Witchcraft Today by Gerald Gardner

Author:Gerald Gardner [Gardner, Gerald]
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Tags: Ensayo, Espiritualidad, Historia
Publisher: ePubLibre
Published: 1954-10-31T16:00:00+00:00

'Pictures, mosaics and sculptures show the initiates as naked, one carrying corn, another fire, some sacred baskets with serpents, women, or goddesses, initiating men...these were secret cults into which only certain people were admitted after preliminary preparation...After this mystic communication or exhortation (the Charge), the revelation of certain holy things, then communion with the deity; but the mysteries seem to centre round the semi-dramatic representation of a mystery play of the life of the god.'

I think it is at least plausible to believe that all this was not play-acting, but that there was a serious reason behind it. That they believed that, while the gods wished them well, they were not allpowerful, that they needed man's help; that by performing certain rites men gave them power; also that the gods wished men to be happy and that acts which gave men pleasure also gave the gods joy and power, which they could apply to their own uses as well as to the benefit of man[7].

The wild dances showed that the gods wished men (including Chesterton's Premier and Archbishop) to be happy, and not to be puritanical. This ecstatic dancing also produced power and visions of the future, some of which at least came true. For this reason these rites were valuable to the State, and were protected by law, so that no foreigner might ever know them. Evidently priests and priestesses who could foretell the future, however dimly, who could calm down the most dangerous politicians and cause them to work for the State instead of striving to disrupt it, were of the greatest value. On the other hand, if the existence of this power were known, the secret might he discovered and used by enemies, both to cause political disruption, a sense of pacifism or surrender to the enemy[8].

Again I repeat that I do not say that they could in fact do all this; but I do say that witches believe that they themselves can, and I think that people in Athens in high places held similar beliefs. Because people all over the world are apt to do certain things and believe certain things in certain circumstances, and while these beliefs can occur independently, where they are very alike I am inclined to suspect a connection. I expect many people will attack this view and I only hope that they will. Discussion and criticism is the only way to arrive at a satisfactory conclusion.

The first and strongest argument against my views will be, I think, the belief 'that to gain power and to stop the people thinking of their miseries, the priests and kings encouraged the greatest excesses'. In Africa at present the action of missionaries and the Government in putting down big tribal dances is said to have caused the present political unrest and campaign of murder. And it is certain that the mysteries made the population happy and quiet.

That at them there were orgies at times is common knowledge; no one attempts to deny the facts; but whether they were much more than beanfeasts is a moot point.

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