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Britain has a hugely
diverse religious society.

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Britain has a hugely
diverse religious society.

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But of all the faiths practised
here, only one is truly British.

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Modern Pagan witchcraft,
otherwise known as Wicca.

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Wicca is one of the fastest
growing religions in the world.

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Its followers call
themselves witches,

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worship a goddess of nature, and
believe in the power to cast spells.

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This programme contains some
scenes of nudity.

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Witches are among us.
There is no doubt about it.

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A long-held presumption about us
is that we worship the devil.

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Oh, no we don't.

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But the most extraordinary
thing about Wicca

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is the story of how it was born,

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because while it looks like
an ancient folk religion,

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Wicca was actually developed
in the 1940s

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by a middle-aged nudist from the
New Forest, called Gerald Gardner.

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In one sense, he was highly devious.

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He wasn't a typical
founder of a religion.

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King of the witches,
his hair goes this way,

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his beard goes that way.

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He was witchcraft.

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I'm Professor Ronald Hutton.
As a historian of British paganism,

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I've been studying Wicca
for over 20 years.

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In this film, I'm going in search
of the truth

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about this secretive, magical faith.

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I want to find out how this
extraordinary Englishman

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reinvented witchcraft, became
Britain's first celebrity witch,

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and in the process,
created a new world religion.

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Is it not a fact
that these meetings are really,

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very largely, sexual orgies?

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They're not, not in the least.

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You might not realise it,

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but in modern Britain,
you are never far from a witch.

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They don't wear pointy hats,
and they don't ride on broomsticks,

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but they do cast spells, and
they definitely believe in magic.

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And unless we're
talking about Harry Potter,

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a lot of people
find that problematic.

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To the public, Wicca is often
seen as mysterious, secretive,

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maybe even dangerous,
but is this fair?

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I've been studying Wicca
for two decades,

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and I have yet to be
turned into a frog.

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But if I'm really going to
understand Wicca,

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I need to get beyond the textbooks,

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and get under the skin
of this religion.

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But first, I need to find them,

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and as Wiccans are notoriously
secretive, even that's a challenge.

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Unlike other faiths,
when Wiccans go to worship,

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they don't go to a church
or a temple,

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they go somewhere
altogether different.

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Modern witches are
often urban creatures,

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but as a reverence for nature
lies at the heart of their faith,

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they conduct their rituals
in parks and woods,

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right in the heart of the city.

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This is a gorgeous looking place.

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Why have you chosen it,
and what are we going to do here?

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Well, we're in Queen's Wood,

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which has been used by pagans
for ceremonies for decades

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and decades, and what
we're here to do

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is to have a Wiccan-based ceremony,
to remember what's sacred about us,

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and about our connection,
our connection with the land,

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and the place that we live.

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And it's customary in Wicca
that there aren't observers,

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there are only participants.

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So, I would like to invite you to
join us, if you are willing to?

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I'd be honoured. I'm a bit nervous.

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When doing a Wiccan ritual,
one feels in connection

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with something very old,
and connected to the Earth,

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and those things that we find
deeply moving and beautiful,

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the moon, the sunsets, those parts of
nature that we don't understand,

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that give us a sense
of mystery and awe.

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We make a Wiccan ceremony
by casting a circle.

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What it's like to cast a circle
is to make a space

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that's completely within nature,

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in order that we can leave aside
those things

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that we have to deal with every day,
but this is a place of rest.

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THEY INTONE

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There's a part of the ceremony
in which we consecrate one another,

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and in that moment,
we are doing the balancing act,

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which is remembering the divinity
that dwells within.

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We are remembering, "Ah, you know,
you are a human being in front of me,

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"but you, too, are divine."

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Blessed be...

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When doing a Wiccan ritual,
one feels in connection

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with something very, very old,

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and very beautiful,
and very connected to the Earth.

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And all the tension
of all the duties,

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and all the things that we have to
carry, I just feel it draining away.

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Well, I thought that
was a lovely ritual.

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There is clearly more going on
here than just a bunch of people

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having a good time in a wood.

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There's something quite deep,

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but does it bring me any closer
to understanding

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what Wicca actually is?

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Rituals like this,
with their reverence for nature,

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feel like the continuation
of a very ancient tradition,

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but in fact, nothing could
be further from the truth,

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because Wicca does not have
its origins in the mists of time,

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but in 1930s Dorset.

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In 1938, a 52-year-old ex-colonial
gent, called Gerald Gardner,

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retired with his wife
to the south coast of England.

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This is Highcliffe, an archetypal
conservative English community,

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with its village church,
Rotary Club, and Tory MP.

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But hidden just beneath
the surface, 75 years ago,

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was something a lot stranger, and
Gerald wasn't long in finding it.

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For one thing, Highcliffe
was a hotspot for naturists.

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And despite his eminently
respectable appearance,

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Gerald liked nothing more
than taking his clothes off.

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'When there's no sun to worship,

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'their conscience permits
a compromise with a sun lamp.'

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When Gardner moved to
this area in 1938,

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this is the house that he bought.

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Wow.

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And this is where Gerald

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and his naturist friends
would have enjoyed the sunshine.

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It's almost the perfect private
nudist paradise.

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It is.

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It's large, it's sunny, it's open,
yet it's well hidden.

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'But not to worry,
everyone's equipped

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'with this sort of clothes
from birth.'

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Gerald had found the perfect
retirement spot,

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and he wasn't alone.

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Bankers, accountants,
teachers, and a host of

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tea and scones types seemed to be
keen on retiring disgracefully.

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We've got extraordinary evidence
of this from a rather

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jokey piece which appeared
in the Christchurch Times, in 1939.

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The instant success
with the neighbours

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of the Elphinstone Road
nudist colony has been marked.

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One old gentleman,
who has rented a second-floor back,

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says his outlook on life generally

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has entirely changed
in the last few weeks.

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He has now no use for his car
or fishing tackle,

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and wishes to exchange them
for anything useful,

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such as telescopes,
binoculars or camera.

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And also,
Gardner had a dark room built.

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And I think he was going to develop
and print his own photographs,

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but it may be that they
were of a naturist nature,

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and it's not the sort of thing
you want to take to your local

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chemist, because even more rumours
would have spread then.

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He would stand out when he arrived,
because he would look so different.

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He had this shock of white hair,
and also, what I remember,

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was that he had tattoos on his arm.

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And I know the boys,
they would cross the road,

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because he was a bit odd looking.

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So, even with his clothes on,
Gerald seemed different.

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It was rumoured that his racy photo
sessions went along with affairs,

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and a taste for flagellation,
but Gerald wasn't satisfied.

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He was seeking something stranger,
and in 1939, he found it.

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Gerald was about to become a witch.

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This old house in Hampshire
has a remarkable claim to fame.

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It was here on a night in 1939

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that a middle-aged man
called Gerald Gardner

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was apparently initiated
into witchcraft.

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"I was blindfolded,
clasped from behind and told,

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"I give you the password."

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Gerald claims that
he was stripped naked,

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brought into a roomful of witches,
all similarly nude,

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and then given the secrets
of an ancient, magical religion.

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"I was then pushed through a doorway
and into the circle."

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Then that the word, Wicca,
was mentioned.

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Wicca.

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Witch.

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They're witches.

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Witches still exist!

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From that night until his death
nearly 30 years later,

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Gerald Gardner devoted
his life to witchcraft.

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He appeared in the papers and on TV,
he wrote books and crucially,

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he initiated others into Wicca
so it would not die with him.

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The question is,
what kind of man in 1930s England

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decides to become a witch?

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For clues about Gerald's journey to
become Britain's most famous witch,

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we need to delve
into his earlier life.

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Gerald Gardner came from a family

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that had made a fortune
in the timber trade.

