Okay, so what do I think? Is modern Witchcraft a survival of ancient Pagan practices? Was the Witchcraft of the Burning Times such a survival? Could it be said that the Cunning Men and Women of the 18th and 19th centuries were Witches? Well, if you read this work by Prof. Ronald Hutton you may be unpleasantly surprised...
When I was first coming to an understanding of what Witchcraft is I believed what most folks of the time, who cared about such matters, believed: I believed in the “Murray hypothesis”…that the Witchcraft of the Burning Times was a Pagan survival and that the Devil that Witches were supposed to worship was actually an ancient pre-historic god. With the work of people like Ronald Hutton we realize that this is not necessarily the case. We learn that modern Witchcraft and the modern Witch religion, Wicca, is more likely the invention of people like Gerald Gardner.
What one may be surprised to learn in this book is that this fact does not invalidate Wicca and the modern practice of Witchcraft. What it does do is acknowledge the many influences on this “New Religious Movement.” We learn of the influences of Classicism/romanticism, of Naturalism, of Folklore, and of the Ceremonial Magickal tradition. We also learn of the many people involved in the shaping of modern Witchcraft.
I think personally that it could be said that it doesn’t really matter that so many of the earlier ideas about the origins of Wicca and Witchcraft are not “true” for every religious movement has its own origin myths. Folks like Robert Graves and Robin Skelton have written of the value of "Poetic Truth". I think the truths of modern Wicca and Paganism in general are very much poetic truths.
Also, any argument that Wicca is an invalid religion because it is “made up” does not hold water for me…all religions, after all, are made up.
I find it interesting how Prof. Hutton, who is English, explores the English roots of modern Witchcraft (he says that Wicca is the only religion that England has given the world!!). It’s interesting how he talks of the influence of the “California Cosmology” and how it compares to British Witchcraft. I found it particularly interesting that early modern Witchcraft was founded by fairly conservative, although definitely eccentric, individuals…as compared to the very left leaning liberalism of the California influences like Starhawk, and Z. Budapest.
I highly recommend this book…I intend to occasionally post notes to this blog about the various people and publications he mentions in this book. I will now view the Wind in the Willows with different eyes. :^)
Good Reading!
