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The Influence of Aleister Crowley on Gerald Gardner and the Early Witchcraft Movement*

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The Influence of Aleister Crowley on Gerald Gardner and the Early Witchcraft Movement* THE INFLUENCE OF ALEISTER CROWLEY ON GERALD GARDNER AND THE EARLY WITCHCRAFT MOVEMENT* Henrik Bogdan Magic, Sex and Contemporary Paganism Although magic is an intrinsic part of contemporary paganism there is no consensus as to how magic is believed to function, or how it is to be defi ned.1 The absence of a defi nition of magic that all pagans can agree upon is, on the one hand, refl ective of the multifaceted nature of paganism: the term paganism as an -ism, implying a coherent system of beliefs and practices, is misleading since paganism is not a coherent and unifi ed movement. On the contrary, paganism is characterised by a wide diversity that not only includes major currents such as Witchcraft, neo-shamanism, Heathenism, Asatru, Druidry, Goddess Spirituality, etc., but these currents in their turn show rich variety in beliefs, practices and organisational structures.2 The modern witchcraft movement, for instance, consists of Gardnerian, Alexandrian, Celtic, Dianic, and Faery Wicca, to name but a few of the more well-known variants. On the other hand, the lack of an agreed upon defi nition of magic is symptomatic of wider trends in western spirituality that, somewhat simplistically, can be described as the ongoing struggle between disenchanted and re- enchanted worldviews. Are the gods and goddesses invoked in magical rituals actual objective entities, or are they symbols of different aspects of man’s unconscious? This basic question lies at the root of emic defi - nitions of magic, but to some pagans this is not a particularly relevant question since the only thing that matters is that the magic “works” for them. In this they reiterate what the occultist3 Aleister Crowley wrote * An earlier version of this chapter was published as “Challenging the Morals of Western Society: The Use of Ritualised Sex in Contemporary Occultism” in The Pomegranate: The International Journal of Pagan Studies Vol. 8. 2 (2006), 211–246. 1 For a discussion of magic in paganism, see Joanne Pearson, Wicca and the Christian Heritage: Ritual, Sex and Magic (2007), 94–111; Barbara Jane Davy, Introduction to Pagan Studies (2007) 29–30; Graham Harvey, Contemporary Paganism (1997) 87–106; Graham Harvey, What Do Pagans Believe? (2007) 44–53. 2 Graham Harvey, Contemporary Paganism (1997). 3 Occultism, which for our present purpose can be described as a secularised form 82 henrik bogdan in a short tract called “Liber O vel Manus et Sagittae”, fi rst published in his magnum opus Magick in Theory and Practice (1929): In this book it is spoken of the Sephiroth and the Paths, of Spirits and Conjurations; of Gods, Spheres, Planes, and many other things which may or may not exist. It is immaterial whether these exist or not. By doing certain things cer- tain results follow; students are most earnestly warned against attributing objective reality or philosophic validity to any of them.4 It is, however, not only Crowley’s focus on the results of magic that is being echoed in contemporary paganism, but as has been pointed out by numerous scholars one of the most common defi nitions of magic to be found in the modern witchcraft movement derives from Crowley.5 In discussing defi nitions of magic in paganism in What Do Pagans Believe? Graham Harvey states: Two defi nitions of magic are current among Pagans: some say that magic is the art of causing change according to the will, others that magic is the art of changing consciousness according to will. The fi rst asserts that magic can change the world; it can heal a sick relative or make someone fall in love. The second suggest that magic can change one’s self at the deep level of one’s consciousness.6 It is usually acknowledged that while the fi rst defi nition derives from Crowley, the second is supposed to have been formulated by the occult- ist Dion Fortune (pseudo. of Violet Mary Firth, 1890–1946). Crowley’s well-known defi nition of magic (or Magick as he chose to spell it) appeared in print for the fi rst time in Magick in Theory and Practice: Magick is the Science and Art of causing Change to occur in conformity with Will. (Illustration: It is my Will to inform the World of certain facts within my knowledge. I therefore take “magical weap- ons”, pen, ink, and paper; I write “incantations—these sentences—in the “magical language” i.e. that which is understood by the people I wish to instruct; I call forth “spirits”, such as printers, publishers, booksellers, and of Western esotericism, is characterised, among other things, by a heavy focus on the experiential aspect of religion; that is, teachings and dogmas often come second to the performance of rituals and various forms of meditation. For a discussion on how occultism (as a form of secularised esotericism) differs from traditional, or Renaissance, esotericism, see Wouter J. Hanegraaff “The Study of Western Esotericism” (2004), 497–499. 4 Aleister Crowley, Magick in Theory and Practice (1929), 375. 5 E.g. Graham Harvey, Contemporary Paganism (1997), 88. 6 Graham Harvey, What Do Pagans Believe? (2007), 45. .
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