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He grew up in Lancashire
but at the age of six,

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he was packed off abroad with
his nanny because of ill health

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and he never went to school.

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Gerald Gardner was essentially
an unwanted child, I think really,

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because he was asthmatic
and bronchitic

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and he was sent out to the Far East
for his health

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but the family never really
reclaimed him.

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Gerald was more or less sort of
left on his own to learn, and he did.

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Country of sunshine and shadow,

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where the ancient mingles with
the modern in the busy streets.

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Gerald became very well
travelled very quickly

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and as a colonial, it was natural
for him to seek his fortune

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among the tea and rubber
plantations of the Far East.

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This is not the driver's
usual attitude,

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he's just posing for our cameraman.

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But while most colonials were
content to sit back and drink G&T,

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Gerald went out and studied
the tribal cultures

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of the places where he was living.

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In particular, he became fascinated
by tribal ritual magic.

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It is not uncommon for some
to go into a trance,

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as if hypnotised by the drug.

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One of the rituals that he attended

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was putting a young
girl into trance.

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Disease was driven
out of their bodies by spells.

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Magic, to these tribal people, was a
matter of fact affair, it was real.

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Gerald said it was quite unlike
anything that he had seen before.

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Gardner's fascination
with tribal magic

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went along with a deep interest
in Western occultism.

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He was inspired by pioneers
like Sherlock Holmes' author,
Arthur Conan Doyle,

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who was heavily involved
in spiritualism

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and had become one of the most
prominent public figures

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in magic and the supernatural.

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Gerald picked up on Conan Doyle's
magical world

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and it wasn't long before he was
following in his footsteps,

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experimenting with seances
and spiritualism.

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The tribal rituals
he then witnessed in Malaya

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only cemented this belief that magic
was a powerful and very real thing.

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So, by the time he retired
to Highcliffe,

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Gerald had been studying
magic for decades.

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He soon made contact
with local occultists,

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in particular a large group
of Freemasons who were based nearby.

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He found a people who were,
if not exactly like minded,

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then similarly minded.

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There were some people very
interested in esoteric things

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and others that we are interested
in nature and nature spirits.

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They were people who
knew the local folklore.

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They knew the lie of the land.

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Those people, as he got to know,

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were interested in
something else as well.

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This something else turned out to be
a kind of native English version

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of the ritual magic Gerald
had experienced in the Far East.

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It was real English witchcraft
and Gerald wanted in.

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Imagine, if you can, how this
sort of thing would have seemed
to most people in 1939.

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To most residents of Highcliffe,
had they but known the truth,

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Gerald would have seemed
little short of insane.

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But was this all madness?

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Or was Gerald
simply following tradition?

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In Britain, there is a long
history of useful witchcraft,

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dating back to the Middle Ages.

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Known as the Coming Folk,

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these witches would cast spells to
heal the sick, or bring good luck.

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Research has shown that
Gerald essentially used

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these spells in his
New Forest rituals.

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But it was his ambition that set
Gerald apart

238
00:14:02,130 --> 00:14:03,890
from the cunning folk of old.

239
00:14:03,890 --> 00:14:07,530
For him, these English folklore
spells held much greater power.

240
00:14:08,850 --> 00:14:12,730
Gerald had ambitions to use magic
on a much grander scale,

241
00:14:12,730 --> 00:14:15,850
to change not just your health,
but the entire world.

242
00:14:18,370 --> 00:14:21,690
He was about to test
his newfound magical powers

243
00:14:21,690 --> 00:14:25,450
against something truly dangerous.

244
00:14:25,450 --> 00:14:29,330
As just across the sea,
Hitler began to threaten invasion.

245
00:14:31,130 --> 00:14:33,330
When he wasn't casting spells,

246
00:14:33,330 --> 00:14:36,370
Gerald was also a prominent
member of the local Home Guard.

247
00:14:40,330 --> 00:14:44,130
And so, it made sense to Gerald
to prepare to repel the Nazis,

248
00:14:44,130 --> 00:14:48,250
not just with rusty bayonets,
but with magic.

249
00:14:48,250 --> 00:14:49,890
And on one night in 1940,

250
00:14:49,890 --> 00:14:54,530
that's exactly what he
and his coven are said to have done.

251
00:14:57,930 --> 00:15:01,450
'We were taken at night to
a place in the forest,

252
00:15:01,450 --> 00:15:03,090
where the great circle was erected.'

253
00:15:05,090 --> 00:15:06,570
I've come to the depths

254
00:15:06,570 --> 00:15:08,890
of the New Forest,
in search of the exact location

255
00:15:08,890 --> 00:15:10,690
of this famous magical encounter.

256
00:15:12,290 --> 00:15:15,330
And here to talk me
through it is Gerald's biographer,

257
00:15:15,330 --> 00:15:17,570
Philip Hasleton.

258
00:15:17,570 --> 00:15:20,490
Yes, hello Robert.
Glad you found it all right.

259
00:15:20,490 --> 00:15:24,170
We're here because
Gerald Gardner said,

260
00:15:24,170 --> 00:15:28,250
"we were taken at night to
a place in the forest,

261
00:15:28,250 --> 00:15:31,410
"and there we created the largest
cone of power

262
00:15:31,410 --> 00:15:33,890
"that we had ever attempted."

263
00:15:33,890 --> 00:15:35,570
What's a cone of power?

264
00:15:35,570 --> 00:15:40,610
Well, it's not a physical cone,
it is something magical,

265
00:15:40,610 --> 00:15:44,130
something, a thought form,
if you like.

266
00:15:44,130 --> 00:15:51,290
This was to be directed towards

267
00:15:51,290 --> 00:15:55,210
the High Command of the German army,

268
00:15:55,210 --> 00:15:57,690
and indeed, to Hitler himself.

269
00:15:57,690 --> 00:16:00,330
For Gerald, the threat
of German invasion

270
00:16:00,330 --> 00:16:03,090
was the perfect opportunity
to demonstrate

271
00:16:03,090 --> 00:16:05,330
the true power of Wiccan magic.

272
00:16:06,930 --> 00:16:09,450
'And the great cone
of power was raised,

273
00:16:09,450 --> 00:16:12,570
'and slowly directed
in the direction of Hitler.'

274
00:16:14,170 --> 00:16:18,010
They built up power,
dancing quickly round.

275
00:16:18,010 --> 00:16:20,730
And the when that power
had reached its climax,

276
00:16:20,730 --> 00:16:23,330
and there was this cone of power,

277
00:16:23,330 --> 00:16:28,010
which could be seen by those that
were sensitive to things.

278
00:16:28,010 --> 00:16:30,010
'The command was given.

279
00:16:30,010 --> 00:16:33,330
'You cannot cross the sea.

280
00:16:33,330 --> 00:16:35,850
'You cannot cross the sea.'

281
00:16:35,850 --> 00:16:40,490
They rushed towards the fire,

282
00:16:40,490 --> 00:16:43,050
at the same time raising this
cone of power,

283
00:16:43,050 --> 00:16:51,170
and sending it over to
the German High Command,

284
00:16:51,170 --> 00:16:53,450
and indeed, to Hitler himself.

285
00:16:53,450 --> 00:16:57,010
I have to confess, although the
night is not particularly cold,

286
00:16:57,010 --> 00:16:58,490
I'm shivering a bit here.

287
00:16:58,490 --> 00:17:01,170
I've got wet feet,
it's pretty uncomfortable.

288
00:17:01,170 --> 00:17:04,930
Would it have been similarly
physically exhausting for them?

289
00:17:04,930 --> 00:17:09,010
Well, yes, because they weren't
in the first flush of youth,

290
00:17:09,010 --> 00:17:14,090
most of them.
It was something which exerted them.

