Description: "Essential for understanding the living history of modern-day witchcraft, this ground-breaking work opened the door for the modern revival of Wicca and neo-paganism as the first sympathetic book written from the point of view of a practicing witch. According to the author, '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.'"--
Brief description: 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.
Review Quotes: "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