Margaret Murray (1863-1963)
Murray was made Assistant Professor of Egyptology at the University College of London in 1924, a post she held until her retirement in 1935. In 1926 she became a fellow of Britain’s Royal Anthropological Institute and at the age of 90 became President of the Folklore Society. Murray’s best known work, The Witch-Cult in Western Europe, was published in 1921 [24]. Her thesis expounded the view that an underground Pagan resistance to the Christian Church had existed across Europe and was organised into covens of thirteen worshippers, who were dedicated to a male god. This religion, dating from the Neolithic period, survived unnoticed throughout the Christian era up to its uncovering at the hands of the Witch hunters in the mid-fifteenth century. Despite Murray’s assertions that the cult practiced human sacrifice, it was of curiosity to those in the twentieth century with an interest in folklore and Paganism. It allowed for the freedom of women and recognised their importance, whilst being open to sexuality and resisting Church oppression. In this respect Murray’s ideas can be seen in the context of the then popular view of a romanticised rural England, which stood in contrast to industrialisation and the massively destructive and horrific conflicts of the early part of the century.
Murray’s work has been roundly criticised by academic historians and it is agreed in those circles that her ideas were the result of misinterpreting and exaggerating evidence taken from limited sources, as well as the falsification of some documents. A quote from Professor J. B. Russell’s A History of Witchcraft summarises the academic position: “the Murray thesis on the whole is untenable. The argument for the survival of any coherent fertility cult from antiquity through the Middle Ages into the present is riddled with fallacies” [25].
The God of the Witches [26] , published in 1931, expanded on Murray’s claims that the Witch cult had worshiped a Horned God whose origins went back to prehistory. She asserted that the Witches’ confessions of worshipping Satan proved they actually did venerate such a god.
Murray’s works were to become bestsellers from the 1940s onwards, and, for a number of decades, were generally believed to be true. Until recently her writings were highly regarded in many Wiccan circles. However, especially after Ronald Hutton’s Triumph of the Moon, which continued the exposé of Murray’s ideas [27] and has been well received by many modern Witches, this influence has declined markedly. Nonetheless, Murray’s ideas had a profound effect on Gardner and many currently used Wiccan terms derive from, or are influenced by her work such as the Wiccan term the “Old Religion”, as well as concepts like the coven, the Esbat, the Wiccan Wheel of the Year, and the Horned God.
Doreen Valiente (1922-1999)
Doreen Valiente is widely regarded as the co-creator of Wicca. Shortly after Gardner made known his claims that he had been initiated into a surviving Witch cult, he was joined by Valiente, who collaborated with him in the creation of rituals. Valiente also wrote a number of poems for the use of Wiccans as well as a several books on the subject such as An ABC of Witchcraft, Where Witchcraft Lives, Natural Magic and Witchcraft for Tomorrow [28]. Witchcraft for Tomorrow has been particularly useful, outlining the main Witch gatherings, both seasonal and monthly, as well as providing a simple Book of Shadows containing rites and rituals. Spurred by the challenge from academic sceptics, such as Professor J. B. Russell [29], Valiente attempted to provide evidence for Gardner’s claims concerning his initiation, most notably by finding documents that Dorothy Clutterbuck existed. Valiente is credited as the ‘Mother of Modern Witchcraft’, and played a critical role in re-writing much of Gardner’s original ritual material.
The Farrars
Stewart (1916-2000) and Janet Farrar (b.1950) have together authored a number of influential books on Wicca. Stewart’s first foray into Witchcraft began with a journalistic assignment given to him by Reveille to review the film “Legend of the Witches” at a press event [30]. Whilst there, he ran across Alex and Maxine Sanders, who had played a part in the making of the film as advisors. On being interviewed, Alex Sanders decided to invite Farrar to one of his rituals and he then went on to become a member of the Sanders’ coven in 1970. Here he was to meet Janet Owen who became his second wife, and together they seem to have quickly accelerated through the Degrees, becoming Third Degree Witches in 1971, and setting up their own coven later that year. Around this time Stewart began work on his first non-fiction book, What Witches Do [31]. In 1976 the Farrars moved to Ireland to get away from hectic living in London. Both husband and wife went on to publish a number of books on Wicca. Their seminal books Eight Sabbats For Witches and The Witches’ Way [32] together detailed all the main ceremonies, initiatory rites and practices of Wiccans working within a Gardnerian/Alexandrian framework. The books were later combined in the 1980s as A Witches’ Bible: The Complete Witches Handbook. This book has been hugely influential; not only does it give access to a complete religious system that is capable of encompassing all life’s experiences, but it concentrates, as well, on how a coven organisation can be set up and run. The Farrars returned to England in 1988, but by 1993 were in Ireland again. They were joined by Gavin Bone, with whom they would co-author two more books, The Pagan Path and The Healing Craft [33].
Starhawk (a.k.a. Miriam Simos b. 1951)
The American writer Starhawk was initially trained in the Feri Tradition. She wrote the important book The Spiral Dance [34] in the late 1970s and it has since become the bestselling book on Wicca ever [35]. This work is now something of a standard text and provides many exercises and rituals that have been widely utilised and adapted throughout the Craft. More than this though, The Spiral Dance attempts to show a way to break down traditional power structures and gender roles in ways designed to be enhancing for both female and male. There is a strong emphasis on spontaneity within the rituals she writes of, perhaps more so than many of Wicca’s main authors. Through a lightly structured approach and the development of therapy, art and playfulness she attempts to give individuals the means to realise their potential. This approach has been influential in the USA and Europe in the development of a more feministic style of Witchcraft, although the God still very much plays a part.