291
00:17:14,090 --> 00:17:16,450
It exerted them greatly.

292
00:17:16,450 --> 00:17:23,410
And Gardner says several of them
died shortly after that ritual.

293
00:17:24,810 --> 00:17:27,450
'You cannot cross the sea.

294
00:17:27,450 --> 00:17:31,450
'You cannot come.
You cannot come'

295
00:17:31,450 --> 00:17:36,050
This was, if you like, the life
force of the individuals coming out.

296
00:17:37,650 --> 00:17:39,210
This is important,

297
00:17:39,210 --> 00:17:42,970
and they were prepared
to sacrifice themselves

298
00:17:42,970 --> 00:17:46,810
if necessary in
order to achieve this objective.

299
00:17:46,810 --> 00:17:50,850
This was not just doing it for fun.

300
00:17:50,850 --> 00:17:53,090
These were people that were
too old to join up.

301
00:17:53,090 --> 00:17:55,410
And, all right,
Gardner was in the Home Guard,

302
00:17:55,410 --> 00:17:58,050
but they felt they wanted to do
something,

303
00:17:58,050 --> 00:18:01,530
so they used the skills that they
believed that they had,

304
00:18:01,530 --> 00:18:03,370
which were the magical ones.

305
00:18:03,370 --> 00:18:09,490
And so, I say, it would be
surprising if they hadn't done it.

306
00:18:09,490 --> 00:18:12,450
And we know of various other
groups throughout the country

307
00:18:12,450 --> 00:18:14,250
that were doing similar things.

308
00:18:21,410 --> 00:18:23,490
Now, from the perspective
of the present-day,

309
00:18:23,490 --> 00:18:26,490
this story might seem
utterly preposterous.

310
00:18:26,490 --> 00:18:29,050
Which is, effectively
sacrificing their lives

311
00:18:29,050 --> 00:18:32,570
in order to create a spell
to ward off the Nazis.

312
00:18:32,570 --> 00:18:35,890
But Hitler didn't come, and even
the British government

313
00:18:35,890 --> 00:18:38,610
seemed to feel threatened
by the power of magic.

314
00:18:38,610 --> 00:18:42,890
Shortly after Gerald's cone of
power ritual, a spiritualist called

315
00:18:42,890 --> 00:18:48,050
Helen Duncan was actually prosecuted
for her occult activities.

316
00:18:48,050 --> 00:18:50,530
Duncan had rattled twitchy
naval officers,

317
00:18:50,530 --> 00:18:54,330
and attracted the attention
of the authorities in 1944,

318
00:18:54,330 --> 00:18:56,730
when she held seances in Portsmouth,

319
00:18:56,730 --> 00:19:00,330
and began answering questions
about people's relatives

320
00:19:00,330 --> 00:19:02,370
who have been killed in action.

321
00:19:02,370 --> 00:19:05,650
She had been too good at her
prophecies,

322
00:19:05,650 --> 00:19:09,210
and had alarmed the security forces,
and in fact,

323
00:19:09,210 --> 00:19:12,210
she was imprisoned for a while.

324
00:19:15,250 --> 00:19:18,890
But Gerald's passion for the occult
was unwavering,

325
00:19:18,890 --> 00:19:21,650
and crucially he wasn't alone.

326
00:19:21,650 --> 00:19:25,050
He was drawing closer to
the most notorious magician

327
00:19:25,050 --> 00:19:29,890
in the entire world, Aleister
Crowley, known as The Great Beast.

328
00:19:31,210 --> 00:19:35,410
Crowley was an infamous magician,
whose alleged black magic

329
00:19:35,410 --> 00:19:39,010
had earned him the title,
"wickedest man in the world."

330
00:19:39,010 --> 00:19:40,730
Never far from controversy,

331
00:19:40,730 --> 00:19:45,010
Crowley could have a distinct
dark take on the occult.

332
00:19:45,010 --> 00:19:47,850
I simply went over to Satan's side.

333
00:19:47,850 --> 00:19:52,370
I found myself as passionately eager
to serve my new master

334
00:19:52,370 --> 00:19:54,570
as I had been to serve the old.

335
00:19:56,210 --> 00:20:00,090
Gerald knew Crowley's work, and
actually appropriated many of his

336
00:20:00,090 --> 00:20:02,970
magical writings in his early
Wiccan rituals,

337
00:20:02,970 --> 00:20:06,490
but Gerald and Aleister were
buried different men.

338
00:20:06,490 --> 00:20:09,450
Where Crowley's brand of magic
could be dark,

339
00:20:09,450 --> 00:20:12,690
Gardner was interested
in the positive side of the occult.

340
00:20:17,810 --> 00:20:22,410
And these colourful characters
gathered here,

341
00:20:22,410 --> 00:20:27,010
at the Atlantis bookshop, which
had a temple in the basement,

342
00:20:27,010 --> 00:20:30,170
and sold rare texts,
with instructions

343
00:20:30,170 --> 00:20:32,250
on how to summon the dead,

344
00:20:32,250 --> 00:20:36,010
talk to Angels and
wield supernatural power.

345
00:20:38,050 --> 00:20:41,850
It became a safe haven
for like-minded people to come meet,

346
00:20:41,850 --> 00:20:44,490
and discuss things,
without prejudice,

347
00:20:44,490 --> 00:20:48,130
and it gave them
the protective colouring,

348
00:20:48,130 --> 00:20:50,770
that at the time, they needed.

349
00:20:50,770 --> 00:20:52,970
What sort of things
happened at the shop,

350
00:20:52,970 --> 00:20:55,130
and why do they matter to history?

351
00:20:55,130 --> 00:20:56,290
They matter because there were

352
00:20:56,290 --> 00:21:00,170
so few places that people who
were interested

353
00:21:00,170 --> 00:21:02,930
in this sort of thing could meet
their fellows,

354
00:21:02,930 --> 00:21:06,130
where you could talk as equals,
whether you were a witch

355
00:21:06,130 --> 00:21:10,170
or a high ceremony magician,
or an astrologer, or a numerologist,

356
00:21:10,170 --> 00:21:12,770
you were always
treated as equals here.

357
00:21:12,770 --> 00:21:16,410
And people would have
enjoyed each other's company,

358
00:21:16,410 --> 00:21:17,930
because they could talk honestly.

359
00:21:17,930 --> 00:21:20,170
What do you think of Gerald Gardner?

360
00:21:20,170 --> 00:21:21,810
My father used to come home and say,

361
00:21:21,810 --> 00:21:24,450
"he was in again today,
kids. King of the witches.

362
00:21:24,450 --> 00:21:27,290
"His hair goes this way,
his beard goes that way."

363
00:21:27,290 --> 00:21:29,690
And he had style, he had presence,

364
00:21:29,690 --> 00:21:32,610
and he had a great,
cracking wit, as well.

365
00:21:32,610 --> 00:21:37,290
That charismatic person is exactly
what you need to create a movement.

366
00:21:37,290 --> 00:21:39,090
And this gave him a platform,

367
00:21:39,090 --> 00:21:41,410
not exactly as a recruiting
platform,

368
00:21:41,410 --> 00:21:43,970
but it was a place
where people could come,

369
00:21:43,970 --> 00:21:47,490
meet each other, be gently vetted
to see if they were suitable.

370
00:21:47,490 --> 00:21:49,490
Crowley was nearing
the end of his life,

371
00:21:49,490 --> 00:21:53,170
and he wanted Gardner as heir
to his secret occult society.

372
00:21:54,250 --> 00:21:56,410
But Gerald was not content

373
00:21:56,410 --> 00:21:59,850
with a secretive underground
subculture,

374
00:21:59,850 --> 00:22:02,850
he wanted to take Wicca
to the masses.

