The Origins of the Modern Craft Movement

by Amphion, High Priest, Sable Star Coven

Since the 1950s, the mystical paths of the Western Mystery Tradition have been steadily gaining adherents. The Order of the Golden Dawn and its various offshoots have actually become mainstream; what was once the province of the occult elite has become common knowledge to anyone willing to simply read a book. Since the 1960s various forms of eastern mystical philosophy have gained prominence in the public consciousness, including but not limited to, the various mystical disciplines of Yoga, Buddhism (especially its Zen and Mahayana permutations) and Native American spirituality. One of the fastest growing aspects of modern mysticism is known by the names of 'Wicca' and 'Witchcraft'.

The commonly accepted origin of this modern 'Wiccan' movement is through the writings and work of Gerald Brousseau Gardner, a civil servant who worked for the British government overseas for years in Borneo. The 'offical' history of the Craft claims that it is the remnants of an ancient pre-celtic faith native to the British Isles, however there are many points within the modern Craft that point to a different origin. It is the opinion of this author that modern Wicca is an amalgamation of older folk beliefs and traditions with aspects of more modern mystical and occult paths. It is these modern influences that shall be explored briefly in this paper.

Modern Wicca consists of groups of worshippers who band together in closely-knit groups for ritual, training and worship.(There are also 'solitary' practitioners of the Craft, but their practice is generally more eclectic, and is not always subject to the topics discussed in this paper, although their Craft derives from the same sources). These groups are known as covens. Although each coven is autonomous, and owes no fealty to any other, there exists within each coven a hierarchy of rank, consisting of three levels called 'degrees'. The lowest rank of initiate are known as 'First degrees'. These witches are priest/esses, possessing some of the hereditary, secret knowledge of the Craft and of the individual coven. They are qualified to perform all rituals and to function in all capacities as priests of the Old Gods, with one notable exception: they may not yet initiate, and therefore may not bring others into the priesthood. The Second degree consists of those qualified not only to lead a coven and supervise the training of neophytes (non-initiates) but also to initiate them to the First, and to initate Firsts to the Second Degree. Often, it is said that the 'witch power' is passed on in the initiation ritual of the Second Degree, thereby making the new 2nd a full-fledged witch. Male seconds are also known by the titles 'Priest and Magus' (the male who regulary leads ritual and teaches is also called 'High Priest'), while females are known in some traditions as 'Priestess and Witch Queen' (the priestess who runs the coven is also called 'High Priestess'). In other modern traditons, the latter title is reserved for the Third Degree. Now, if we examine the mystical and magical orders that predate the restructuring of the Craft by gerald Gardner and his associates, we find that the Order of the Golden Dawn, founded in the late 1800s, was also arranged in a three tiered system. The 'outer order', called itself 'The Golden Dawn', was a body that trained and taught its students a variety of mystcial and magical techniques and practices. Beyond this was the RR et AC (the Latin initials for the order's name, which in English is 'Ruby Rose and the Golden Cross'), an order made up of those who had passed through the outer order and had been invited to join the second order. Highest of all was the A.'.A.'. (Latin initials of 'Astrum Argentum'; 'silver star') and was believed to consist of the 'Secret Chiefs', master adepts and mystics from history who has ascended to a lofty state from which they governed the spiritual evolution of humanity. Aleister Crowley and Samuel Mathers, both adepts of the RR et AC, believed that these Secret Chiefs could move about in human form, and possessed power beyond that imagined by mortal men.

Freemasonry, that ancient society of mystics, also possesses a three tiered system, the ranks being called 'Entered Apprentice', 'Brother Craft', and 'Master Mason'. (Freemasons also refer, like witches, to their studies and rituals as 'The Craft'). It is interesting that the three founders of the Golden Dawn (Samuel Mathers, W.Wynn Wescott and Dr. Willam Woodman) were all Freemasons of rank,and seem to have drawn upon Masonic symbolism in the construction of their rituals. It is known that Gerald Gardner possessed a charter signed by Aleister Crowley, an adept of the RR et AC, to operate a temple of a magical order of which Crowley was then Chief. So, we can see here a definite progression from Masonry to the G.'.D.'. to the modern Craft in the ranking system. In the G.'.D.'. the grades (ranks) are sometimes referred to as 'Degrees' (see Israel Regardie's 'The Golden Dawn', published by Llewellyn Books). In Freemasonry, they are also known as degrees, so through Masonry and the G.'.D.'., the modern Craft ranking system was acquired.

Another aspect of the Craft acquired through a process of conscious syncretism is the elemental philosophy. This ancient school of thought holds that the universe and all things in it are composed of varying amounts of the four classical elements of Air, Earth, Fire and Water. (These, of course, are not considered to be the actual physical states and substances they are named after any more; rather they are used as terms descriptive of a non-physical level of reality, whose states can be likened to those four 'elements'.) This ancient philosophy was known in the time of Plato, certainly, as he was known to speak and write of them. Throughout the Middle Ages, this philosophy continued, and also was absorbed into the magical traditions of the West, including the Hermetic Kabbalah, itself a Christianized version of the Judaic original. Since the magic and philosophy of the Golden Dawn was largely based on the Hermetic Kabbalah, we can actually see an ancient Greek influence (from Plato) upon the modern Craft.

