BOOK REVIEW - Modern Wicca: A History from Gardner to the Present
Mike
Howard � 2009 Llewellyn Worldwide ISBN: 978-0-7383-1588-9 338
pages $19.95 (U.S.)
For a number of years I have bristled every time I heard (or read)
that statement that Wicca and Witchcraft have always been separate,
and that Wicca was created by Gerald Gardner in the 1950s. Even
though I am not a member of the first generation of modern American
Wiccans, I am close enough to have known several of them. I remember
being taught that �Wicca� was a safe word to use in place of
�Witchcraft.� Granted that Wicca has evolved into a separate system,
it wasn�t always so. And Gardner didn�t create it, he merely helped
in its evolution.
Over the past few decades there has been some serious research into
the early days of public Wicca, as opposed to the wishful thinking
which characterized the early decades of writing about it. Michael
Howard has written numerous books on magickal topics and has edited
several others dealing with the growth of modern neo-pagan Wicca,
which affords him a unique perspective. Additionally, he is editor
and publisher of �The Cauldron,� a quarterly journal begun in 1976,
and has been instrumental in furthering debates among and about some
of the more controversial representatives of the Craft community.
He brings his honesty and fairness to bear on the subject of real and
imagined slights, feuds, and misunderstandings over the past 50
years. The major portion of this book deals with the first quarter
century or so of the public awareness of Wicca, as is appropriate
since the most recent quarter century has been played out in a more
public, if not necessarily a more sympathetic, media.
The concluding segment of this work deals with issues facing the
religion today � Pagan chaplains (in the military and in prison
service), solitary practitioners, interfaith initiatives, and the
split between Wicca as a �nature religion� (with all that implies)
and Wicca as a magickal religion; and in the foreseeable future � how
Wicca will deal with the influx of younger seekers, what to do about
some form of standardized training for teachers, the availability of
research materials, and associated topics (even if the last two get
only a short mention).
This is a book which represents what I have been asking for during the
past 10 to 15 years. It fills in the history of Wicca in the second
half of the 20th century. As new generations come along they need to
have access to accurate histories of the evolution of our beliefs and
organizations. Mr. Howard has performed a valuable service by
providing an overview which encompasses more that a single individual,
or one tradition, or even one nation. He has knit together an
informative (and entertaining) book which examines many of the
personalities most responsible for the rapid growth of neo-pagan Wicca
� warts and all.
If this book stimulates more in a like vein, I say �Hooray!� If it
causes a few of the surviving Elders to put their own perceptions into
print, even better. If it encourages seekers to ask the hard
questions (in a respectful manner), that is best of all. I offer
heartfelt thanks to Mr. Howard for this book and encourage everyone to
pick up a copy (actually, you should probably pick up a spare copy to
loan out [or donate to your local library], as I strongly suspect it
will �develop legs� and disappear as soon as it gets out of your
hands.