Philip Heselton, renowned author
and occult historian, specializing in the research of the origins of modern day
Wicca and its founder Gerald Gardner will be giving a lecture on his two volume
biography of Gerald Gardner “Witchfather”.
This is the first full-length
biography of Gerald Brosseau Gardner (1884-1964) – a very personal tale of the
man who single-handedly brought about the revival of witchcraft in England in the
mid 20th Century.
From his birth into an old family
of wealthy Liverpool merchants, through an unconventional upbringing by his
flamboyant governess in the resorts of the Mediterranean and Madeira,
it tells how, having taught himself to read, his life was changed by finding a
book on spiritualism.
During a working life as a tea and
rubber planter in Ceylon,
Borneo and Malaya, he came to know the native
people and was invited to their secret rituals.
But it was only on his retirement
to England, settling on the
edge of the New Forest in Hampshire, that
destiny took him firmly by the hand. Through various twists and turns involving
naturist clubs and a strange esoteric theatre, he became friends with a group
of people who eventually revealed their true identity to him – they were
members of a surviving witch coven.
One evening in 1939, as the hounds
of war were being unleashed, he was initiated into the ‘witch cult’ by these
people, who called themselves ‘the Wica’. Gardner
was overwhelmed by the experience and was determined that the ‘witch cult’
should survive.
This book chronicles his efforts
over the remaining quarter century of his life to ensure not only that it
survived but that it would become the significant player on the world religious
stage that it now is – “the only religion that England has ever given the
world”, in the words of Ronald Hutton, Professor of History at the University
of Bristol, who calls it “… a very fine book: humane, intelligent,
compassionate, shrewd, and based upon a colossal amount of primary research”.
He describes Philip Heselton as being “… the most interesting, valuable and
enjoyable author who has yet written on what is becoming one of the greatest
riddles in the history of modern religion: the origins of pagan witchcraft. …
Nobody has ever done more than Philip Heselton to reveal the world of magic,
paganism, naturism and faerie that lay behind the garden gates of inter-war
English suburban villas; and perhaps only he could have done it at all.”
Philip Heselton – Brief Biography
Born on 29th March 1946, Philip's affinity
with paganism has been life-long.
Co-founder of the Ley Hunters Club
with Jimmy Goddard they produced “The Ley Hunter” magazine in 1965. The subject of
Earth Mysteries subsequently drove him to writing several books including “The
Elements of Earth Mysteries” and “Leylines – A Beginner’s Guide”.
Having read Gerald Gardner’s
“Witchcraft Today” in 1960 it greatly influenced him in the years that followed. Feeling that paganism is about our own
experience of the deeper side of the landscape around us, he wrote a series of
books published by Capall Bann, including “Secret Places of the Goddess”;
“Mirrors of Magic” and “Magical Guardians – Exploring the Spirit and Nature of
Trees”.
Recently Philip has gone back to his
roots in researching the sources of Gerald Gardner’s writings which has resulted in
his latest books – “Wiccan Roots” and “Gerald Gardner and the Cauldron of
Inspiration”. "Witchfather: is his most
recent gift to our community having been published by Thoth Publications 64 Leopold Street, Loughborough LE11 5DN in 2012.
Philip will be finishing the night
with a Q&A session and book signing. This exclusive event at the Hermetic
Arts Learning Center is not to be missed. We will be attending and are greatly looking forward to the event and a chance to meet this remarkable man.
Date: October 29, 2014
Location: Hermetic Arts Learning
Center
105
Bridge St. Salem MA. 01970
Time: 7:00 - 9:00 pm
Price: $ 40.00
For more information contact:
DavidNewman@hermeticarts.com or call
772-380-2725
