gerald gardner (tradition, pagans, bible, religion, Wicca)

[spirittalker101]

there are no ways older then Gardner that are still truely wiccan. Gardner came up with the religion in the 1950's and that is when the term came to be. You may follow witchcraft back farther than that sure but you can't follow wicca because it isn't there.

[Isabella Lecour]

Wicca isn't a recon religion, it's a mystery religion. It has no need to justify it's practices within historical or anthropological evidence. In fact reading Murry is a necessity just to understand how it all got started within Gardner's mind. Wicca is an inspired religion build by Gardner and Valiente and has sense grown beyond that.

There has been a lot of changes in the last 60 years but those old books tell the tale from that perspective not from today's. Wicca and witchcraft was considered the same thing, in fact it would have been unusual to have thought one was Wiccan instead of witch. Having the corrected history is a good thing for perspective but it in no way should destroy the faith that the religion is build on. Margert Murry is the myth Wicca is built on.

As to the OP's post, if you don't like Gardner's work, Wicca may not be for you all at. The Farrar's book is from the Alexandrian side of the coin and is an incomplete mirror of what Gardner left behind.

If you are looking for the old religion...where do you stop? Every religion has it's history and roots. Just how deep are you looking or are you looking for something complete unrelated to history?

[Runt]

It sounds like you might be more interested in paganism than in Wicca, per se. Unfortunately, most of the "true" old ways (pagan religions that have been practiced more or less unchanged since their development thousands of years ago) are very local, native traditions that you probably can't practice. However, there are a few different pagan reconstruction religions (such as Ár nDraíocht Féin) out there that might appeal to you more than Wicca. You just have to take a look around and see what feels most right to you.