Today we’re talking about Gerald Gardner, why he’s called the father of modern Wicca, and how a prescription for nudism somehow became part of the origin story. Along the way we sort out a big misconception, why Wicca isn’t the same thing as witchcraft, and how witchcraft existed long before Wicca ever had a name.

We dig into the timeline, Gardner’s rise in the 1950s after the repeal of Britain’s Witchcraft Act, his public “yep, I’m a witch” moment, and the way figures like Doreen Valiente helped shape (and challenge) what Wicca became. Then we get into the messy bits, such as questionable credentials, borrowed material, rigid hierarchy, secrecy, gender roles, and why some of this still echoes in modern “love and light” spirituality.

Finally, we unpack the Wiccan ethics everyone argues about online, from the Wiccan Rede (“harm none”) to the Threefold Law, including why it’s often treated like karma… and why that comparison falls apart when you look at karma’s actual roots.

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