Philip Heselton is an independent historian who has specialized in the documentary history of Gerald Gardner and the founding of modern Wicca, and this two-volume Thoth Publications biography is his fullest account of Gardner's life. Its strength is genuine archival depth, Heselton traces documentary records that earlier, thinner biographies missed or ignored, correcting and filling out the record of Gardner's activities before and around the founding of the Bricket Wood coven. Its limit is a real one and the reason this sits at tier two rather than tier one, Heselton writes as a practicing Wiccan with evident sympathy for Gardner's own account of his initiation and lineage, so where that account is itself contested by other historians, a claim resting on it should be checked against a more critical or independent treatment.
Facts
Citation
AuthorPhilip Heselton
PublisherThoth Publications
Publication Year2012
URLhttps://archive.org/details/witchfatherlifeo0000hese
Source Typebook
Assessment
Reliability Tier2
Published by Thoth Publications, a specialist Pagan and esoteric press, as a biography researched from archival sources; a secondary account rather than an academic university press monograph, hence the middle tier. NotesThe fullest biography; sympathetic to Gardner's account but detailed on the documentary record.
Cross-Tradition Connections
Associated With
Thoth, Deities This source names Thoth directly: "of modern Wicca, and this two-volume Thoth Publications biography is his fullest account of Gardner's life."
Claims Backed By This Source (38 claims)
This source backs 38 claims across the atlas. As facts: 24 well-attested, 1 scholarly debate. As cited relationships: 4 holds. Plus 9 entities citing it as a general reference with no single fact or relationship attached.
Disposition By Topic
- Sources, 9 claims: 8 well-attested, 1 holds.
- Religious Events, 7 claims: 4 well-attested, 1 scholarly debate, 1 holds, 1 general references.
- Articles, 4 claims: 4 well-attested.
- Esoteric Texts, 4 claims: 2 well-attested, 2 general references.
- Historical Figures, 4 claims: 3 well-attested, 1 general references.
- Cities, 3 claims: 1 well-attested, 1 holds, 1 general references.
- Deities, 3 claims: 2 well-attested, 1 general references.
- Religions, 2 claims: 1 holds, 1 general references.
- Doctrines, 1 claims: 1 general references.
- Mythical Creatures, 1 claims: 1 general references.
Reader Challenges (0 open reader challenges)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.
Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.
View At A Past Year
The atlas records no dated fact of its own for this entry, so there is no other year to choose.