GARDNERIAN WITCHCRAFT

by: Rick Johnson
PO Box 40451
Tucson, Az.
85717
RikJohnson@juno.com

Samhain, a Time of Sacrifice
Samhain, a Time of Wisdom and Change
Altar Tables I Make
Basics of Gardnerian Witchcraft
The Gardnerian Book of Shadows
A Comment by Danile on What is a Gardnerian
Death and Dieing
Deceit
Donatism and Gardnerian Witchcraft
The Founders of Modern Witchcraft
The Frapper Map of Gardnerian Witches
The Goddess and the Tsunami
Lineage
Gardnerian Contacts
Evolution of Lines
The Sacred King and the Craft
The Oath
The three-Fold law is not Karma
A Traditional View
Why do bad things Happen to Good People?
Important Websites
What is Oral Lore?
The Wild Hunt into a Stag party?

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Witchcraft is like a skeleton, clothed in an infinite variety of flesh and clothing. Just as it would be a very dull world ndeed were we all to be the Aryan ideal of humanity or wear the same dark suit, so is it with religion.
Just as people are different, so are their beliefs and one common belief among witches is that each person should follow the faith that makes them happy. With myself and others, that is Witchcraft. But just as people prefer different styles of clothing, so do they prefer differing religious forms.
The skeleton of Wichcraft is it's core beliefs that include, among others: reincarnation, the Three-Fold Law, the Wiccan Rede, The wheel of the Year, the Goddess and the Horned God and so on. But the flesh is the Tradition, be it Gardnerian, Alexandrian, Eclectic, Sheban, Dianic or whatever. And the Clothng is the Lineage, be we derived from Valeinte or Wilson.
In these pages I will attempt to explain some basic Gardnerian beliefs and workings. But be aware that although we all took the same Oath of Secrecy, we also interpret that Oath differently. So much of what is writen here will be argued by other Gardnerians of differeing Lineages. Hopefully, some of those people will offer writings to be added here.

With that said, the immediate question is: "What is a Gardnerian Witch?"

The answer is simple yet complex, very much like the religon itself.
So, rather than make a long descriptive list that will exclude anyone who I dislike and include only my close personal friends, I will keep it as simple as possible and let the following pages answer in detail.

For our purposes, I will define a Gardnerian Witch as:

1. * 1) Someone who was Initiated by another Gardnerian Elder.
2. a) using an established Gardnerian Initiation Ritual.
3. b) with the intent to confer Gardnerian Validity.
4. c) who can trace their Gardnerian Lineage back to Gardner via one of his many High Priestesses between the years of 1952 to 1964.
5. * 2) Who possesses the Core Gardnerian Book of Shadows.
6. * 3) And who practices recognisable Gardnerian Rituals.

Obviously, this list is deliberately vague. For example, you can ADD to the Gardnerian Ritual (as doing a Maypole Dance at Beltane) but you canot delete from it (as deleting the $ from the Initiation). And all additions should enhance and fit into the theme of the rite (a sweatlodge is inapropriate)
And when do your additions move you from the Gardnerian Tradition into something else? Witch Wars have been fought over this question.
I hope that I can answer some of these questions here.

Basics of Gardnerian Witchcraft
Lineage
Gardnerian Contacts
The Oath

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To contact me or to request topics to be covered, send to RikJohnson@juno.com
by: Rick Johnson
PO Box 40451
Tucson, Az.
85717

Return to the Home Page.