375
00:22:02,850 --> 00:22:06,490
So, that's exactly what
he was about to do, with a bang.

376
00:22:06,490 --> 00:22:09,530
Is it not a fact that these
meetings are really,

377
00:22:09,530 --> 00:22:11,130
very largely, sexual orgies?

378
00:22:11,130 --> 00:22:13,090
They're not. Not in the least.

379
00:22:18,000 --> 00:22:22,320
Dr Gerald Brousseau Gardner
is a qualified scientist.

380
00:22:22,320 --> 00:22:26,840
He is also...a witch.

381
00:22:26,840 --> 00:22:29,320
This is Gerald Gardner

382
00:22:29,320 --> 00:22:33,640
appearing on the BBC's Panorama
programme in 1958.

383
00:22:33,640 --> 00:22:36,120
Most witches are initiated
quite young,

384
00:22:36,120 --> 00:22:39,880
and of course...some of them are
young, some of them are middle-aged,

385
00:22:39,880 --> 00:22:41,360
some of them are old.

386
00:22:41,360 --> 00:22:43,360
Just a few years previously,

387
00:22:43,360 --> 00:22:46,240
Gardner had been performing spells
in the New Forest

388
00:22:46,240 --> 00:22:48,880
with a small coven of witches.

389
00:22:48,880 --> 00:22:52,960
So, how on earth did Gerald
make the transition

390
00:22:52,960 --> 00:22:55,480
from local eccentric to celebrity

391
00:22:55,480 --> 00:22:58,960
on the BBC's flagship
current affairs programme?

392
00:23:00,880 --> 00:23:03,520
Gerald had come back to London
in the mid-1940s

393
00:23:03,520 --> 00:23:08,240
full of enthusiasm about Wicca,
but he had to be careful.

394
00:23:08,240 --> 00:23:12,760
It might be OK to discuss this in
the safety of the Atlantis bookshop

395
00:23:12,760 --> 00:23:16,000
but the Witchcraft Act
was still in force.

396
00:23:16,000 --> 00:23:20,480
In those days, to proclaim yourself
a public witch was illegal,

397
00:23:20,480 --> 00:23:24,400
and to be involved in the occult
made you a social pariah.

398
00:23:24,400 --> 00:23:27,560
In the 1940s, the core beliefs
of Wicca were so radical

399
00:23:27,560 --> 00:23:32,320
it was a very risky religion indeed.

400
00:23:34,800 --> 00:23:37,400
Britain was still
a very orthodox society

401
00:23:37,400 --> 00:23:41,280
and anything other than Christianity
was treated with suspicion.

402
00:23:41,280 --> 00:23:44,600
Gerald was desperate to spread
the Wiccan word

403
00:23:44,600 --> 00:23:47,760
and so in 1949,
he found a compromise.

404
00:23:47,760 --> 00:23:52,840
He adopted a pseudonym and he
published a novel, and this is it.

405
00:23:52,840 --> 00:23:54,800
High Magic's Aid.

406
00:23:59,280 --> 00:24:02,880
Although it had to be disguised
as a work of fiction,

407
00:24:02,880 --> 00:24:07,320
it is actually the first published
account of Wiccan magic.

408
00:24:08,760 --> 00:24:10,760
This passage, one of many,

409
00:24:10,760 --> 00:24:15,000
describes how to conduct
a classic Wiccan ritual.

410
00:24:15,000 --> 00:24:19,240
"Upon the altar lay the remaining
pentacle.

411
00:24:19,240 --> 00:24:21,280
"Also cords, black cloth,

412
00:24:21,280 --> 00:24:24,680
"and other things which
you would want for the operation.

413
00:24:24,680 --> 00:24:27,760
"Taking this pentacle,
he bound it with a cord

414
00:24:27,760 --> 00:24:30,840
"and shrouded it with a cloth."

415
00:24:30,840 --> 00:24:34,560
It could be seen just as a story,

416
00:24:34,560 --> 00:24:39,760
but for those in the know,
it was quite revealing.

417
00:24:39,760 --> 00:24:42,880
It included quite a lot
of witchcraft rituals

418
00:24:42,880 --> 00:24:44,760
that are fairly familiar today.

419
00:24:44,760 --> 00:24:46,800
In some ways it's a terrible novel.

420
00:24:46,800 --> 00:24:51,200
It's too many ye's and prithees
and thous,

421
00:24:51,200 --> 00:24:54,360
but in essence it's witchcraft
writ large there.

422
00:24:56,840 --> 00:24:59,960
High Magic's Aid
wasn't exactly a bestseller,

423
00:24:59,960 --> 00:25:04,000
but it did sow the first seeds
of Wicca out in the wider world.

424
00:25:04,000 --> 00:25:09,080
Then, in 1951, after a campaign
by a group of spiritualist MPs

425
00:25:09,080 --> 00:25:11,000
supported by Winston Churchill,

426
00:25:11,000 --> 00:25:13,320
who himself had become interested
in the occult,

427
00:25:13,320 --> 00:25:16,480
the Witchcraft Act
was finally repealed.

428
00:25:17,840 --> 00:25:21,080
Gerald was now free
to out himself as a witch,

429
00:25:21,080 --> 00:25:23,320
and to tell the world
all about Wicca,

430
00:25:23,320 --> 00:25:26,760
which was by now developing into
a fully fledged religious system.

431
00:25:26,760 --> 00:25:29,160
Since his New Forest initiation,

432
00:25:29,160 --> 00:25:32,080
Gerald had become
something of a magpie,

433
00:25:32,080 --> 00:25:35,640
building his new religion
from many sources.

434
00:25:35,640 --> 00:25:39,480
He borrowed heavily from both
English folklore witchcraft

435
00:25:39,480 --> 00:25:43,080
and modern shamanic magic
for his spells and rituals,

436
00:25:43,080 --> 00:25:46,760
whilst the iconic symbols that would
become synonymous with Wicca,

437
00:25:46,760 --> 00:25:48,680
most notably the pentagram,

438
00:25:48,680 --> 00:25:53,080
were in fact ancient symbols that
had been adopted by the Freemasons.

439
00:25:53,080 --> 00:25:56,600
This blend of influences
found expression

440
00:25:56,600 --> 00:25:59,480
in Gerald's collection
of magical objects.

441
00:26:00,760 --> 00:26:05,760
But to see some of these, you have
to go to a rather unlikely location.

442
00:26:16,320 --> 00:26:20,520
I've come here in pursuit of one
of the most significant collections

443
00:26:20,520 --> 00:26:23,760
of Wiccan artefacts in the world.

444
00:26:25,640 --> 00:26:30,080
And among them is one of the most
important Wiccan manuscripts of all.

445
00:26:31,760 --> 00:26:34,160
The owner is John Belham-Payne,

446
00:26:34,160 --> 00:26:37,280
a property developer
now living in Spain.

447
00:26:37,280 --> 00:26:37,920
Please come in.

448
00:26:37,920 --> 00:26:39,080
Thank you.

449
00:26:39,080 --> 00:26:41,800
He is also one
of Wicca's senior priests

450
00:26:41,800 --> 00:26:43,960
and, in the great tradition
of the faith,

451
00:26:43,960 --> 00:26:49,240
has had many of Gerald's
most prized magical possessions
handed down to him.

452
00:26:49,240 --> 00:26:51,280
Wow.

453
00:26:51,280 --> 00:26:53,400
Can you talk me
through some of Gerald's objects

454
00:26:53,400 --> 00:26:55,400
and explain what they are for?

455
00:26:55,400 --> 00:26:58,520
OK. This was Gerald Gardner's wand
or at least one of them

456
00:26:58,520 --> 00:27:02,200
and he would have used that
to cast a circle.

457
00:27:04,240 --> 00:27:06,840
The other items here that we have
from Gerald

458
00:27:06,840 --> 00:27:08,640
is one of his athames.

