The Meaning of Witchcraft

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“If it weren’t for Gerald Gardner, contemporary Wicca would not exist. If you haven’t read The Meaning of Witchcraft, it still stands up as basic Wiccan text, and if you are reading this book again after a long hiatus—several decades perhaps—you will be surprised how well it stands the test of time.” —Margot Adler, author of Drawing Down the Moon: Witches, Druids, Goddess-Worshippers, and Other Pagans in America
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Book Details

Pages

336 Pages
Size

5.75 x 9
Format

Paperback
Pub. Date

12/01/2022
ISBN

978-1-57863-789-8
Publisher

Red Wheel Weiser

Authors

Gerald Brosseau Gardner (1884–1964), was instrumental in bringing the contemporary Pagan religion of Wicca to public attention, writing some of its definitive religious texts. He introduced a string of High Priestesses into the religion, including Doreen Valiente, Lois Bourne, Patricia Crowther, and Eleanor Bone, from whom the Gardnerian community spread throughout Britain and subsequently into Australia and the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s.

"Those of us who use the word witch with all of the pride and fortification that it offers us do so thanks to Gardner’s lucid, liberating vision.”—Pam Grossman, author of Waking the Witch: Reflections on Women, Magic, and Power

Often called the father of modern witchcraft, Gerald Gardner’s life and works  were ground-breaking in opening the door for the modern revival of Wicca and neo-paganism. The Meaning of Witchcraft (originally published in 1959) was the first sympathetic book written from the point of view of a practicing witch.

“The foundation of magical beliefs,” Gardner wrote, “of which witchcraft is a form, is that unseen Powers exist, and that by performing the right sort of ritual, these Powers can be contacted and either forced or persuaded to assist one in some way. People believed this in the Stone Age, and they believe it, consciously or not, today. It is now well known that most superstition is, in fact, broken-down ritual. The meaning of witchcraft is to be found not in strange religious theories about God and Satan but in the deepest levels of the human mind, the collective unconscious, and the earliest developments of human society.”

The Meaning of Witchcraft is an enduring and invaluable source book for witches today. This Weiser Classics edition  includes a new foreword by Pam Grossman, author of Waking the Witch. In it, Grossman revisits the historical role and mixed legacy that Gardner has played in the revival of witchcraft and magic in modern times.

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“If it weren’t for Gerald Gardner, contemporary Wicca would not exist. If you haven’t read The Meaning of Witchcraft, it still stands up as basic Wiccan text, and if you are reading this book again after a long hiatus—several decades perhaps—you will be surprised how well it stands the test of time.” —Margot Adler, author of Drawing Down the Moon: Witches, Druids, Goddess-Worshippers, and Other Pagans in America "Those of us who use the word witch with all of the pride and fortification that it offers us do so thanks to Gardner’s lucid, liberating vision.” —Pam Grossman, author of Waking the Witch: Reflections on Women, Magic, and Power “Gardner’s Meaning of Witchcraft will introduce you to the ancient practices and beliefs of the Old Religion, with fascinating details of history, myth, and legends. This is one of my favorite reference books.” —Raymond Buckland, author of Buckland’s Complete Book of Witchcraft