Astralcat wrote:
I think it was more of an editing/time limit problem. In his seminal work 'Triumph Of The Moon' he does make the distinctions between modern Wicca and traditional witchcraft etc. Wicca has its roots in traditional witchcraft, as well as other systems. Gardner would have no doubt studied Israel Regardie's writings re. the Golden Dawn rituals. I don't think it really matters really. Buddhism was a construct borne out of Vedanta. I think Gardner's intentions were entirely genuine, and as for the efficacy of magic ? Ronald Hutton himself is respectful and sympathetic these days as a result of his studies. I'm not getting into another game of semantic one upmanship, but I will say that yet again, the proof or not is down to personal experience.
Nicely put Mr A.
There seems to be a bit of confusion about what the programme was about, however. Though the title includes the word Witchcraft, the ‘Very British’ bit really does indicate that the prog was about Wicca and its creator Gerald Gardner, not about the history of witchcraft. If that wasn’t clear enough the abstract reads, “The extraordinary story of Britain's fastest-growing religious group - the modern pagan witchcraft of Wicca - and of its creator, an eccentric Englishman called Gerald Gardner.”
I don’t think the wider discussion of witchcraft was an editing/time limit problem actually – the focus really was on the Wicca movement started by Gardner. Prof Hutton is well equipped to present a separate prog on witchcraft (British or otherwise) and here’s hoping he will. I know I’ve said it before but I had the pleasure of meeting him at a crop circle conference a few years back (his presence there being yet another illustration of his open-mindedness). I walked into a pub during the lunch break and there he was sitting in the corner on his own. He waved me over and we spent a great hour or so chewing the fat. Fantastic guy – gentle, incredibly intelligent and knowledgeable but, maybe most of all, always open to other people’s perceptions of the world.