459
00:27:08,640 --> 00:27:09,680
What is an athame?

460
00:27:09,680 --> 00:27:11,160
It's a ritual knife.

461
00:27:11,160 --> 00:27:13,840
We only use an athame
for magical purposes.

462
00:27:15,840 --> 00:27:16,360
Oh, my!

463
00:27:16,360 --> 00:27:18,800
Obviously it's phallic

464
00:27:18,800 --> 00:27:23,080
so it would be used for some sort
of recreational purpose, I think.

465
00:27:23,080 --> 00:27:26,760
Other items of Gerald's
are these two crowns.

466
00:27:26,760 --> 00:27:28,520
The priestess would wear this one

467
00:27:28,520 --> 00:27:31,560
representing the triple aspects
of the loom,

468
00:27:31,560 --> 00:27:35,880
and this would be what he would have
worn...

469
00:27:37,240 --> 00:27:40,600
..which was representative
of the Horned God.

470
00:27:40,600 --> 00:27:42,720
It's the representing
Goddess and God.

471
00:27:42,720 --> 00:27:44,840
Goddess and God, absolutely right.

472
00:27:46,560 --> 00:27:49,720
Well, I actually think that's your
size. Would you like to try it on?

473
00:27:49,720 --> 00:27:52,880
If you would like me to do so,
yes, by all means.

474
00:27:52,880 --> 00:27:55,120
Absolutely.

475
00:27:55,120 --> 00:27:56,320
OK.

476
00:27:58,000 --> 00:28:01,400
It's remarkably comfortable.
Gerald was a practical sort of chap.

477
00:28:05,760 --> 00:28:10,760
But the real prize is too valuable
to be kept in John's basement.

478
00:28:10,760 --> 00:28:13,000
Worth more than $1 million,

479
00:28:13,000 --> 00:28:17,160
it's locked away
in a much more secure location.

480
00:28:17,160 --> 00:28:20,720
Now, I'm being granted
a remarkable privilege.

481
00:28:20,720 --> 00:28:24,480
I'm about to see
a Wiccan Holy Grail.

482
00:28:25,920 --> 00:28:29,120
Here, in a secure vault in this bank

483
00:28:29,120 --> 00:28:32,280
is one of the most significant
and valuable religious documents

484
00:28:32,280 --> 00:28:34,760
of the 20th century.

485
00:28:39,160 --> 00:28:41,080
This is the foundation text,

486
00:28:41,080 --> 00:28:45,640
the closest thing to a Bible
of modern Pagan witchcraft.

487
00:28:45,640 --> 00:28:48,640
"And never reveal the secrets
of the art."

488
00:28:48,640 --> 00:28:52,320
It's called the Book Of Shadows.

489
00:28:52,320 --> 00:28:54,760
It is Gerald's own magical workbook,

490
00:28:54,760 --> 00:28:59,120
his experimental notes
for what Wicca would become.

491
00:28:59,120 --> 00:29:02,320
Here, Gerald wrote down
the original rituals and spells

492
00:29:02,320 --> 00:29:05,200
that Wiccans have been using
ever since.

493
00:29:05,200 --> 00:29:09,360
It's a manual, and like Wicca itself
it remained a work in progress

494
00:29:09,360 --> 00:29:11,760
rather than a fixed set
of doctrines.

495
00:29:13,680 --> 00:29:15,080
So, this is it.

496
00:29:15,080 --> 00:29:20,760
This is Gerald Gardner's first
and original Book Of Shadows.

497
00:29:24,720 --> 00:29:28,280
First of all, it's probably the most
famous book there is in the craft.

498
00:29:30,320 --> 00:29:32,400
And as far as that is concerned,

499
00:29:32,400 --> 00:29:33,800
my take on this book

500
00:29:33,800 --> 00:29:37,840
is I think it's as important
as owning the original Bible

501
00:29:37,840 --> 00:29:42,880
because it's full of just everything
that Gardner learned at that stage,

502
00:29:42,880 --> 00:29:45,640
from a whole load
of different sources.

503
00:29:45,640 --> 00:29:52,360
"First, draw a circle with an athame
and sprinkle with exorcised water.

504
00:29:52,360 --> 00:29:55,560
"Light candles."

505
00:29:55,560 --> 00:29:59,160
And this is the important part,
is this is a book of experiences.

506
00:29:59,160 --> 00:30:02,000
This is a book about things
that have gone right

507
00:30:02,000 --> 00:30:04,320
and some things
that have gone wrong.

508
00:30:04,320 --> 00:30:05,600
This is wonderful.

509
00:30:05,600 --> 00:30:09,280
It's certainly the oldest
Wiccan book surviving in Europe.

510
00:30:09,280 --> 00:30:13,440
It's a strange mixture,
which I think is classic of Gerald.

511
00:30:13,440 --> 00:30:18,280
It's a mixture of a book of actual
rituals to be used in the temple

512
00:30:18,280 --> 00:30:21,720
and read from.
It's also a kind of notebook

513
00:30:21,720 --> 00:30:25,760
with odds and ends
taken from all sorts of sources.

514
00:30:25,760 --> 00:30:27,440
"I call upon the Goddess

515
00:30:27,440 --> 00:30:31,520
"to enlighten the hearts of all
whom I call into this circle."

516
00:30:33,200 --> 00:30:36,680
Looking at this gives me two
further insights into Gerald.

517
00:30:36,680 --> 00:30:39,760
The first is just his love
of beautiful things,

518
00:30:39,760 --> 00:30:42,400
his artistry, his love of scripts,

519
00:30:42,400 --> 00:30:46,240
like his love of wands,
like his love of crowns.

520
00:30:46,240 --> 00:30:50,960
And also his willingness to adapt,
to go on from one thing to another.

521
00:30:50,960 --> 00:30:53,680
This is somebody who's creating
a work in progress

522
00:30:53,680 --> 00:30:56,600
which other people can pick up
and with which they can do things.

523
00:30:56,600 --> 00:30:57,160
And move on from.

524
00:30:57,160 --> 00:30:58,600
Yes.

525
00:30:58,600 --> 00:31:02,840
That's the exciting thing about
the craft, is it never stays still.

526
00:31:05,600 --> 00:31:06,960
In the Book Of Shadows,

527
00:31:06,960 --> 00:31:09,960
Gerald had written not just
a guidebook to the spells

528
00:31:09,960 --> 00:31:11,480
and rituals of Wicca,

529
00:31:11,480 --> 00:31:14,160
he'd produced a manifesto
for a new religion.

530
00:31:14,160 --> 00:31:15,880
Wicca had truly been born

531
00:31:15,880 --> 00:31:19,000
and now he was desperate
to take it to the masses.

532
00:31:20,520 --> 00:31:22,560
Gerald was now a man in a hurry,

533
00:31:22,560 --> 00:31:25,560
desperate to ensure
that Wicca didn't die with him.

534
00:31:25,560 --> 00:31:28,960
He'd devote the next 10 years
to spreading word of it

535
00:31:28,960 --> 00:31:31,920
throughout the land,
whatever the consequences.

536
00:31:31,920 --> 00:31:37,360
In 1954, Gerald published
his essential guide to Wicca -

537
00:31:37,360 --> 00:31:38,880
Witchcraft Today.

538
00:31:38,880 --> 00:31:42,920
He also opened Britain's
first museum of witchcraft

539
00:31:42,920 --> 00:31:45,640
on the Isle of Man
and he started to be featured

540
00:31:45,640 --> 00:31:49,120
in newspapers
looking for a sensational story.

541
00:31:49,120 --> 00:31:53,520
"Today The People prints a report
that discloses their existence..."

