Isaac Bonewits is one of North America's leading experts on ancient and modern Druidism, Witchcraft and the rapidly growing Earth Religions movement. He is the author of Real Magic, Authentic Thaumaturgy, The Pagan Man, Bonewits's Essential Guide to Witchcraft and Wicca, Bonewits's Essential Guide to Druidism, Real Energy, and Neopagan Rites, as well as numerous articles, reviews and essays. He is a singersongwriter with twoandahalf albums to his credit. As a 'spellbinding' speaker, he has educated, enlightened and entertained two generations of modern Goddess worshippers, nature mystics, and followers of other minority belief systems, and has explained these movements to journalists, law enforcement officers, college students, and academic researchers.

CHAPTER 1

WICCA IN THE UNITED STATES

Modern Wicca arose between the 1930s and the 1950s in England, where itcontinues to thrive. Its antecedents prior to the 1930s are the subject of muchscholarly debate, with which we need not concern ourselves here. Central to thisdebate is the role that Gerald Gardner played in the transmission, or invention,of the tradition. Indeed, Gardner himself consistently claimed that he modifiedand added to the "fragmentary" rituals he received. For our purposes here, whenI refer to Gardner's creation or origination of modern Wicca, please note that Irefer only to the transformation that changed the face of Wicca and do notintend to contribute to a debate best left to experts.

THE SIXTIES AND SEVENTIES

When Wicca arrived in the United States from England in the 1960s, it stayed insome ways the same; in other ways, it became Americanized (not unexpectedly). Itexisted quietly in cities and suburbs as a secret "other" life for seeminglyordinary people.

But something was brewing—the cultural phenomena of the 1960s and 1970s. Duringthese decades of sweeping social and cultural change, Wicca, which hadpreviously been almost exclusively traditional and Gardnerian (see chapter 3),collided with hippies, activists, and self-actualizers. Occult consciousness,alternative spirituality, and personal freedom, all essential to Wicca, werealso all part of the counter-culture movement. The attraction between the oldtradition and the new consciousness was inevitable. An unforeseen side effect ofthis cultural collision, however, was that demand for all things Wiccan soonoutstripped the ability of Wicca as it was to meet it. Traditional Wicca isdesigned to grow through one-on-one training in small covens. The parameters ofsuch a group are:

• A maximum of thirteen members, including a High Priestess and High Priest;

• Three degrees of initiation, with a year and a day between degrees;

• Only second and third degree initiates can start their own covens.

Wiccan groups built on this model run on the maxim that "it takes a witch tomake a witch." Under these parameters and given optimal conditions (althoughconditions are never optimal), a Gardnerian couple can create at most elevensecond degree initiates (and thus five or six new covens) in no less than twoyears and two days.

Now, if you think about how small it all started in this very big country (oneor two groups in New York, one or two in California) and if you think about thesize and enthusiasm of the counter-culture that arose in the 1960s and 1970s,you can see that something had to give. It was this combination of cultural andsocial conditions that created the first big change in Wicca—the emergence ofself-created traditions.

There had always been "grandmother stories"—the white lie that someone wasinitiated by his or her grandmother into an ancient tradition reaching back tothe Stone Age. But freethinking hippies weren't all that interested in theirgrandmothers. People began proudly proclaiming that they had invented theirtraditions, which, much to the surprise of some, they discovered were veryeffective! Newly invented rituals turned out to have power and spiritual depth.Who would have guessed? The Church of All Worlds was the first openly inventedneo-pagan denomination, but many others—Wiccan and otherwise—have followedhappily in their footsteps.

So this is the transformation that took place in 1960s. In the 1970s, anotherwave of interest in Wicca washed up in the form of the emergent (second-wave)feminist movement, with its interest in female empowerment, goddesses, and self-directedspiritual growth. Once again, demand outstripped supply. Even fewerfeminists were interested in seeking a traditional path, which reminded many ofthe patriarchal churches and synagogues they wanted to leave behind. They feltmore empowered by self-created ritual, by consensus and sharing rather thanauthority and leadership. High priestesses were as irrelevant to them aspriests.

THE EIGHTIES AND NINETIES

Beginning in the late 1970s and continuing into the 1980s, the ecologicalmovement began to have impact on Wicca and Paganism. Wicca had always been anature religion, but it was from politics that it learned to be really green (orGreen).

I first started practicing witchcraft in 1981. (Remember, we used "witchcraft"and "Wicca" interchangeably then. I will do likewise here to remain true to thetime we are discussing). The enormous change that occurred over the next twentyyears is something I saw with my own eyes. Wiccans practicing during that periodwere very much aware of the significant changes underway. Sometimes it wasglorious; sometimes it felt as if the rug were being pulled out from under us.

One of the most important changes was the festival movement. I don't know (and Idon't know if anyone knows) what the first outdoor Pagan festival actually was.There are, of course, a number of early contenders for the honor. Many who werethere mention Pan Pagan as the first. The first organized modern Pagan festival,however, was Gnosticon—an indoor, convention-style event sponsored by LlewellynPublications in 1971. Sometime thereafter, someone figured out that it would beeasier and cheaper to hold this type of event outdoors, with participantscamping rather than staying in hotel rooms (although hotel events have nevergone away).

I cannot begin to express the impact this change had on the Pagan and Wiccancommunity. Before the advent of outdoor festivals, Wicca was whatever waspracticed in your circle. Unless you were in a big city, you probably never metany witches other than the ones with whom you circled. You might buy GwydionPendderwen's record (the very first music produced by and for neo-pagans) oranother early Pagan recording. These early productions made a few chants andsongs available to use. (Drumming didn't enter into Pagan ceremony in a big wayuntil the early 1990s.)

Then suddenly, there were public festivals where you could meet with dozens(ultimately hundreds) of other Pagans. You could share rituals, techniques,knowledge, songs, and fun. Domineering coven leaders who previously had astranglehold on their students were suddenly robbed of...