History of Wicca/Witchcraft
Wicca "witchcraft" is estimated to have begun approximately 35 thousand years ago (we note 32 thousand) with the nature worship of the neanderthal and cro-magnon "cave men". The recorded (written) history of the witchcraft tradition called "La Vecchia Religione" begins about 8000 years ago in what is now the Pyrenees mountains between France and Spain. This is the home of the Basque people who are thought to be the oldest race of people on the planet. La Vecchia Religione is probably the oldest witchcraft tradition in existence today.La Vecchia Religione began long before people learned to read and write. History and traditions were passed down by word of mouth via people especially trained for this kind of memory. The verbal histories of La Vecchia Religione created legends regarding the beginnings of this tradition. With the beginning of the persecutions by the christian (catholic) church, The Craft went underground and became a very secretive society. Except for those involved, almost no one knew anything about the old ways.
This state of affairs lasted for centuries, until a well-travelled Englishman, Charles Godfrey Leland (1824-1903), obtained information in 1897 about a very old and secret religion (La Vecchia Religione), about which he wrote in his book "Aradia: or The Gospel of the Witches". Leland's book went virtually unnoticed, overshadowed by the more highly publicized occult and spiritualistic secret societies of that time: "The Order of the Golden Dawn", which claimed descent from the Rosicrucians; "The Theosophical Society", which focused on oriental proverbial wisdom; "The Qabbala" (from where we get the word "cabal"), who were middle-eastern "witches" active against the jewish church; and "The Freemasons", who are not so secretive anymore. 15-20 years later, Dr. Margaret Alice Murray, an Egyptologist on staff at University College (London, England), received information that witchcraft was the remnants of an ancient, pre-christian, fertility oriented religion. Apparently, the idea interested her enough to find out for herself. Dr. Murray started her research after discarding all preconceived notions about witchcraft. During her research she reviewed virtually all of the old canon (christian church) laws and records. She was able to verify that not only does witchcraft have nothing to do with the christian satan, but that the church knew this from the beginning! The results of Dr. Murray's research were published in her book "The Witch-Cult in Western Europe". The surprising thing about Murray's research is that while her work parallels much of Leland's research, she seems to have been completely unaware of Leland's book published 22 years earlier. Aleister Crowley (1875-1947), called by many either "The King of the Witches" or "The Wickedest Man in the World", was a self-declared master witch. While many people feel that he was a real nut-case, he did have his band of devoted followers. The most interesting point of Crowley's system of magic, was that while he professed to a traditional style, he relegated women to a strictly subservient roll. This is in direct conflict with what was learned by both Leland and Murray. Crowley's popularity was not so much due to his efforts, or the popularity of his magical fraternity, "the Ordo Templi Orientis"; but instead due to his literary executor, John Symonds. Crowley's biography details the life and magick [spelling his] of one who cast the mold for most of the new-age covens in existence today. Gerald Brosseau Gardner (1884-1964), a member of Crowley's O.T.O. and the founder of the "Gardinerian" style of magic, filled the mold that Crowley had made and then added a few twists of his own. Prior to World War II, society, especially in England, tended toward the puritanical. Religion was dour and sober, nudity was deviant behavior to which no one admitted, and Witchcraft was superstitious nonsense. And then all of a sudden, here's this man calling attention to himself, admitting that a coven exists who's members dance nude in Witchcraft rituals, and worse, that they are having fun with religion! Absolutely scandalous for a bunch of up-tight Brits! Gardinerian witchcraft is characterized by ritual nudity, sex magic, and frenzied dancing whipped on by scourges, literally. However, the whipping is almost non-existent in modern covens. Alex Sanders (1926?-1988), founder of what has been called the "Alexandrian" style of witchcraft, used to refer to himself as the "King of [all] the Witches". His biggest problem with that claim, was that only non-witches and his coven of 5(?) people believed in it. Alexandrian witchcraft is basically Gardinerian but without the flagellation and is characterized by lot of flashy showmanship and a catholic-like organization. Modern witchcraft in both England and America received a boost from British witches Janet and Stuart Farrar in their book "A Witch's Bible". This book claims, like Sanders, to represent all witches and schools of witchcraft. In fact, it's Gardinerian and completely ignores most traditional covens. I don't recommend it, but it did bring The Craft out of the (broom) closet and on to the bookshelves. Starhawk (aka Miriam Simos) is without a doubt, the founder of feminist wicca in America. Based in Berkley, California, her organization, The Covenant of the Goddess, has combined modern feminism and the Gardinerian style of witchcraft in the recognized church of "Wicca".
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