542
00:31:53,520 --> 00:31:56,320
"I saw a nude priestess go wild..."

543
00:31:56,320 --> 00:31:59,360
It was after a series of muckraking
tabloid features

544
00:31:59,360 --> 00:32:02,960
accusing Gerald of practising
black magic and devil worship

545
00:32:02,960 --> 00:32:05,400
that he really got his big break.

546
00:32:05,400 --> 00:32:08,320
Gerald was invited
to defend himself on Panorama.

547
00:32:11,760 --> 00:32:16,000
This would become a definitive
TV moment, watched by millions,

548
00:32:16,000 --> 00:32:20,680
that gave the British public their
first sight of a real live witch.

549
00:32:20,680 --> 00:32:23,560
Is it true that the dancing
takes place, as a rule, naked?

550
00:32:23,560 --> 00:32:24,240
Yes.

551
00:32:24,240 --> 00:32:25,520
Now, why is that?

552
00:32:25,520 --> 00:32:27,080
It's the tradition.

553
00:32:27,080 --> 00:32:29,040
It's the order of the Goddess.

554
00:32:30,440 --> 00:32:32,560
We should all be naked at my rite.

555
00:32:32,560 --> 00:32:37,200
And of course, to work magic,
you must be naked.

556
00:32:37,200 --> 00:32:39,480
Gerald couldn't have hoped
for a bigger audience,

557
00:32:39,480 --> 00:32:42,680
and even in the face
of some provocative questioning

558
00:32:42,680 --> 00:32:45,760
he kept his dignity...just.

559
00:32:45,760 --> 00:32:47,360
I want to put this to you
very frankly.

560
00:32:47,360 --> 00:32:49,960
I've been reading your book
and I'm tempted to ask you,

561
00:32:49,960 --> 00:32:54,040
is it not a fact that these meetings
are very largely sexual orgies?

562
00:32:54,040 --> 00:32:55,960
They're not, not in the least.

563
00:32:55,960 --> 00:32:59,160
Gerald might have faced derision
from the BBC,

564
00:32:59,160 --> 00:33:03,280
but 12 million people had just heard
about Wicca for the first time.

565
00:33:03,280 --> 00:33:05,600
And what then happens
when the circle is drawn?

566
00:33:05,600 --> 00:33:08,240
Well, then of course,
we generally start to dance,

567
00:33:08,240 --> 00:33:10,480
then there is
the worship of the gods,

568
00:33:10,480 --> 00:33:12,040
then it depends
what they want to do.

569
00:33:12,040 --> 00:33:13,880
If they want to work magic,
they work magic.

570
00:33:13,880 --> 00:33:18,160
I think Gerald felt he was on
nothing less than a sacred mission,

571
00:33:18,160 --> 00:33:20,640
and now he had found his audience.

572
00:33:21,920 --> 00:33:25,840
What he was about
was getting this thing planted

573
00:33:25,840 --> 00:33:28,800
in as many places as he could
possibly bloody well plant it

574
00:33:28,800 --> 00:33:34,120
because he reckoned it was great
stuff and he wanted it to survive.

575
00:33:34,120 --> 00:33:38,480
I would never have come to Wicca
and Pagan witchcraft

576
00:33:38,480 --> 00:33:40,000
if he hadn't done that.

577
00:33:40,000 --> 00:33:41,640
If he hadn't published a book

578
00:33:41,640 --> 00:33:46,320
when some people maybe thought
that maybe wasn't the best idea,

579
00:33:46,320 --> 00:33:48,840
I would never be where I am now.

580
00:33:48,840 --> 00:33:51,200
He's the one who put it out there
and said,

581
00:33:51,200 --> 00:33:54,800
"No, people should know about this,
this is amazing."

582
00:33:54,800 --> 00:33:58,400
Thank you very much.
Broomsticks I think are all waiting.

583
00:34:01,240 --> 00:34:04,800
And through all this,
Gerald got his wish.

584
00:34:04,800 --> 00:34:09,600
He had become Britain's first
modern celebrity witch.

585
00:34:09,600 --> 00:34:13,840
It's like turning the crank handle
of an old car, you know.

586
00:34:13,840 --> 00:34:17,080
Nothing happens, and then
suddenly it sparks into life.

587
00:34:17,080 --> 00:34:21,080
That's what happened in about
the mid-50s

588
00:34:21,080 --> 00:34:24,680
and a coven was formed,
which kept going,

589
00:34:24,680 --> 00:34:26,680
and in fact is still going today.

590
00:34:28,800 --> 00:34:32,080
As Gardner's fame grew,
so too did his following.

591
00:34:32,080 --> 00:34:36,040
People were writing to him in their
hundreds, wanting to become witches.

592
00:34:36,040 --> 00:34:40,040
One of his converts who joined him
on Panorama was Lois Bourne.

593
00:34:41,120 --> 00:34:42,320
How old are you?

594
00:34:42,320 --> 00:34:43,840
I'm 29.

595
00:34:43,840 --> 00:34:46,040
And are you a hereditary witch?

596
00:34:46,040 --> 00:34:48,880
I do have witch ancestry but
it's only within the last few years

597
00:34:48,880 --> 00:34:51,160
that I've been practising
witchcraft.

598
00:34:51,160 --> 00:34:53,920
How did you find out about Wicca?

599
00:34:53,920 --> 00:34:56,080
I had all these spiritual gifts

600
00:34:56,080 --> 00:34:58,880
and I didn't know
what to do with them,

601
00:34:58,880 --> 00:35:02,440
and eventually I read a book
by Gerald Gardner,

602
00:35:02,440 --> 00:35:04,680
I think it was called
Witchcraft Today,

603
00:35:04,680 --> 00:35:08,920
and I wrote to him and I asked him
if he could explain

604
00:35:08,920 --> 00:35:12,920
these strange things which had
happened to me throughout my life.

605
00:35:12,920 --> 00:35:15,280
And he said, "Well, it's very clear
to me, my dear,

606
00:35:15,280 --> 00:35:17,320
"that you are a witch."

607
00:35:17,320 --> 00:35:19,800
And of course I burst out laughing.

608
00:35:19,800 --> 00:35:22,160
And I said, "But do witches
really exist

609
00:35:22,160 --> 00:35:25,440
"except in fairy stories
and in mythology?"

610
00:35:25,440 --> 00:35:29,840
And he said, "Well, about one person
in every thousand has the gift

611
00:35:29,840 --> 00:35:33,480
"so strongly emphasised
the way you have it,"

612
00:35:33,480 --> 00:35:37,200
and he offered to introduce me to
a group of witches

613
00:35:37,200 --> 00:35:39,520
who would help me and train me.

614
00:35:39,520 --> 00:35:42,160
What makes people
take up witchcraft?

615
00:35:42,160 --> 00:35:46,520
Well, it seems to me that we live in
a highly mechanised age

616
00:35:46,520 --> 00:35:50,240
in which many people
have lost their sense of belonging.

617
00:35:50,240 --> 00:35:52,960
Witchcraft brings them
back to living in harmony

618
00:35:52,960 --> 00:35:56,520
with the rhythm
and the seasons of the earth...

619
00:35:56,520 --> 00:36:00,280
Why did Gerald value publicity
so much?

620
00:36:00,280 --> 00:36:03,080
If he didn't indulge in a bit
of publicity,

621
00:36:03,080 --> 00:36:07,640
apart from his books, how was he
going to present this to the world?

622
00:36:07,640 --> 00:36:10,360
How was he going
to introduce these gods to them?

623
00:36:10,360 --> 00:36:13,320
I think he was driven by something
outside himself.

624
00:36:13,320 --> 00:36:15,800
I think this
was his purpose in life,

625
00:36:15,800 --> 00:36:20,680
but I am convinced that we all
come to earth with a purpose,

626
00:36:20,680 --> 00:36:22,640
that there is something
that we have to do.

