Gerald B. Gardner: One of the Most Influential People with Whom You May Be Unfamiliar

Gerald Gardner made his most significant contributions after his retirement. He had been a British civil servant. His life had been one of interest and some adventure but nothing extraordinary. What he was about to do would alter the course of Western religion. He became the father of Modern Witchcraft.



You can argue about his motivations and also his sources of inspiration and information. Much has been made of his codified inclusion of nudity, sexuality and whipping in ritual. Much has also been made of his association with Aleister Crowley from whom he received a Charter of the O.T.O. (Ordo Templi Orientis). Much has even been made of Gardnerial predecessors in Witchcraft suggesting that he did not so much become its father as its publicist. Hence his initials, G.B.G., giving rise to his nickname "Good Old Blabberguts."



He was a right randy old fellow with an eye for pretty women. He had a marvelous sense of humor and would unquestionably be appalled by the fundamentalist treatment of his teachings. Nothing destroys religion faster and more completely than fundamentalism of whatever stripe.



He was also somewhat more conservative than "open-minded" people might prefer. His emphasis on polarity and refusal to admit Alex Sanders to his ranks is suggestive not of a homophobia, per se, but rather an old-fashioned point of view regarding bisexuality and homosexuality.



Gardner passed in February of 1964 while on holiday in Tunisia. His influence has grown steadily ever since. Witchcraft of the Wiccan (or Wican) variety in specific and Paganism in a more general sense is among the fastest growing religions in the world and most certainly in the West.