Gardnerian Wicca

Gardnerian Wicca is the oldest tradition, or variant, of the modern Pagan religion of Wicca. It was developed principally by the English occultist Gerald Gardner during the late 1940s and early 1950s, and since then has spread throughout Britain and to various other parts of the world. Like certain other forms of Wicca, it is an initiatory tradition whose practitioners consider themselves witches and who operate through small, largely autonomous groups known as covens. Although born in England, Gardner spent much of his life in Southeast Asia. It was only in the 1930s and '40s, after he retired, that he returned to Britain and began to involve himself in various esoteric traditions. Among these groups, he later alleged, was a coven of witches based near the New Forest in southern England. Gardner claimed that it was the teachings of this group that formed the basis of Gardnerian Wicca, although the validity of this claim is disputed by some historians. Historical documentation reveals how Gardner developed the liturgies and rites of the Gardnerian tradition himself, around the same time as he was forming his first group, the Bricket Wood coven, in Hertfordshire. The Gardnerian tradition began to spread internationally during the 1960s, simultaneously inspiring other groups that adapted Gardnerian practices into new forms of Wicca. Gardnerian Wicca is organised through covens, each led by a high priestess and a high priest. Within the tradition there are three degrees, reflecting its initiates' progressive development of knowledge and experience. Theologically, the tradition revolves around the veneration of a Horned God and a Moon Goddess, both of whom are seen as the creations of an unknowable supreme being. Ritual practices focus heavily on spell-casting, with practitioners seeking to raise an etheric power that can be directed towards a stated purpose through force of will.