627
00:36:22,640 --> 00:36:26,640
And I think this
is what Gerald's purpose was.

628
00:36:26,640 --> 00:36:28,640
Dr GB Gardner,

629
00:36:28,640 --> 00:36:30,800
sweeping the crossroads near
his home in Castledown,

630
00:36:30,800 --> 00:36:33,440
placing the dust in a shoe,
and which is taken indoors,

631
00:36:33,440 --> 00:36:36,720
is done to simulate sweeping away
continuous bad luck.

632
00:36:36,720 --> 00:36:39,840
And it wasn't just women
who were drawn to Wicca.

633
00:36:39,840 --> 00:36:42,400
Several young men joined Gerald's
original coven,

634
00:36:42,400 --> 00:36:45,720
one of them was Zachary Cox.

635
00:36:45,720 --> 00:36:51,360
His eyes were bright blue
and incredibly glittery eyes.

636
00:36:51,360 --> 00:36:54,960
He didn't look mad,
not in a destructive sense,

637
00:36:54,960 --> 00:36:58,040
but he looked kind of nicely mad,
if you know what I mean.

638
00:36:58,040 --> 00:36:59,880
These were the eyes of someone

639
00:36:59,880 --> 00:37:03,160
who had only one foot
in the world of the commonplace.

640
00:37:03,160 --> 00:37:05,680
I don't know how a guy
gets into that state, I'm sure,

641
00:37:05,680 --> 00:37:08,560
but he'd got into it somehow.

642
00:37:08,560 --> 00:37:10,800
He was witchcraft, if you like.

643
00:37:10,800 --> 00:37:14,760
The time had come
to let this thing go loose,

644
00:37:14,760 --> 00:37:18,600
and play its part
in what was going to happen next.

645
00:37:18,600 --> 00:37:20,960
The really weird thing is it worked.

646
00:37:20,960 --> 00:37:25,640
# Tell me how you feel...#

647
00:37:25,640 --> 00:37:29,280
And at the dawn of a new decade,
there was something else in the air

648
00:37:29,280 --> 00:37:33,640
that would work in Wicca's favour -
social revolution.

649
00:37:33,640 --> 00:37:35,200
Social rebels have taken over

650
00:37:35,200 --> 00:37:37,920
in what seems more like an invasion
than a revolution.

651
00:37:37,920 --> 00:37:40,080
Because they've got their own
new language...

652
00:37:40,080 --> 00:37:46,360
As the 60s began to swing,
Wicca's emphasis on gender equality,

653
00:37:46,360 --> 00:37:47,880
nature worship,

654
00:37:47,880 --> 00:37:53,480
and sacred sexuality made a perfect
fit for the historical moment.

655
00:37:53,480 --> 00:37:56,000
It was almost as if Gerald had
predicted

656
00:37:56,000 --> 00:37:58,240
how the world was about to change.

657
00:37:58,240 --> 00:38:01,040
He was a conduit for something

658
00:38:01,040 --> 00:38:03,680
that was the right time
for that to happen.

659
00:38:03,680 --> 00:38:07,480
By the time that Gerald died
in 1964,

660
00:38:07,480 --> 00:38:10,560
Wicca was on its way
to becoming a global faith.

661
00:38:10,560 --> 00:38:11,760
And in America,

662
00:38:11,760 --> 00:38:15,520
where the counterculture was
really rocking society to its core,

663
00:38:15,520 --> 00:38:19,600
Gerald's radical new religion
exploded into a phenomenon.

664
00:38:19,600 --> 00:38:22,000
Throughout the '70s and '80s,

665
00:38:22,000 --> 00:38:24,480
Wicca continued its march
into the mainstream,

666
00:38:24,480 --> 00:38:29,080
helped in no small part
by hugely successful cult movies

667
00:38:29,080 --> 00:38:33,640
like The Wicker Man, which provided
a tantalising, if inaccurate,

668
00:38:33,640 --> 00:38:37,160
glimpse of the Pagan faith to
cinemagoers throughout the world.

669
00:38:37,160 --> 00:38:39,600
Oh, God! Oh, Jesus Christ!

670
00:38:43,720 --> 00:38:46,120
But as Wicca expanded
across the globe,

671
00:38:46,120 --> 00:38:48,320
without its eccentric leader,

672
00:38:48,320 --> 00:38:51,960
would this very British religion
flourish or perish?

673
00:38:59,000 --> 00:39:01,880
In Britain today,
Gerald Gardner's radical religion,

674
00:39:01,880 --> 00:39:04,880
his feminist, eco-friendly,
magical faith

675
00:39:04,880 --> 00:39:08,320
has taken its place
at the heart of our culture.

676
00:39:08,320 --> 00:39:11,480
Where once witches were persecuted
and driven underground,

677
00:39:11,480 --> 00:39:14,800
today they can be out and proud.

678
00:39:14,800 --> 00:39:21,960
21st-century Wicca is a far cry
from its roots in the New Forest.

679
00:39:21,960 --> 00:39:25,320
The forthcoming census results
are expected to show it well up

680
00:39:25,320 --> 00:39:28,400
among the top 10 religions
in the United Kingdom.

681
00:39:28,400 --> 00:39:33,200
And, as the faith has grown,
Wiccans have formed campaign groups.

682
00:39:33,200 --> 00:39:35,800
These organisations lobby
the Government

683
00:39:35,800 --> 00:39:39,960
about the ongoing recognition
of Wicca and its followers' rights.

684
00:39:39,960 --> 00:39:43,360
One of the most prominent
and active of these groups

685
00:39:43,360 --> 00:39:46,560
is to be found
in the modern police service.

686
00:39:46,560 --> 00:39:50,840
I want to find out how Gerald's
legacy is influencing policy

687
00:39:50,840 --> 00:39:55,520
and changing attitudes within some
of our most respected professions.

688
00:39:55,520 --> 00:39:58,800
Andrew Pardy, a spokesman
for the Police Pagan Association.

689
00:39:58,800 --> 00:40:01,040
Border officer Adam Pamment

690
00:40:01,040 --> 00:40:03,720
represents pagans
in the Home Office.

691
00:40:03,720 --> 00:40:06,800
The format we use,
the way things are laid out,

692
00:40:06,800 --> 00:40:09,040
was brought to us by Gerald Gardner.

693
00:40:09,040 --> 00:40:13,000
I don't think we would be doing the
same type of thing, casting a circle,

694
00:40:13,000 --> 00:40:17,000
calling the quarters, had not Gerald
Gardner given to us what he did give.

695
00:40:17,000 --> 00:40:19,240
And when we look at it,
if I look at Wicca,

696
00:40:19,240 --> 00:40:22,560
it's probably the only religion that
England has ever given to the world.

697
00:40:24,600 --> 00:40:29,520
Police officers may go in
and they may see an altar set up

698
00:40:29,520 --> 00:40:33,080
and they may not know whether
the possession of a ritual knife

699
00:40:33,080 --> 00:40:35,560
falls underneath defences in law
or not.

700
00:40:35,560 --> 00:40:38,800
And it's simple things like that
that make the police more reassured

701
00:40:38,800 --> 00:40:43,040
with how they're dealing with
people, but allows that Pagan
community to know they will be

702
00:40:43,040 --> 00:40:45,080
dealt with fairly,
just as any other person.

703
00:40:47,040 --> 00:40:50,720
And, if Gerald's legacy is becoming
influential in the UK,

704
00:40:50,720 --> 00:40:54,320
in America his radical English faith
has infiltrated

705
00:40:54,320 --> 00:40:57,440
the very heart of the
establishment - the US military.

706
00:40:57,440 --> 00:41:01,680
Roberta Stewart and Reverend
Selina Fox are on a mission.

