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High Magic’s Aid

Gerald B. Gardner published the book High Magic’s Aid under the pen name “Scire” in 1949. This was before the Anti-Witchcraft laws in England were repealed, so he could not write openly about modern witchcraft at that time. Instead, he wrote a book with its setting in the middle ages-- and he put in that book all he could about what he knew about witches and witchcraft in his day, disguised it all within an historical novel. To those who were interested in witchcraft, he would give them this book and he’d say: “Pay close attention to the words of the Witch of Wanda”. And so, High Magic’s Aid became Gardner’s first delivery system for spreading the teachings of modern Witchcraft.

Style: High Magic’s Aid is written in the Romance genre. Like many Romance books there is a quest, acts of chivalry, the overthrow of an unjust authority, and restoration of hope and happiness for the future. This book is also presented as a historical novel, set in early 1200’s England. The Normans are ruling over the Saxons and the house of the Bonders has lost their ancestral lands. Gardner introduces the popular (but unhistorical) idea that the common people still held on to the “Old Religion” of Witchcraft. And it is with the help of the magic of witchcraft that the “Bonders” reclaim their hereditary land.

Inspiration from Ivanhoe: Gardner appears to have utilized the book Ivanhoe, written by Sir Walter Scott (published in 1820), as a model for his novel. The printing of Ivanhoe sparked a revival of interest in the Medieval period. In particular, Ivanhoe is the source of our modern understanding of Robin of Locksley, ie, Robin Hood. Gardner creates a link to Robin Hood in claiming that the High Magic’s aid, Morven, belongs to the kin of “Robin-with-the-Hood”. Like Ivanhoe, Gardner’s High Magic’s Aid includes “capture and rescue” scenes, a medieval faire and tournament, and a mystery of who will end up romantically involved with whom. Gardner may have also been inspired by a name in Ivanhoe, that of the jester named Wamba, which sounds similarly to “Wanda”, the town that Morven had lived in. Gardner also may have borrowed some other specific words from Scott. Common archaic vocabulary found in Ivanhoe and High Magic’s Aid include: “leech” (meaning a “doctor”), “moiety” (“parts”), “churl” (“boorish”), “discomfiture” (“defeat”). However, Gardner also uses archaic words not found in Ivanhoe, such as “truculent” (“brutal”) and “oddments” (“remnants”). The fact is that any author writing a historical romance set in the Medieval times would use such archaic words as these and using them does not mean Gardner was overly dependent on Ivanhoe. There are differences, though, between High Magic’s Aid and Ivanhoe. In Ivanhoe a Jewess named Rebecca is falsely accused of and then put on trial for witchcraft. Gardner’s main characters actually practice witchcraft and are constantly under vigil to not be exposed as witches in fear of being executed. However, no actual witch trial appears in Gardner’s book as it does in Scott’s Ivanhoe. Also, another major difference is that Ivanhoe ends up with a reconciliation of the Normans and the Saxons, where in High Magic’s Aid the Pagans win their revenge and defeat the Normans. The major reconciliation that Gardner imagines in High Magic’s Aid is between two types of witchcraft traditions: Ceremonial magic and Pagan magic.

Themes: The conflict between the Christian Normans and the Pagan Saxons is a central theme. There is a call to the Saxon common folk to return to the values of their ancestors’ religion. The promise is that by doing so they will discover the power they used to have. This power, magic, is what will keep them free. It is with the aid of ceremonial magic that Jan, the heir apparent, learns of a witch that lives in Wanda who can help their cause. With Pagan magic, the witch of Wanda—named Morven—brings the common folk together into community so that they may embrace Jan as their new leader. Morven then initiates Jan and his companions into the magical practices of her Pagan religion. Ceremonial magic then gives a clue as to who can help the small band accomplish a sneak attack of the castle. Lastly, ceremonial magic empowers cleric Stephen Langton of Canterbury to present a “Great Charter” (ie, the Magna Carta) to secure the rights of the people. In High Magic’s Aid, the goals of the main characters are all accomplished with the help of magic.