Now, the rites and rituals of the modern Wicca are conducted within a Magic Circle. This is certainly an influence stemming from the magical traditions and societies of old Europe. Evidence of these magical circles can be found in such ancient texts as the infamous Clavicula Salamaonis (the 'Key of Solomon'), the oldest copy of which we know dates back to the Twelfth Century. Although modern Craft philosophers are quick to illustrate that the witches' circle is designed to 'keep power concentrated within' while the ceremonial magicians' circle is intended to 'keep evoked spirits out', this is simply a method of dodging the origins of the Craft. The Circle Conjuration used by modern witches of many traditions includes the words, "a rampart of protection which shall preserve and contain the power we shall raise within thee." We therefore see that the protective nature of the Magic Circle is not limited to ceremonial magic.

The symbol known as the pentacle or pentagram is also used in the Craft. This sign is an ancient one; the ancient Greeks called it the 'pentalpha', and is has also been used as a 'mason's mark', essentially a signature chisled into stone by a stonemason to identify his work. Though it is often used as a holy symbol by modern witches, just as the cross is used by Christians and the magden david by Jews, the pentacle predates the modern Craft by millenia. Its usage in magic ritual was prominent in grimoires (ancient and near-modern texts of magical rituals) and in the Order of the Golden Dawn, the rituals of which made great use of it. In a celebrated Golden Dawn ritual called 'The Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram' and in its more detailed version, 'The Supreme Invoking Ritual of the Pentagram', the pentagram is used to call forth the 'Lords of the Watchtowers of the Universe', which is the exact aim and useage of the pentagram in the formation and purification of the witches' circle today.

Now, the most sacred rite of modern Wicca is the Great Rite, a ritual expressing the physical, psychic and spiritual reality of polarity, and the harmonization of those polarized opposites. This ritual is performed in one of two ways. the first, rarer of the two, is done in the form of actual sexual intercourse between the High Priest and High Priestess of a coven. (This naturally is symbolic of unity in a physical sense, but the psychic and spiritual aspects of the ritual are extensive enough to warrant their own book.) The more common ritual is conducted also by the High Priestess and Priest, and consists of the lowering of an athame (ritual dagger, symbolic of the male principle) by the priest into a chalice of wine (symbolic of the feminine principle) held by the priestess. Both these forms of the Great Rite are known to have existed before Gardner's re-creation of the Craft, in the occult society known as the Ordo Templi Orientis (O.T.O.), which concentrated heavily on sexual magic. The aforementioned charter possessed by Gardner allowing him to operate a Temple pertained to the O.T.O. , and it is unlikely that he was unaware of these rituals, especially as the charter was granted by Crowley, then Chief of the O.T.O. under the name Baphomet. We see then that even the most sacred ritual of the Craft predates its restructuring.

Even the concept of the God and Goddess, the supreme metaphorical beings of the Craft, are found in mystical thought throughout the ages. They were embodied in the Pillars of the Temple, Boaz and Jachin, that stood at the entrance of the Temple of YHVH in Jerusalem, modern Masonic lodges, the Pillars of Mercy and Severity of the Kabbalistic Etz Chayiim (Tree of Life), and Shakti and Shiva of mystical Hinduism. The list goes on.

What we must truly ask is why Gardner chose to create a faith founded on mysticism and magical principles of ages past. As the nineteenth century waned, and the twentieth dawned, the faiths of the Western World were waning as well. The average person no longer was spiritually staisfied by the faiths of the day. Gardner, through his overseas experience, his connection with the New Forest Coven (and the fragmentary rituals he'd recieved from them) and his mystical and magical pursuits, knew that the spiritual dimension of mankind could be satisfied through this mystic/magical path. He also knew that a religious philosophy would be needed in order for the Craft to appeal to the masses. So, by combining his love of nature and the majesty it possesses with the time-honoured mystical principles and achetypes with which he was familiar, as well as the writings of such authors as Charles Leland and Margaret Murray, Gardner and those who followed him were able to create a mystical path that appealed to the mass consciousness of mankind. As Aleister Crowley proclaimed the dawning of a new Aeon for all of mankind, Gardner took advantage of this new magical current to create a faith that would help propel man, he hoped, to a new state of union with nature and personal transformation. It is for this reason that Gardner incorporated so many different aspects of various magical and mystical systems into the Craft. It is a belief among the occultists and mystics of the Western Mystery Tradition that each Order, Tradition or coven creates it's own 'magicakal current' on the Astral, or pre-physical. plane. By utilizing pieces of various traditions to synthesize a composite Path, Gardner hoped to maximize the amount of psycho-spiritual energy he could apply to launching this new faith. Judging by the statistics concerning the steadily growing Wiccan faiths, he was successful.

So then, in conclusion, we may rightfully say that the modern Wiccan path owes much of its existence, philosophy and practice to the Order of the Golden Dawn, Freemasonry, the Jewish Kabbalists and even the ancient Grecian philosopher Plato, and by extension Aristotle and Socrates. Truly, through a questioning and probing of the origins of our Craft we may come to a broader understanding of it, and thereby of ourselves. So Mote It Be.