From: Samuel Wagar <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Mon, July 5, 2010 12:50:54 PM
Subject: Re: [ACADEMIC-STUDY-MAGIC] Gaskill 2010 : Witchcraft
If you're interested in histories of American
witchcraft outside of the direct Gardner lineage, I would highly recommend Chas
Clifton's Her Hidden Children.
Clifton's book has a few giant holes, though.
He pretty well starts with the books going across the sea in the late 1950s. But
has nothing about the broader occulture, especially in esoteric Masonry,
the folk magick (Appalachian and Pennsylvania Deutsch conjuring, African derived
practices like Hoodoo) and the streams of sex magick from Paschal Randolph and
the Holy Brotherhood of Luxor. The biggest hole, I think is the lack of
discussion of Theosophy and Spiritualism, considering how hugely important they
were from 1860-1920ish, and still indirectly.
Godwin's "Theosophical Enlightenment" (SUNY
Press 1994) fills in many holes.
Best
Sam Wagar
From: Pitch
<[log in to unmask]>
To:
[log in to unmask]
Sent: Mon, July 5, 2010 10:23:20
AM
Subject: Re: [ACADEMIC-STUDY-MAGIC] Gaskill 2010 :
Witchcraft
Aloha,
On 7/5/2010 2:48 AM, Francis wrote:
[2]
The caption to the illustration on page 114 describes Gerald Gardner as the
'self-proclaimed father of modern paganism'. I've found nothing like this is
anything I've read by him or about him. Have I missed something?
I
probably would not characterize Gerald Gardner that way, but I suppose
that
it would be casually OK. Gardner did, so far as I can tell from far away,
actively and enthusiastically promote Wicca and Witchcraft through books,
newspapers, and business enterprises like the Museum of Witchcraft.
And he found a receptive audience, pretty much.
But in addition,
so far as I can tell, in early days, the extent of Gardner's
influence was
limited mostlly to the UK. There were outliers in New York
and California.
But I think that there were plenty of other people in North
America
independently invigorating the overall Pagan revival. Elsewhere,
as well.
Plus, of course, there was a diverse occulture, thoroughly influenced by
Pagan sources, before Gardner. Including folks reviving Witchcraft.
(My impression for the 50s-70s is that some were small groups endeavors.
Some were individual and more or less clueless about any greater revival
movement [count young me here]. Some activities were driven by occultic
interests, and some by literary/poetic, by gender oriented, by creative/art
making/
avante garde, by environmentalist/ecological, by fan enthusiasms, and
by
cultural/political resistance interests. In lots of North American
situations,
Gardner came later.)
[3] On page 137, in the last
section of the Further Reading, Ronald Hutton's Triumph of the Moon is listed
among the titles 'For occultism:'. The following three titles (Luhrmann 1989,
Berger 1999, Adler 1986) all relate to Wicca. Is it usual to conflate Wicca and
occultism?
As a matter of classification, I'd hold to "Wicca" as a
sub-class within
"occultism"--a much broader category. But I guess it
depends on just
how analytical a reader takes the tags in a "further
reading" list. I
tend to look at them as casual, myself.
Musing Just
Taking Story! Rose,
Pitch 