Rival Religions: “High Magic’s Aid” is a religious romance book and in it Gardner presents the story of two rival religions: Christianity and Witchcraft. As the learned “leech” (physician) Thur says: “Witchcraft is different. It is a rival religion to Christianity, a religion of love, pleasure, and excitement. Therefore does the Church suppress it, with fire and many huntings, lest the people forsake in numbers the saints, and the stony way of life they preach. The Church fears a mass return to the old gods, whom they call devils. So, with the growing strength of Christianity as 	expressed by Holy Church, harshness and cruelty have come upon mankind in a greater degree than any yet known. 'Tis little wonder many return to witchcraft.” (HMA, p 52).

Christianity is painted in a predominantly negative light throughout the novel. There are drunken monks, demands for money, and examples of the Church’s corruption and abuses of power. The Church is resented for spreading slanderous untruths about Pagan religion while persecuted witches by burning them alive. In essence, the Church is seen to have substituted love for fear (p41).

One exception to this negative brush is an appreciation for the beauty of the mass service. In the chapter “London is a Fine Place”, Gardner describes St. Paul’s Cathedral as “one of the most impressive in the world” with “an austere nobility which it seemed that the hand of man alone could not have achieved” (p65). The incense, chants in Latin, processions and colored mosaic are admired. A shaft of light from the east window is called a “gift of God” by the priestess Morvan. Christian worship, therefore, is seen as authentic, but the actions of the Church are protested by Gardner’s magical band of characters in High Magic’s Aid.

A minor character in the book, Brother Stephen, is someone to be feared since he is intelligent and appears to be against witches. But we find out in the end that he is willing to use witchcraft to attain his goal of promoting just laws for his fellow citizens. So, while he rails against witches in public, he is willing to seek out their magical help in secret.

Eventually modern Wiccans need to recognize the religious bigotry against the Church that appears in Gardner’s writings and come to terms with this shadow side of the Wiccan tradition.

Ritual: Witchcraft is “a religion of love, pleasure and excitement” (p52), and this is viewed best in the Pagan rituals that are found in High Magic’s Aid.

Readers get a glimpse of a community ritual that gathers in the woods of Deerleap on the night of the full moon. The ritual includes a feast of roasting venison. The clearing chosen for their meeting is a “natural amphitheater” (p 138) and the people sit in a semicircle before an outcrop of rock. Since the rock shows some indication of having been worked on in ancient times, this indicates that this was a sacred temple in the past. This further suggests that this gathering is a remnant of an ancient religious rite.

In the ritual at Deerleap, we see Morven the witch functioning as priestess with athame (a ritual knife) in hand. She appears nude before the crowd as a “sign” indicating her role. Morven raises her athame as an act of blessing upon the people, and they respond with the mysterious words: “Ahha, ahha, evoh, ahha”. Harps play and chants are sung. The moon’s light causes Morven’s nude body to glow, indicating that she has drawn down the moon.

The group then ask Morven for a message from the gods saying:

“What tidings have you of the good gods who have forsaken us for so long? When will they come again to rescue us from the evils we suffer and when will they save us from our bitter foes? Come, O come back to us, O bright and happy ones.” (p140).

A dialog ensues between Morven and the crowd concerning the subject of how they will be saved from the oppressors. She proclaims that there is a leader who will lead them. Jan steps forward and she introduces him as “Jan o’ the Sword Hand”. Then there is dancing, feasting and the drinking of ale. Some youths stripped off their clothes and danced around the fire. There was also some lovemaking, not a full-blown orgy, but couples enjoying each other in the shadows. Some jumped the dwindling fire for a blessing. As the night died down and the moon set, people left without ceremony.

This ritual has some similarities to later Wiccan ritual, but there is a lack of structure in Morven’s ritual compared to modern Wiccan full moon rituals. The gathering is in a semi-circle and not a full circle; we do not see an altar; there is no casting of a circle or calling of the four quarters; no invocation is made; the Goddess and the God are not mentioned, but instead we hear of the “good gods” and “bright and happy ones” that the group seeks answers from. But we do find a few basics of Gardnerian Wiccan ritual: the priestess going skyclad, drawing down the moon and a waving of the athame.

One obvious reason why the Deerleap ritual lacks many Wiccan elements is that High Magic’s Aid was written before Doreen Valiente joined Gardner’s group. She wrote the Charge of the Goddess and many other parts of Wiccan ritual. The ritual at Deerleap shows us that the ritual practices of Wicca had not fully evolved at the time Gardner wrote this book and there was much more that was to be developed.

