Featured Academic Review
'Gerald Gardner and the Cauldron of Inspiration' by Philip Heselton ©2003 Capall Bann ISBN 186163 1642 Paperback 95 pages + Appendices and Index $30.00(U.S.)
My one regret about this book is that I have not read its predecessors (Wiccan Roots and Gerald Gardner and the Witchcraft Revival). I intend to remedy that omission as soon as possible.
I have been out of the mainstream loop of discussions about the history of Wicca in the early 20th century, and so find myself playing catch-up while reading this book. Some of the information contained herein I was familiar with from my early years of involvement with the Craft, some I had encountered during subsequent reading, and some was completely new to me. But, and this is mark of how well written this book is, I would have a difficult time separating the details out. The story is told so well, and in such an easy, familiar style, that it seems as if I had known all of this all along.. Indeed, it seems as if the author's primary function as "simply" been to weave together all the varying strands of history regarding Gardner, and the foundation of modern Gardnerian Wica (as Gardner spelled it).
This book is not "the answer" to the historical background of Gardnerian Witchcraft. It contains some answers, some theories, many questions, and a lot of loose ends. I suspect that a definitive answer to the history of Gardner's involvement in creating/transmitting Craft knowledge will never be forthcoming. Too much time has passed and too many Elders are gone. Still, this book makes a good start, and hints of more to come in the future.
Heselton has done a lot of research in sources not available until recently.. I hope that some of these sources may become available to a wider range of researchers in the near future.
I also hope that this book inspires those in the Craft today to begin to document, if they haven't already, details of their tradition, beliefs, coven structures, etc. The need for secrecy is receding and the day may come when such information could be easily available, thus preventing the need for speculation when relating to the history of the Craft in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
If you are a member of the Gardnerian (or Gardnerian-derived) Craft, you will want this book for your library. You will also want to be on the alert for other books on this topic by this author. As a Gardnerian initiate, he has much to offer.
Reviewer: Mike Gleason
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