Gardner, Gerald B. (Brousseau) (1884-1964)

Significance

Essentially, the founder of modern Wicca as we know it in our lifetime. After some experience with Masonry and other ceremonial traditions, he appears to have encountered a group of what might now be termed “proto-Wiccans” operating in England's New Forest. He was initiated into this group in September 1939 by Dorothy Clutterbuck, also known as “Old Dorothy”. He found the group and its rituals and traditions to be somewhat fragmentary and waning, and put considerable effort into reviving it – along the way adapting many elements from Masonry and the writings of Aleister Crowley.

In the late ’40s, Gardner began publishing fictional material (based on his studies with the New Forest coven) which hinted at the continued existence of a nature- and fertility-based religion along the lines of the theories of Margaret Murray. After the 1951 Witchcraft Act repeal, Gardner determined it safe to begin publishing non-fictional accounts of the existence of Wicca.

His 1954 book, Witchcraft Today, attracted many people interested in this religion, most notably Doreen Valiente. After her initiation, Valiente observed the Masonic and Crowleyan origin of much of Gardner’s filled-in material, and set about writing more nature-based liturgy, including the Charge of the Goddess.

Gardner and Valiente’s collaboration gave rise to what is now known as Gardnerian Wicca, which served as the springboard for all other branches of Wicca, and indeed, for the Neopagan movement as a whole.

Controversy

Various controversies have arisen over Gardner and his tradition. The major ones are as follows:

Popularizer, Plagiarizer, or Creator?

Gardner claims to have discovered a pre-existing coven in the New Forest, and simply popularized its rituals. Others claim that he simply invented the rituals and the tradition out of thin air, while still others claim he ripped off the entire thing from Crowley. Doreen Valiente’s proof of Old Dorothy’s existence has helped dispel some of these charges. She points out, quite cogently, that while some aspects of Gardner’s system are indeed “filled in” from other sources, nonetheless when you take away all of those externals, there is still a core of basic material there.

Interested in BDSM?

Ritual scourging does play a role in Gardnerian rituals. Many have surmised that Gardner himself had a fetish for it, and introduced these elements himself, for just that reason. Aside from the presence of the scourging in the tradition, however, I know of no evidence that Gardner had any personal desire for it – it’s also possible that he brought those aspects in from Masonic or other sources, rather than simply making them up.

Significance of Nudity?

There’s a strong emphasis – even insistence – on nudity in Gardnerian ritual. Some commentators have surmised that this was a way to indulge prurient interests. On the other hand, in a religion that values pleasure and sees the body as a vessel of the sacred divine, it’s sensible to argue that not only is nudity not simply a sop to prurience, but prurience itself is nothing to avoid!

A site devoted to Gardner can be found at www.geraldgardner.com.