Divinities: One of the oddest omissions in High Magic’s Aid is the lack of any mention of the Goddess. This is rather amazing since in modern Wicca the Goddess is so prominent. The only place the word “Goddess” appears in High Magic’s Aid is in the introduction where other books by the author are cited, namely Gardner’s A Goddess Arrives.

The witch Morven does not speak of the Goddess, but she does pray to a God. Janicot (pronounced JAN-eh-co) is the name of the God that Morven prays to in her personal prayers for help (p37). The physician, Thur, instructs Jan that Janicot is the name of the witches’ God and that he is “the god of all crops and cattle and the god of fertility” (p20). Interestingly enough, “Janicot” is also the ritual name that Morven gives to Jan when she initiates him into the priesthood. However, in the Pagan group ritual at Deerleap the name “Janicot” is not used, but rather the collective “good gods” are called upon.

The origin of the name “Janicot” is not clear. One conjecture is that “Janicot” comes from the Basque Jauna (woods) and cot (God), ie, “God of the Woods”. Some say it is a variation of the name of the God Janus. It is also possible that Gardner invented the name.

When ceremonial magic is practiced by Thur, we run across many name for Deity, mostly from the Hebrew language. It is sometimes difficult to tell, though, when Thur is calling on “the most high God” or a divine name which represents an angel or lesser being. For example Adonai, El and Tetragrammaton may be titles of God or names of spirits. But the main spirit that is called up to do work is “Bartzebal” (p6, 105, 170, 206), who is the spirit of Mars, the God of iron and war (p159).

Criticisms: Since High Magic’s Aid was written twenty years before the feminist movement and the sexual revolution, women are portrayed in a mostly passive role. The title of the book itself indicates that the witch Morven was an “aid” to her male counterpart, Thur, the High Magic practitioner. Throughout the book, she assumes a passive role toward the men. [ http://worksofliterata.org/2012/01/02/review-gardner-high-magics-aid ] Even when Morven takes the leadership role of Priestess in the Deerleap assembly, she is portrayed as feeling inadequate. When her male companions see her drawing down the moon, they do not see her power, only her beauty (p139). The woman in charge of the house at Spurnheath, Hildegarde, is deeply criticized for exercising her power and is called a “tyrant” (p128). She is described as “angry” and “brooding” (p125, 129). In High Magic’s Aid, Women are generally valued for their beauty, not their power. Jan’s infatuation with Lady Jocelyn is based soley on her beauty (p58) and it is noted that her “beauty is her power” (p102). This image of women is radically different than what is seen in Wicca today as a religion that empowers women, as the Reclaiming Tradition teaches.

b) Gardner was convinced by Margaret Murray’s European witch-cult hypothesis in Western Europe, as were many amateur students of witchcraft at that time. We see a small rural remnant of the witch-cult appears in High Magic’s Aid, in the Deerleap chapter, which is based upon Gardner’s imagination and not any historical evidence.  The vast amount of evidence from the witchcraft trials of the early modern era demonstrate that such a witch-cult never did exist.  [see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Murray#Criticism ]  Gardner was not alone in his adoption of the Murray theory.  Other authors, such as G.C. Coulton, Robert Graves, John Buchan, H.P. Lovecraft, Dennis Wheatley, also included the witch-cult theory in their works as well.

c) There are a number of historical inaccuracies in the book. High Magic’s Aid is set in the early 1200’s CE. And yet we see anachronisms like references to the Key of Solomon (dated 1300’s) and the Black Plague (hit London in 1348). Still, when you consider that Gardner chose this book as a vehicle to covertly publish the practices of 20th century witches in England, I believe that the objection to anachronisms in this book should not be taken too harshly.

Conclusion: Gardner writes an enjoyable romp set in the medieval period where witches are heroes and Pagan Saxons shake off the shackles of the Normans and the Church. In this book the reader is privileged to discover the secrets of ceremonial witchcraft and the remnants of ancient Pagan religious practices.

In High Magic’s Aid we see Ceremonial and Pagan magic working together, even being complimentary to each other. This cooperation was, in reality, to become the trajectory of Gardner’s own spiritual path. For in the end it was the merger of the practices of ceremonial magic and pagan magic that combined to help form the basis of a new and dynamic world religion: modern Wicca. And that is why this book is important for all Wiccans to read if they want to better understand the origins of their sacred path.