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| - Gerald Brousseau Gardner (June 13, 1884 - February 12, 1964; died at age 79), was the creator of Wicca, as well as an amateur anthropologist and archaeologist, writer, expert in bladed weapons, and occultist. He wrote Wicca's definitive religious text- the Gardnerian Book of Shadows, and he publicized Wicca by writing the books High Magic's Aid (1949), Witchcraft Today (1954), and The Meaning of Witchcraft (1959). He wrote High Magic's Aid under the craft name 'Scire'. He typically referred to the faith as "witchcraft" or "the witch-cult", and its adherents as "the Wica". He got the term "witch-cult" from Margaret Murray's writings.
- Gerald Brosseau Gardner (born 1884, died 1964), was one of the first and most famous individuals to be publicly associated with Witchcraft in the UK after it had been de-criminalised by the Fraudulent Mediums Act 1951. After a career as a Civil Servant, he retired in 1935 and became involved with various alternate life-styles. He later claimed that he was initiated into a Coven of Witches in 1939 in the New Forest, Hampshire. He was the founder and curator of the Museum of Witchcraft which was originally situated on the Isle of Mann and which opened in 1951. He was also the leader of his own coven and thus popularised (though not, he claimed, founded) the modern Wiccan movement, or more specifically, Gardnerian Wicca.
- Gardner is credited with the introduction of Wicca and witchcraft into the modern public sphere. Some people claim that he created the faith himself, largely through inspiration from Freemasonry and occultists such as Aleister Crowley. Others assert that he was initiated into the New Forest Coven as he claims and merely passed down and publicised a tradional form of Wicca.
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| - Gerald Brousseau Gardner (June 13, 1884 - February 12, 1964; died at age 79), was the creator of Wicca, as well as an amateur anthropologist and archaeologist, writer, expert in bladed weapons, and occultist. He wrote Wicca's definitive religious text- the Gardnerian Book of Shadows, and he publicized Wicca by writing the books High Magic's Aid (1949), Witchcraft Today (1954), and The Meaning of Witchcraft (1959). He wrote High Magic's Aid under the craft name 'Scire'. He typically referred to the faith as "witchcraft" or "the witch-cult", and its adherents as "the Wica". He got the term "witch-cult" from Margaret Murray's writings. Gardner was initiated into the New Forest Coven in september of 1939. Gardner falsely believed that that coven was a remnant of a pre-christian pagan witch cult, when in fact it was inspired by Margaret Murray's two books about witches- the same books that Gardner himself had read, which allowed Gardner to recognize the distinctive practices described by Murray. Recent scholarship suggests that Gardner synthesized much of what he called "witchcraft" from the writings of Margaret Murray (in particular, her 1921 book The Witch-Cult in Western Europe, and her 1931 book The God of the Witches) and Charles G. Leland (in particular, his 1899 book Aradia: Gospel of the Witches), Freemasonry, and the Key of Solomon and other ceremonial magic, though that does not mean that Wicca is any less valid as a religion.
- Gardner is credited with the introduction of Wicca and witchcraft into the modern public sphere. Some people claim that he created the faith himself, largely through inspiration from Freemasonry and occultists such as Aleister Crowley. Others assert that he was initiated into the New Forest Coven as he claims and merely passed down and publicised a tradional form of Wicca. Regardless of the nature of his role in modern Wicca, and indeed in neo-paganism, his influence was tremendous. Numerous traditions have been formed based on Gardnerian Wicca and many more have been said to be based off of it, though they also claim to be traditional Wiccan lineages.
- Gerald Brosseau Gardner (born 1884, died 1964), was one of the first and most famous individuals to be publicly associated with Witchcraft in the UK after it had been de-criminalised by the Fraudulent Mediums Act 1951. After a career as a Civil Servant, he retired in 1935 and became involved with various alternate life-styles. He later claimed that he was initiated into a Coven of Witches in 1939 in the New Forest, Hampshire. He was the founder and curator of the Museum of Witchcraft which was originally situated on the Isle of Mann and which opened in 1951. He was also the leader of his own coven and thus popularised (though not, he claimed, founded) the modern Wiccan movement, or more specifically, Gardnerian Wicca. His most famous books are High Magic's Aid (1949) and Witchcraft Today (1951).
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