For many people, history is thought of as the most boring subject in school, usually taught by an older man in a nearly hypnotic monotone. For others, it has become the way to validate the "truth" of a given situation. Unfortunately, the people who fall into the first category generally believe anything the latter have to say. Even more unfortunately, the latter catergory of people rarely apply a dictionary definition of the word when promoting their version of history.

The history of Wicca, also known as Modern Witchcraft, has been passed on by many people who have never actually bothered to find out if what they are reading and reprinting is based on fact or "a distillation of rumour." So many things that are repeated in book after book, and website after website, are either gross exaggerations or blatant lies. Nearly ten years ago, when I was beginning my study of Wicca, I found many references to the "oldest religion on Earth", an unbroken chain of beliefs and practices handed down from "stone age" people, and (my personal favorite) the "Burning Times."

One of the reasons I was skeptical about Wicca when I first started researching was that so many people seemed to believe these highly unlikely ideas. Not just believe them, live with them as if these ideas were a part of their own personal history. Anyone with some common sense and a little personal experience should be able to figure out that an idea can't be passed down through three generations without getting changed, adapted, or misinterpreted. How in the world could the exact same principles and practices of a religion, of all things, be passed on from 20,000 years ago?

The "Burning Times" tangent is my all time favorite example of passing on misinformation. I've heard some of the most preposterous information about the several hundred years in which witchcraft and witches were persecuted. Can't anyone Google the Salem Witch Trials for objective information? Those people weren't witches and none of them were burned - they were either hanged, tortured to death, or crushed. Go to the library and do some personal research instead of believing anything thats written.

I have read dozens of books and websites trying to find the facts about Wicca, its history, and its pseudo-history. Thank goodness I finally found Ronald Hutton's books. This man isn't Wiccan or Pagan so he isn't out to prove that Gerald Gardner 'discovered' a group of people practicing an ancient religion and revealed it to the rest of the world. He is a scholar, a professor, and a historian-the dictionary definition kind. I also found that Doreen Valiente and Aidan Kelly chose to reveal facts and events as they actually happened, not as so many Pagans would like to hear. The links from this page will take you to various writings that express the current knowledge regarding the true history of Wicca, and a few of my rants about the perpetuation of pseudo-history.