claig Mon 30-May-11 14:21:46
According to some of those articles, it seems that a guy called Gerald Gardner in the 1950s was instrumental in creating what is now known as the Wiccan religion, and that he had links with the ubiquitous Alesiter Crowley. Is that true or wide of the mark?
claig Mon 30-May-11 14:21:46
Among others, not least Crowley himself, T. Allen Greenfield has written on this in "The secret history of modern witchcraft" which is a decent introductory text for anyone interested in this aspect of the issue Crowley was almost certainly involved in the writing of many of the rituals, although the extent of his involvement is disputed by Wiccan authors, keen to downplay his involvement.
The remnants of various aspects of folk belief would not have been recorded or codified, other than through the fantastical and delusional polemics of christian persecutors.
Crowley sought a religion for the masses that would displace christianity; he found a willing channael for its promulgation through Gardner who was already, by all accounts, a member of Crowley's O.T.O.
Despite later attempts at revisionism, the rites as recorded, bear an uncanny resemblance to invocations written by Crowley for his own order.
As for christianity arriving in the twelfth century, the only part of the western world this might refer to is Iceland, which was the last of the Norse cultures to succumb to the new faith.
It is rather pointless to revise or view gender roles in pre-christian Europe through a feminist lens; these roles were defined by nature and necessity, not ideology. Similarly, the persecution of heretics cannot be viewed solely as part of a perceived history of the oppression of women per se.
As I remember from reading some of the accounts, the victims were often accused by female neighbours, possibly out of spite or jealousy.