Raymond Buckland: Difference between revisions

According to his written works, primarily ''Witchcraft from the Inside'', published in 1971, he was the first person in the [[United States]] to openly admit to being a practitioner of [[Wicca]],{{citation needed|date=April 2012}} and he introduced the lineage of [[Gardnerian Wicca]] to the United States in 1964, after having been initiated by [[Gerald Gardner]]'s then-high priestess Monique Wilson in [[United Kingdom|Britain]] the previous year. He later formed his own tradition dubbed [[Seax-Wica]] which focuses on the symbolism of [[Anglo-Saxon paganism]].<ref name="Knowles online" />

In the US, at that time he was head of the Anthropology Department at Columbia University. Buckland soon read the books ''[[The Witch-Cult in Western Europe]]'' by [[Margaret Murray]] and ''[[Witchcraft Today]]'' by [[Gerald Gardner]], which gave him an insight into the Witchcraft religion, or [[Wicca]] as it is now more commonly known. Some sources relay that Buckland had established a relationship with Gardner when he was living on the Isle of Man and running his witchcraft museum; it seems this relationship was by correspondence.

The two became friends, and had several telephone conversations, which led to Buckland becoming Gardner's spokesman in America{{Citation needed|date=April 2009}}. Buckland also met and befriended [[Margaret St. Clair]], author of the occult classic ''Sign of the Labrys''.<ref name="Clifton">[http://www.chasclifton.com/columns/column17.html "Letter From Hardscrabble Creek: Chasing Margaret"] by Chas. S. Clifton, Hardscrabble #17, June 1997.</ref>

Both Buckland and his wife Rosemary travelled to [[Scotland]], where, in [[Perth, Scotland|Perth]], they were initiated into the craft by the High Priestess [[Monique Wilson (Wiccan)|Monique Wilson]] (known as the Lady Olwen).<ref name=Wilson>{{cite web|last=Davis|first=Morgan S.|title=Monique Wilson|url=http://www.geraldgardner.com/Monique_Wilson.pdf|work=Gerald Gardner|publisher=Morgan S. Davis|access-date=17 March 2012}}</ref> Gardner attended the ceremony, but did not perform it himself. Gardner died shortly after, having never met Buckland again.