707
00:41:01,680 --> 00:41:05,080
Stewart's husband, Sergeant Patrick
Stewart was killed in combat

708
00:41:05,080 --> 00:41:07,320
last September in Afghanistan.

709
00:41:07,320 --> 00:41:10,600
The Nevada native was a Bronze Star
and Purple Heart recipient.

710
00:41:10,600 --> 00:41:13,120
He was also a member
of the Wiccan religion

711
00:41:13,120 --> 00:41:15,400
whose symbol is the pentacle.

712
00:41:15,400 --> 00:41:18,760
Stewart was refused a Wiccan
memorial because the authorities

713
00:41:18,760 --> 00:41:21,920
viewed his faith as a cult
and not as a true religion.

714
00:41:21,920 --> 00:41:24,640
I said, "Where is my husband's
plaque?" and they indicated

715
00:41:24,640 --> 00:41:28,680
that the emblem of our chosen faith
was not allowed to be on there.

716
00:41:31,240 --> 00:41:34,560
Since this test case in 2007,

717
00:41:34,560 --> 00:41:37,240
the Wiccan pentagram has been
a religious symbol

718
00:41:37,240 --> 00:41:40,000
officially recognised
by the US military

719
00:41:40,000 --> 00:41:44,120
and can be carved on the gravestones
of servicemen and women

720
00:41:44,120 --> 00:41:46,480
who were killed in the line of duty.

721
00:41:47,840 --> 00:41:51,560
Back in the UK, Wicca's evolution
shows no sign of slowing down.

722
00:41:51,560 --> 00:41:55,600
It's almost certainly
the fastest-growing religion
in the country.

723
00:41:55,600 --> 00:41:57,600
'And what's interesting to me

724
00:41:57,600 --> 00:42:01,160
'is that it's the younger generation
that's leading the march.'

725
00:42:04,120 --> 00:42:07,280
This is Croydon, south London.

726
00:42:07,280 --> 00:42:10,440
Not, perhaps, the most magical
place on the planet.

727
00:42:10,440 --> 00:42:12,240
This weekend,

728
00:42:12,240 --> 00:42:16,400
Croydon is hosting the biggest
gathering of witches in the world.

729
00:42:16,400 --> 00:42:18,200
I've come to Witchfest.

730
00:42:21,840 --> 00:42:24,320
When Gerald Gardner
wanted to find witchcraft,

731
00:42:24,320 --> 00:42:27,600
he had to do so
by getting into a secret coven.

732
00:42:27,600 --> 00:42:31,120
Today's would-be witches
do so at the click of a mouse

733
00:42:31,120 --> 00:42:34,680
but do these young people
know who Gerald Gardner was?

734
00:42:36,280 --> 00:42:41,000
To me, Gerald is a trailblazer
and a revolutionary.

735
00:42:41,000 --> 00:42:44,280
He was so brave and courageous
in embracing a religion

736
00:42:44,280 --> 00:42:46,520
that was so outside of the norm

737
00:42:46,520 --> 00:42:50,840
and finding other people
that could join him in that, I...

738
00:42:50,840 --> 00:42:54,800
That's, for me,
what I respect about Wicca.

739
00:42:54,800 --> 00:42:57,320
The opportunity to be revolutionary

740
00:42:57,320 --> 00:43:02,280
and passionate about spirituality
with an absence of orthodoxy.

741
00:43:02,280 --> 00:43:08,880
He inspires me because he was
so alive in his own lifetime.

742
00:43:08,880 --> 00:43:13,400
I appreciate how he helped
make it more public and, you know,

743
00:43:13,400 --> 00:43:16,080
we're all interested in it probably
because his influence

744
00:43:16,080 --> 00:43:17,520
within the witchcraft world.

745
00:43:21,160 --> 00:43:23,080
Gardener's legacy clearly lives on

746
00:43:23,080 --> 00:43:25,200
amongst this new generation of
witches,

747
00:43:25,200 --> 00:43:27,520
but have modern Wiccan beliefs

748
00:43:27,520 --> 00:43:32,040
stayed true to the original vision
of its eccentric creator?

749
00:43:32,040 --> 00:43:34,280
What does paganism mean to you?

750
00:43:34,280 --> 00:43:40,480
To me, paganism is a spiritual path
and it involves reverence for nature.

751
00:43:40,480 --> 00:43:46,240
Wicca means to me
finding my spirituality

752
00:43:46,240 --> 00:43:50,840
embodied in a religion that is
incorporating a feminine divine.

753
00:43:50,840 --> 00:43:54,000
What would you call it?
Is it a religion to you?

754
00:43:54,000 --> 00:43:56,440
Is it a spirituality?
Is it a craft?

755
00:43:56,440 --> 00:43:57,800
All three.

756
00:43:57,800 --> 00:43:58,240
Yeah.

757
00:43:58,240 --> 00:43:59,440
Wow!

758
00:43:59,440 --> 00:44:02,240
It's a craft because
we practise witchcraft

759
00:44:02,240 --> 00:44:04,840
and it's a spirituality
because it's independent

760
00:44:04,840 --> 00:44:08,560
to how we are as individuals and
how we explore it within ourselves.

761
00:44:11,040 --> 00:44:14,440
Whether it's nature,
feminism or spirituality

762
00:44:14,440 --> 00:44:16,840
that inspires Gardner's
young followers,

763
00:44:16,840 --> 00:44:19,320
Wicca is about
the power of magic.

764
00:44:19,320 --> 00:44:22,080
Magic changed Gerald's life.

765
00:44:22,080 --> 00:44:24,880
It gave him a vision
of a new type of religion,

766
00:44:24,880 --> 00:44:28,440
and it drove him to push back
the boundaries of the possible.

767
00:44:28,440 --> 00:44:30,520
Magic does work.

768
00:44:30,520 --> 00:44:34,760
The fact the sun rises every morning
and we're here to see it is magic.

769
00:44:34,760 --> 00:44:38,000
The fact that the moon glows
big and bright,

770
00:44:38,000 --> 00:44:41,160
and lights the way in the darkness
is magic.

771
00:44:41,160 --> 00:44:45,320
And we have that,
and we celebrate that,

772
00:44:45,320 --> 00:44:48,240
and we hold it very, very dear
to our hearts.

773
00:44:48,240 --> 00:44:53,280
It's very difficult to define,
but it's so powerful.

774
00:44:53,280 --> 00:44:55,800
A witch on their own
can't do that much

775
00:44:55,800 --> 00:44:58,440
but when they get together
they're so powerful.

776
00:45:02,280 --> 00:45:04,680
In the course of making this film,

777
00:45:04,680 --> 00:45:07,680
I've encountered many people
who practise a religion

778
00:45:07,680 --> 00:45:12,080
called Pagan witchcraft which
to them is clearly as beautiful,

779
00:45:12,080 --> 00:45:17,280
transcendental and effective as
other faiths are to their believers.

780
00:45:17,280 --> 00:45:21,640
And it was brought into the world
by a classic English eccentric

781
00:45:21,640 --> 00:45:25,440
who managed to publicise a religion
of lasting power.

782
00:45:25,440 --> 00:45:29,160
It's feminist, it's nature-centred,

783
00:45:29,160 --> 00:45:32,040
it seems to give people
a great deal of choice.

784
00:45:32,040 --> 00:45:37,760
But the single most powerful idea
I take away from Wicca is this -

785
00:45:37,760 --> 00:45:39,360
whereas other faiths say,

786
00:45:39,360 --> 00:45:42,360
"This is what you should feel
about the divine,"

787
00:45:42,360 --> 00:45:46,880
this one says,
"This is how you can feel divine."

788
00:46:04,840 --> 00:46:08,800
Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd