of a nursing home. Moreover, the Bricketwood coven today is well known for its many members from academic or intellectual background, who contribute to the preservation of Wiccan knowledge. Gerald Gardner himself actively disseminated educational resources on folklore and the occult to the general public through his Museum of Witchcraft in the Isle of Man. Therefore, Gardnerian Wicca can be said to differ slightly from many other Craft practices that generally concentrate solely on solitary spiritual development.
The religion tends to be non-dogmatic, allowing each initiate to find for him/herself what the ritual experience means by using the basic 'language' of a shared ritual tradition, to discover the nature of the Mysteries.[7] The tradition is often characterised as an orthopraxy (correct practice) rather than an orthodoxy (correct thinking), with adherents placing greater emphasis on a shared body of practices as opposed to faith.[8]
On retirement from the British Colonial Service, Gardner moved to London but then before World War II moved to Highcliffe, east of Bournemouth on the south coast of England. There he claimed to have been initiated into a traditional coven of witches, a survival from pre-Christian times, which continued to meet in the New Forest in the south of England.
Gardner claimed to have been initiated in 1939 into a tradition of religious witchcraft that he believed to be a continuation of European Paganism. He knew and worked with many famous occultists, not the least of which was Aleister Crowley. After his retirement Gardner moved to Christchurch near the New Forest on the south coast of England, where he says he met a group of people who had preserved certain traditional practices. They recognised him as being "one of them" and convinced him to be initiated. It was only halfway through the initiation, he says, that it dawned on him what kind of group it was, and that witchcraft had not died out in England.[9]
Doreen Valiente, one of Gardner's priestesses, later identified the woman who initiated Gardner as Dorothy Clutterbuck in A Witches' Bible by Janet and Stewart Farrar.[10] This identification was based on references Valiente remembered Gardner making to a woman he called "Old Dorothy". Scholar Ronald Hutton instead argues in his Triumph of the Moon that Gardner's witchcraft tradition was largely the inspiration of members of the Rosicrucian Order Crotona Fellowship and especially a woman known by the magical name of "Dafo".[11] Dr. Leo Ruickbie, in his Witchcraft Out of the Shadows, analysed the documentary evidence and concluded that Aleister Crowley played a crucial role in inspiring Gardner to establish a new pagan religion.[12] Ruickbie, Hutton, and others further argue that much of what has been published of Gardnerian Wicca, as Gardner's practice came to be known by, was written by Doreen Valiente, Aleister Crowley and also contains borrowings from other identifiable sources.[13]
The witches to whom Gardner was introduced were originally referred to by him as "the Wica" and he would often use the term "Witch Cult" to describe the religion. Other terms used, included "witchcraft" or "the Old Religion". Later publications standardised the spelling to "Wicca" and it came to be used as the term for the craft, rather than its followers. "Gardnerian" was originally a pejorative term coined by Gardner's contemporary Roy Bowers (also known as Robert Cochrane), a British cunning man.[14]
Gardner himself admitted that the rituals of the existing group were fragmentary at best, and he set about reconstructing it, drawing on his skills as an occultist and amateur folklorist. Gardner seems not to have been confident writing original poetry, and instead borrowed and wove together appropriate material from other artists and occultists, most notably Crowley, Charles Godfrey Leland's Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches, the Key of Solomon as published by S.L. MacGregor Mathers, Masonic ritual, and Rudyard Kipling. Doreen Valiente wrote much of the best-known poetry, including the much-quoted Charge of the Goddess.[15]
The group into which Gardner claimed to be initiated, known as the New Forest coven, was small and utterly secret as claiming to be a witch was illegal in Britain at the time (the Witchcraft Act of 1735 made claiming to predict the future, conjure spirits, or cast spells a crime, and likewise made accusations of witchcraft a criminal offence). When the Witchcraft Laws were replaced, in 1951, by the Fraudulent Mediums Act, Gerald Gardner went public, initially somewhat cautiously, but during the late 1950s and until his death in 1964 even courted the attentions of the tabloid press, to the consternation of some of the other members of the tradition.
In 1948-9 Gardner and Dafo were running a coven separate from the original New Forest coven at a naturist club near Bricket Wood to the north of London.[16] By 1952 however Dafo's health had begun to decline, and she was increasingly wary of Gardner's publicity-seeking.[17] In 1953 Gardner met Doreen Valiente who was to become his High Priestess in succession to Dafo. The question of publicity led to Doreen and others formulating thirteen proposed 'Rules for the Craft',[18] including items such as a restriction on contact with the press. Gardner responded with the sudden production of the Wiccan Laws which led to Doreen and others leaving the coven.[19] At about this time (1956–58) the standard method of raising energy in the circle was said to be by binding and scourging, but following Gardner spending time in the Isle of Man the coven began to experiment with circle dancing as an alternative.[20] It was also about this time that the lesser Sabbats were given greater prominence. When Brickett Wood coven members decided that since they like the Sabbats celebrations so much, there was no reason to keep the cross quarters celebration to the closest full moon meeting, instead they became festivities in their own right. As Gardner had no objection to this change suggested by the Brickett Wood coven, this collective decision resulted in what is now the standard eight festivities in the wheel of the year.[21]
The split with Valiente led to the Bricket Wood coven being led by Jack Bracelin and a new High Priestess, Dayonis. This was the first of a number of disputes between individuals and groups,[22] but the increased publicity only seems to have allowed Gardnerian Wicca to grow much more rapidly. Certain initiates such as Alex Sanders and Raymond Buckland started off their own major traditions allowing further expansion.
A partial summary of publicly known Wiccans 'downline' from Gardner is available here.