Gerald Gardener

The New Forest Coven and the Revival of Witchcraft

Upon his return to England, Gardner took an active involvement in the occult community, became a part of the Rosicrucian Order, and met a string of influential figures linked to local occult movements. This occult camaraderie led to his introduction to the New Forest Coven.

In 1939, Gardner claimed to have been initiated into a coven of witches in the New Forest region and was introduced to the rites and theologies of their order – an order they claimed to be an authentic survival of the old witch religion presumed extinct by historians.