Gerald Gardner

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Gerald Gardner claimed to have been initiated by a witch of 'New Forest Coven' in England during the 1950s (by some accounts named 'Dorothy Clutterbuck'). Regardless of the actualities, the 'Book of Shadows' he later constructed ('crafted') for his initiates was entirely derivable (by evaluation of Aidan Kelly) from European grimoires and the texts of Gardner's superior in the Ordo Templi Orientis, Aleister Crowley.

'Gardnerian Wicca' sprouted as a religion and its many offshoots of religious witchcraft began hiving and renaming themselves based on their successive participants ('Alexandrian' out of Alex Sanders, 'Georgian' by George E. Patterson), their locale, or ideals. With Llewellyn and other publishers promoting their general ideologies, Wicca legitimized the term 'witch' and 'witchcraft' for all intents and purposes so thoroughly, complete with anti-defamation leagues and armed services chaplaincy petitions, that it became extremely unlikely that a '[[[moral panic|witch hunt]]', by this name, would be repeated in America or Britain in the foreseeable future.