Gardner Gerald

English Witch known to push the contemporary Witchcraft tradition forward in order to provide actual religious sustenance to the Pagans of the era.

The Gardenarian tradition tends to be more ceremonial in nature.

The Wiccan religion, history can never be complete without the mention of Gardner Gerald. He was born in 1884 and died in 1963. During his lifetime, he did a lot of things for the Wiccan religion like starting the Gerdnarian Wiccan, publishing books on the Wiccans so that many people could learn about the religion and in the process, join it. He was a Wiccan, archaeologist, anthropologist, and author of several books.

The History Behind The Gardner Gerald

He was born in 1884 and due to him suffering from Asthma, he was sent by his parents to go and stay in Madeira, which was a bit warm as compared to the weather of his birthplace; Blundellsands Lancashire. That led him to receive less energy and he later claimed that he had taught himself how to read and write. While still young, he worked in Ceylon, Malaya, and Borneo before moving back to London in 1936.

After arriving in Highcliffe, which was shortly before the war erupted, he met a group of people who claimed to be witches and was initiated in a nearby Coven in New Forest near Mill House. That was a turning point in Gardner’s life as he started devoting himself to his new found religion. Some believe that, he has never pioneered any religion, but due to his devotion, he ended up writing a lot of literature which enlightened people on the Wiccan religion and that is what made him be known and associated with the Wiccan foundation.

His passion for the religion made him initiate so many people in order for the religion not to vanish. After the war was over, he returned back to London with his wife and started writing several books which are presently known as the best witchcraft literature on the market. The books offered the readers into a deeper insight into the practices and history of the Wiccan religion.

The Sources of Gardner Gerald’s Publications

Most of Gardner Gerald’s literature was drawn from sources like the magical orders, like the golden dawn, from fellow Occultists like Aleister Crowley, and Freemasonry among others. He is the formulation of the Wicca calendar which has eight festivals. It is a calendar which combines all the traditional festive of other religions.

By the time of his death in 1964, the Gardnerian Wicca had spread up to the USA and other places. The number of people who are followers of the religion range between 100,000 to 800,000.

It is claimed that Gardner Gerald used to manipulate what was true and encourage covens to claim things which, deep down, they didn’t believe in. Covens were told to tell people that they were descendants of witches, a claim that sounds weird.  Those who knew him on a personal level found him to be sort of a trickster; funny but unreliable in most cases.

Whatever the story behind Gardner Gerald, he is one of the Wiccans who has helped to spread the tradition across the world through publications.

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