{"collection":"Paganism & Neopaganism","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/browse/pag/gardner.htm","path":"pag/gardner.htm","source_url":"https://sacred-texts.com/pag/gardner.htm","text":"Gerald Gardner was the central figure in the\nWiccan renaissance of the 1950s and 1960s.\nHe wrote several key texts of modern Wicca, including\nthe Gardnerian Book of Shadows.\nFor copyright reasons, Gardners' books cannot be posted on the Internet for\nfree distribution.\nHowever, they can be purchased through Amazon.com:\nHigh Magic's Aid\n(1949). This is a novel which is set in Medieval England, based very\nclosely on Margaret Murray's works\nand the magical system described in\nThe Key of Solomon.\nGardner sold copies of this book at his\nWitchcraft Museum on the Isle of Man.\nThe fictional setting was necessitated by the harsh laws\nagainst witchcraft which were still on the books as of 1949,\nand (reputedly) secrecy requirements placed on him\nby the traditionalist coven which he had joined.\nAlthough High Magic's Aid may not\nquite succeed as a historical novel,\nit is quite readble and is a significant document\nin the evolution of modern Wicca.\nWitchcraft Today\n(1951) and the\nMeaning of Witchcraft\n(1959)\n(Note: these books are currently out of print, but should be obtainable\non the used book market).\nThese books are non-fictional, popularized recitations of Gardners'\nevolving views on Wicca.\nAfter the repeal of the witchcraft laws in England in 1951,\nGardner finally convinced his traditionalist coven to allow him\nto publish some of the details of their previously\nsecret beliefs and practices.\nOr so the story goes; in any case, these are transitional\nbooks in which Gardner is weaving together the various strands\nof modern Wicca.\nThese books created a sensation and Gardner became what amounted to\nthe first Wiccan media star.","title":"Books of Gerald Gardner","type":"page"}