I found this book to be almost more of a biography - The Life and Times of Gerald Gardner. Heselton had done an immense amount of research, using key information from "Gerald Gardner: Witch" by J L Bracelin to the point where he discovered that it was more of an auto-biography and furthermore that there is convincing evidence that the book was actually written by one Idries Shah, the prolific writer on Sufism, who was introduced to Gardner in the mid-1950's. When the book was completed, Shah felt unhappy about using his own name, possibly because it was such a different book from those which he normally wrote. Jack Bracelin, another friend, agreed to put his name to it.

Heselton wrote this book basically because he wanted to find out more about the origins of a movement - modern witchcraft and to explore the historical dimension. What became evident is that it was not a figment of Gerald Gardner's fertile imagination. He certainly did meet the people he said he did at the Crotona Fellowship meetings. i.e. Susie Mary Mason, Ernest William Mason and Rosetta Fudge all part of a hereditary witch family, who, to all intensive purposes brought Edith Rose Woodford-Grimes (Dafo, who initiated Gardner in September 1939) into the Craft when she was living near to them in the 1920's. Gardner was initiated into the Craft at Mill House, which belonged to Dorothy Clutterbuck. Carefully analyzing the sentence construction of his diaries, Philip Heselton came to the conclusion that Dorothy Clutterbuck actually wasn't present at his initiation. There is a Chapter entitled "Old Dorothy - High Priestess or Red Herring? The author asks the question whether Old Dorothy was a Witch, someone who let the Witches use her house, or someone who had no connection with the Craft at all but someone whom Gardner implicated for reasons best known to himself.

Heselton could find no HARD evidence of Dorothy Clutterbuck's involvement in the Craft as such. However he could present much information about her life, including extracts from her diaries, which, I would say proves that her thought processes were clearly Pagan. There are quotations in Bracelin's book such as "Old Dorothy called up covens right and left", whether she was a High Priestess or not, she was clearly "in charge".

Another point the author makes is that he is still uncertain whether there was a New Forest Coven per se, there may have been a looser network of individuals, skilled in magick, who got together as needed, such as for the invasion ritual.

Furthermore Philip Heselton speculated a reconstruction of the 1940 rituals to stop the threatened invasion by Hitler, which we all know worked. What I did not know was that because these rituals were using magick to alter Hitler and his advisor's free will, that a voluntary human sacrifice was offered. The rituals took place on the beach during what was called "the coldest May England had ever experienced". It cost a few of the elderly and frail witches their lives.

Something I found extremely interesting is the fact that Heselton said that on reading through what Gardner wrote about witches, that they did not tell him everything and that it may well be that he was never entrusted with "the Inner Rites". Which would then lead one to assume that Gardnerian Witchcraft would not be what he had learnt from the "Old Witches" living in England in the 1930's, but basically what he had made up himself.

The author reckons that consistent through all Gardner's statements about the witches is the obvious respect which he had for them. The witches were modest in that they were quite willing to admit they didn't know certain things, primarily about the history of their tradition, even where Gardner is obviously trying to prompt them. The witches Gardner met were somewhat weak in theology, for example he says: "What the present-day witch believes I find it hard to say. The cult god is thought of as the god of the next world, or of death and resurrection, or of reincarnation, the comforter, the consoler. After life you go gladly to his realms for rest and refreshment, becoming young and strong, waiting for the time to be reborn on earth again and you pray to him to send back the spirits of your beloved dead to rejoice with you at your festivals".

Heselton suspects that Gardner's problem (as well as them not telling him everything) was that the concept of "beliefs" may not have been meaningful to them.. Being of a practical nature they were more concerned about relationships in society and in the "other world", for they were certainly fully aware that we have many lifetimes.

Another interesting point is that when Gardner wanted to go public and write about Witchcraft, he met with severe castigation from Dafo. She was a music teacher and had no desire to become publically known as a witch. She withdrew from active craftwork. Gardner wrote: They are happy practicing their lovely old rites. They do not want converts: converts mean talk: talk means bother and semi-persecution. All they desire is peace."

Another interesting fact Philip Heselton mentions is the whole interweaving between Gardner, the Witches, the New Forest and the Secret Service. Heselton admits that he hadn't studied this in any detail, but that there is a story to tell which may shed some light on things. It is rumoured that James Laver, who wrote the Foreword to Gerald Gardner: Witch, ran a "disinformation and occult department". He knew Gardner well, and it is possible that there was, through that link, some participation by the Witches in aspects of the war effort.

Clearly there were covens in various parts of the New Forest which were genuinely old. Sybil Leek and the Horsa Coven for instance. Dolores North, who was a journalist and writer. When Doreen Valiente first met her she was wearing the uniform of an officer in the WRNS. Doloros North has been described as "the best ceremonial magician in London". She formed her own Order of the Morning Star. Apparently she and Gardner did not get on well and she got upset if anyone called her a Witch. Dorothy Clutterbuck "kept the light shining" so to speak.

My personal view is that Gerald Gardner certainly was the instigator of the Modern Witchcraft Revival. He basically had the balls to write about it, bring it out in the open. Were it not for that, I reckon the old covens would just have had their exclusive members operating in secret. Of-course Doreen Valiente had a huge part to play in the Revival as well, however that will be another book review.

In closing, this was a very insightful book. Heselton did some mean research.

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