Witchcraft Today by Gerald B

Witchcraft Today By Gerald B. Gardner Contents: Book Cover (Front) (Back) Scan / Edit Notes Foreword Introduction 1 - Living Witchcraft 2 - There have been Witches in all Ages 3 - Witch Beliefs 4 - Witch Practices 5 - The Little People 6 - How the Little People became Witches, and Concerning the Knights Templar 7 - The Witches and the Mysteries 8 - Out of the Land of Egypt 9 - Irish Witchcraft 10 - What are Witches? 11 - Some Other Matters 12 - Who is the Devil? 13 - Recapitulation Notes Bibliography (Removed) Scan / Edit Notes Versions available and duly posted: Format: v1.0 (Text) Format: v1.0 (PDB - open format) Format: v1.5 (HTML) Format: v1.5 (PDF - no security) Format: v1.5 (PRC - for MobiPocket Reader - pictures included) Genera: Wicca / Wiccan / Witchcraft Extra's: Pictures Included (for all versions) Copyright: 1954 / 1968 / 1970 First Scanned: 2002 Posted to: alt.binaries.e-book Note: 1. The Html, Text and Pdb versions are bundled together in one zip file. 2. The Pdf and Prc files are sent as single zips (and naturally don't have the file structure below) ~~~~ Structure: (Folder and Sub Folders) {Main Folder} - HTML Files | |- {Nav} - Navigation Files | |- {PDB} | |- {Pic} - Graphic files | |- {Text} - Text File -Salmun Foreword I have been told by witches in England: 'Write and tell people we are not perverts. We are decent people, we only want to be left alone, but there are certain secrets that you mustn't give away.' So after some argument as to exactly what I must not reveal, I am permitted to tell much that has never before been made public concerning their beliefs, their rituals and their reasons for what they do; also to emphasise that neither their present beliefs, rituals nor practices are harmful. I write only of what takes place in the North, South, East, and West of England today in covens which I know. I have in addition shown the origin of some at least of the stories which have been told about the craft. I can only repeat the words of Lucius Apuleius in the Metamorphoses, xl, 23, who wrote a long account of his own initiation into the mysteries in cryptic language, saying: 'I have told you things of which, although you have heard them, you cannot know the meaning.' The Museum of Magic and Witchcraft at Castletown is the only one in the world devoted to magic and witchcraft. I have the materials here to prove what I say. I wish to thank Mr. Ross Nichols, editor of Christian's History and Practice of Magic, for supplying me with supplementary information and for 1m many useful suggestions and comments. G.B. Gardner Director The Museum of Magic and Witchcraft The Witches' Mill Castletown, Isle of Man Introduction By Dr. Margaret Murray Formerly Assistant Professor in Egyptology at University College, London In this book Dr. Gardner states that he has found in various parts of England groups of people who still practise the same rites as the so-called 'witches' of the Middle Ages, and that the rites are a true survival and not a mere revival copied out of books. In his easy pleasant style he gives a sketch of similar practices in ancient Greece and Rome, and his wide personal experiences in the Far East enable him to show that there are many peoples, whether in the Far East or in Great Britain, who still perform acts of worship to the Almighty Giver of Life according to ancient ritual. Though the ritual of Europe is now consonant with modern civilisation, the feeling which underlies both the primitive and the civilised is the same: gratitude to the Creator and hope for the Constance of His goodness. Personal worship may take any form, but a group of persons worshipping together always devise some form of ritual, especially when the worship takes the form of a dance. The ritual dance, whether pet formed as an act of worship or as the expression of a prayer, is characterised by its rhythmic action. The prayer-dance is usually for the increase of food, and therefore imitates in stylized form the movements of the animals or the growing of the plants for which increase is desired. The worship- dance is even more rhythmic than the prayer. All the movements are rhythmic, and the accompaniment is a chant or performed by percussion instruments by which the rhythm is strongly marked. The rhythmic movements, the rhythmic sounds, and the sympathy of numbers all engaged in the same actions, induce a feeling of exhilaration, which can increase to a form of intoxication. This stage is often regarded by the worshippers as a special divine favour, denoting the actual advent of the Deity into the body of the worshipper. The Bacchantes of ancient Greece induced intoxication by drinking wine, and so making themselves one with their God. Dr. Gardner has shown in his book how much of the so-called 'witchcraft' is descended from ancient rituals, and has nothing to do with spell-casting and other evil practices, but is the sincere expression of that feeling towards God which is expressed, perhaps more decorously though not more sincerely, by modern Christianity in church services. But the processional dances of the drunken Bacchantes, the wild prancings round the Holy Sepulchre as recorded by Maundrell at the end of the seventeenth century, the jumping dance of the mediaeval 'witches', the solemn zikr of the Egyptian peasant, the whirling of the dancing dervishes, all have their origin in the desire to be 'Nearer, my God, to Thee', and to show by their actions that intense gratitude which the worshippers find them selves incapable of expressing in words. 1 - Living Witchcraft There have been many books written on witchcraft. The early ones were mostly propaganda written by the various Churches to discourage and 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 in a scientific way with witchcraft by such writers as Dr. Margaret Murray, R. Trevor Davis, Christine Hoyle, Arne Runeberg, Pennethorne Hughes and Montague Summers. Mr. Hughes in his most scholarly book on witchcraft has, I think, clearly proved what many knew: that the Little People of the heaths, called fairies or elves at one period, were called witches in the next, but to my mind all these books have one fault. Though their authors, know that witches exist, none of them seems to have asked a witch for her (1) views on the subject of witchcraft. For after all, a witch's opinions should have some value, even though they may not fit in with preconceived opinions. Of course there are good reasons for this reticence. Recently I was talking to a very learned Continental professor who was writing up some witch trials of two hundred years ago, and he told me that he had obtained much information from witches. But, though invited, he had been afraid to go to their meetings. Religious feeling was very strong in his country and if it were known that he was in communication with witches he would be in danger of losing his professorship. Moreover, witches are shy people, and publicity is the last thing they want. I asked the first one I knew: 'Why do you keep all this wonderful knowledge secret? There is no persecution nowadays.' I was told: 'Isn't there? If it were known in the village what I am, every time anyone's chickens died, every time a child became sick, I should be blamed. Witchcraft doesn't pay for broken windows!' (2) Now I am an anthropologist, and it is agreed that an anthropologist's job is to investigate what people do and believe, and not what other people say they should do and believe. It is also part of his task to read as many writings as possible on the matter he is investigating, though not accepting such writings uncritically, especially when in conflict with the evidence as he finds it. Anthropologists may draw their own conclusions and advance any theories of their own, but they must make it clear that these are their own conclusions and their own theories and not proven facts; and this is the method I propose to adopt. In dealing with native races one records their folklore, the; stories and religious rites on which they base their beliefs. and actions. So why not do the same with English witches? ---- [1] Witches are as often men as women, but in English a witch is always called 'she', so I will use that word, and the reader must understand it to mean either male of female, [2] See Note 1 (page 188). ---- I must first explain why I claim to speak of things note generally known. I have been interested in magic and kindred subjects all my life, and have made a collection of? magical instruments and charms. These studies led me to spiritualist and other societies, and I met some people who claimed to have known me in a past life. Here I must say that, though I believe in reincarnation, as most people do who have lived in the East, I do not remember any past lives, albeit I have had curious experiences. I only wish I did. Anyhow, I soon found myself in the circle and took the usual oaths of secrecy which bound me not to reveal any secrets of the cult.

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