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Hi everyone! I wanted to try to resurrect this group, and what better way than to bring back the group reads somehow?

This month, I want to tackle one of the classics of the witchy world: WITCHCRAFT TODAY by Gerald Gardner. Gardner was the founder of modern day Wicca, and a substantial amount of Wiccan spells, rituals, and other practices are based on his writing. WITCHCRAFT TODAY, originally published in 1954, is one of Gardner's most well-known works on the subject.

Amazon's Book Blurb: "First published in 1954, this landmark exploration of Wicca inspired a passionate revival of interest in indigenous British religion and led to the rebirth of a way of life. Encompassing an explanation of Wiccan rituals and tenents, as well as a comprehensive study of occult practices worldwide and throughout the ages, Witchcraft Today is a book that “belongs on the bookshelf of every Witch and every person . . . interested in the whole vast field of the occult� (Raymond Buckland, author of Wicca for Life)."

Please reply to this post if you would be interested in reading WITCHCRAFT TODAY, or if you have already read it and have opinions on the book. Please note: some aspects of the book may be outdated or offensive to modern sensibilities.

If the moderators do not want to have buddy reads cluttering up the Group Reads forum, please let me know, and I will move it to a more appropriate forum.

Started reading my copy. It's been at least a decade since I've read any of Gardner's writings (I distinctly remember pirating his book of shadows back when I was in high school-- one of these days I'll reread it, legally). I've largely kept away from BTW books for the past four or five years, because I don't identify as a witch or Wiccan anymore.

I've only read through the introduction by Margaret Murray so far. Can't say I love her no-really-this-is-all-tied-to-the-ancients-I-promise spiel, but it's hard to muster the energy to hate it, either. Anyone with an access to google can find hundreds of people complaining about the numerous inaccuracies found in Gardner's writings, or the outdated Murray witch-cult theory. These days, I feel it's only worth being mad at modern authors who continue to perpetuate Bad History, because a modern author (or their publisher/editor) have all the tools at their disposal to be accurate.

I've read up until chapter five. Gardner's writing is... something. He likes to drift between denying specific (albeit dated) claims about modern witchcraft, explaining the (now debunked) "history" of witchcraft, and tut-tutting about how he absolutely can't tell the reader about all the things he's seen or witnessed (but includes a handful of ritual instructions nonetheless.)

I can't judge too harshly. Last month, I guest-hosted as an amateur historian on a pagan podcast, and let me tell you, taking a perspective which is more spiritual, if not outright adverse, to modern scholarship is hard, even in the age of the internet. Is WITCHCRAFT TODAY well-written or accurate? No, but I still sympathize with the undertaking.

hmm think I might give this one a miss - I do enjoy reading Ronald Hutton's books though!

I wouldn't recommend it (so far), unless you're interested in it for its historical value. Gardner knew just enough about historical witchcraft, early Christianity, and secret societies to sound convincing while being utterly wrong half the time. It's probably intentional to some degree; psychologically enticing the reader into Wicca without actually telling the reader anything substantial about it. There's value in that, even if it's negated by oathbound secrets in Gardnerian Wicca being relatively common knowledge in the pagan community these days.

Ronald Hutton's books are lovely, and I highly recommend anyone interested in WITCHCRAFT TODAY also take a gander at The Triumph of the Moon: A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft before they take anything Gardner says to heart.

Toviel wrote: "Hi everyone! I wanted to try to resurrect this group, and what better way than to bring back the group reads somehow?

This month, I want to tackle one of the classics of the witchy world: WITCHCRA..."

I've been in Craft since the 1970s, and my mentor was at one point Gerald Gardner's correspondence secretary and one of the few folk from whom you could directly buy the book 'Witchcraft Today'. Most bookstores didn't welcome it.
Imho, it's not a great book in itself. It's not terribly well written (Old Gerald was dyslexic and hadn't the access to sources that being well-read would require) and he wasn't quite certain how much of our oathbound work and lore it would be wise to share with the general reader; but the fact that it exists at all is what makes it remarkable. I would advise reading it as a picture of what the WICA of the time believed and were endeavouring to establish and disseminate, and perhaps consider the extent of their success.
Blessed Be xxx

PS: I'd be delighted to participate in the occasional discussion, although I am only online a couple of times a week

Lesley-anne wrote: "Toviel wrote: "Hi everyone! I wanted to try to resurrect this group, and what better way than to bring back the group reads somehow?

This month, I want to tackle one of the classics of the witchy ..."

What a fascinating connection! Thank you for sharing, it's always great to learn about the context in which these older pagan books were published. :)

I’m a witch in an Alexandrian coven so I should read this but I doubt I could give it a fair try as he and Alex Saunders feel like such phonies - I shall put it on my humongous to read list but ugg. You have my admiration for slogging through

Thanks, Nicole. I'm not sure I would go as far as calling Gardner a phony, but his outlook on witchcraft is certainly an acquired taste.

I'm roughly two-thirds of the way through WITCHCRAFT TODAY. Gardner shifts from a "here's the truth behind the Christian persecutions of witchcraft" to a more eclectic examination of witchy traditions around the world, including Irish fairies, voodoo, the Knights Templar, and the mystery cults of Ancient Greece. Gardner postures his observations as, "the traditions must be connected to the Witch-Goddess cult, because they're old and share a number of similarities," but the reality is probably more like "here's a list of other occult practices influencing the creation of Wicca."

It's much harder to read this portion of the book than the first quarter was, because Gardner doesn't organize his thoughts in any coherent manner. For example, the current chapter I'm reading is ostensibly about Alice Kyteler, but Gardner shifts between a tangentially related witchcraft trial, to a modern coven's practices, to the customs of a random city, and back to Alice without much rhyme nor reason.

My Kindle app tells me I only have an hour left in the book, but who knows if I'll actually finish it before New Years.