{"id":604,"date":"2010-06-03T11:24:29","date_gmt":"2010-06-03T11:24:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/apagansblog\/2010\/06\/philip-heselton-on-gardner-and-spiritualism.html"},"modified":"2010-06-03T11:24:29","modified_gmt":"2010-06-03T11:24:29","slug":"philip-heselton-on-gardner-and-spiritualism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/apagansblog\/2010\/06\/philip-heselton-on-gardner-and-spiritualism.html","title":{"rendered":"Philip Heselton on Gardner and Spiritualism"},"content":{"rendered":"

We recently had a discussion of Gerald Gardner’s involvement with Spiritualism<\/a>, and it’s possible influence on the Craft.  Robert Mathiesen made some very interesting observations about this issue, and not being an expert on Gardner, I contacted some who were.  They in turn contacted Philip Heselton<\/a>, author of Wiccan Roots<\/a> and  Gerald Gardner and the Cauldron of Inspiration<\/a>, and who will soon be publishing a biography of Gardner, and who has made other important contributions to Craft history.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
Philip’s response is below the fold.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n


\n
\nPhilip Heselton:<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Gerald encountered spiritualism at several points in his
\nlife, but I think it would be fair to say that he never really got involved in
\nit.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

His first encounter seems to have been his reading of “There
\nis no Death” by Florence Marryat when he was a boy. He says that was when he
\nfirst became convinced of survival beyond death of the physical body.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

His encounters with the native peoples of Borneo and Malaya
\nand his invitation to their rituals gave him a more practical realisation of
\nthe reality of survival.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Whilst his initial encounters with spiritualism on his trip
\nto England in 1927 did not impress him, he later on that trip did encounter
\nsome mediums in London which convinced him by the accuracy of the messages they
\ngave to him, particularly from his own mother and from his friend, ‘G’, who had
\ndied a few years before.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I have no evidence that he was involved in spiritualism
\nfollowing his return to Malaya in 1927.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The next time spiritualism is mentioned is following his
\nretirement in 1936 when he makes contact with the members of a naturist club (‘Fouracres’)
\nwho are interested in the occult, spiritualism, etc. He joins the club and I
\nget the impression that he gets involved in long discussions, but there is no
\nevidence that he was more actively involved in spiritualism that just talking
\nabout it.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

At this time, he becomes convinced that he had had a
\nprevious lifetime in Cyprus, the result of which is his book “A Goddess Arrives”.
\nReincarnation is not, I think, a common belief among spiritualists, who mostly
\ncome from a Christian background, but it is a firm, and important, belief of
\nGardner’s.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This is intensified when he becomes involved, or at least on
\nthe periphery of, the Crotona Fellowship, but following his contact with the
\nwitches, his focus become witchcraft. I have no evidence that he was involved
\nin any spiritualist groups when he was in Highcliffe.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

After the war, when he was living in London, he became a
\nreasonably active member of both the Folklore Society and the Society for
\nPsychical Research. Particularly in the latter he would have met spiritualists
\nsuch as Dingwall and Cannon, and doubtless several more. His first initiate,
\nBarbara Vickers, was also a keen spiritualist. In the 1950s he gave several
\ntalks to various spiritualist groups.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

My conclusions are that he accepted the spiritualist premise
\nof survival of death, that he knew spiritualists throughout his life and that
\nhe talked to spiritualist groups, but that he was never actively involved in
\nsuch groups – he was too busy with other things, and could never focus his time
\nsufficiently to do so.
Anyway, I think that’s my initial view, but I am willing to
\nchange it at a moment’s notice if new evidence comes up – I am not addicted to
\nit in any way.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\n

\n

\n

\n

\n

\n

\n

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\n

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<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We recently had a discussion of Gerald Gardner’s involvement with Spiritualism, and it’s possible influence on the Craft.  Robert Mathiesen made some very interesting observations about this issue, and not being an expert on Gardner, I contacted some who were.  They in turn contacted Philip Heselton, author of Wiccan Roots and  Gerald Gardner and the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,1,105],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-604","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-books","category-pagan-news","category-pagan-spirituality"],"yoast_head":"\nPhilip Heselton on Gardner and Spiritualism - A Pagan's Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/apagansblog\/2010\/06\/philip-heselton-on-gardner-and-spiritualism.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Philip Heselton on Gardner and Spiritualism - 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