The California Line of the Gardnerian Tradition

The California Line of the Gardnerian Tradition in the United States is both a line of initiatory descent and a way of understanding Gardnerian practice. It currently includes some ten covens in and around the San Francisco Bay Area, as well as a number of covens descended from them further afield. We understand and appreciate the diversity found within the Gardnerian Tradition around the world and over time and use this diversity as our guide for interpreting the Tradition, its heart and its boundaries. Maintaining tradition keeps us on course, while there is room for growth and change.

The creation of the California Line was prompted by the publication of “the Samhain Letter” in the Samhain 1985 issue of The Hidden Path. The Letter addressed a number of concerns and questions regarding what it meant to be “Gardnerian” and how much diversity of practice was acceptable. The Letter came out of the Gardnerian community of Long Island, but we of the San Francisco Bay Area took it as an opportunity to examine our practice and define our understanding of the Gardnerian Tradition.

At that time, almost all of the Gardnerians in the SF Bay Area descended from one coven – Coven Tobar Bhride – in one of its several incarnations. The first incarnation of Tobar Bhride was with Lady Brighit as High Priestess and Brendan, Frey, and then Morgann as High Priest. The second incarnation of Tobar Bhride came after the retirement of Lady Brighit. This incarnation had Lady Bhride (L. Brighit’s Maiden) as HPs and Morgann as HP.

A defining aspect of what would become the California Line was the Book of Shadows assembled by Lady Brighit. While she had been trained and elevated in New York, she soon moved across the country, far from her High Priestess. Feeling somewhat cut-off, she sought out other Gardnerians, learned from them, and copied their Books of Shadows. When she compared these Books of Shadows, she discovered that there were many variations in the texts and scripts – mostly insignificant ones, but not all. Books of Shadows from different parts of the country and different lines of initiatory descent often differed (Big surprise!). In response, she created a version of the Book of Shadows that was annotated to these many other Books. This was the first “California Line” Book of Shadows.

When the Elders of Coven Tobar Bhride and its daughter covens met on the solar Sabbats over the course of a year – beginning with Litha 1988 – to examine and discuss the Tradition as we had received it, our discussion was shaped by the awareness that there was more variation and diversity in the Gardnerian Tradition than many initiates realized. Over the course of five solar or Quarter Sabbats – Litha 1988, coming back around through Litha 1989 – we crafted a statement clarifying our understanding of the Gardnerian Tradition and, based on the existing diversity we observed in the Tradition, what we felt were the outer limits of acceptable Gardnerian practice, within which Elders had some leeway to improvise and adapt to changing circumstances.

This statement ended up being published as “The Declaration of the California Line of the Gardnerian Tradition”. The general statements – that is, those not addressing the particular details of the initiations and elevation rituals – affirmed that:

We are proud of being Gardnerian and have no desire to leave the tradition.

We believe that the spirit of the Gardnerian tradition is found in the Craft Laws, the Book of Shadows, and the oral traditions.

We believe that any nature religion must experience both growth and change.

We believe that the Gardnerian tradition has no prophets and that each Gardnerian Elder must interpret the tradition for her- or himself.

We believe that the Gardnerian Tradition per se is a) the Lineage, and the consequent sense of both history and family, b) the Book of Shadows, as handed down to us and including each Elder’s additions, c) the Power passed from one Elder to another, and d) the spirit of Neopagan Wicca that manifests through all of these.

We believe that we are a new branch of the Gardnerian tradition and wish to be called the California Line, hoping and expecting that we will be accepted alongside the Long Island Line, the Kentucky Line, and the Donna Cole Line. (There are now more lines of Gardnerian descent in the United States, such as the Whitecroft Line, the Silver Circle/Andred Line, and others.)

This was followed by several pages detailing our interpretations of traditional practices.

The two most controversial issues were our affirmation of gender equality in the tradition and our allowance for the possibility of same-gender initiation.

We ended the Declaration by affirming that:

Henceforth, all future initiates of the signing Elders would be Gardnerians of the California line; while existing initiates would have their choice of belonging to the California line or not.

“Signed this 17th day of June in the year 1989 C.E. by Brighit , Brendan , Bhride , Nimue ,
Morgann , Ariel , and Maeve .”

Any who descend from any of the founding Elders, or from their initiates, are welcome to claim California Lineage in addition to whatever other lineage they may have or how they currently practice.

Some have mistakenly believed that the California Line is a part of the Protean Tradition founded by Lady Cleindori, however the California Line was founded well before the Protean Tradition was formed and announced. The first decision made by the assembled Elders of the California Line was to issue a statement clarifying this error.

That was 25 years ago. All things grow and change.

Downline initiates from the founding California Line Elders now number in the hundreds, if not thousands.

Since its founding, the California Line has hosted Gardnerian Gatherings – one for Elders and one for all Degrees – almost every year. All are welcome, from whatever lineages.

We have been very happy to host receptions, ceremonies, and discussions for visiting Gardnerians from around the world – including Dayonis (the senior Gardnerian Priestess on Earth), Philip Heselton, Morgana (of the Pagan Federation International and co-founder of the Andred/Silver Circle Line), Julia Philips, Frederic Lamond, Margot Adler, Ed Fitch and others.

In 2007 we produced a new edition of the Book of Shadows, incorporating material from the Books of Shadows, notebooks, unpublished manuscripts, and personal papers of Gerald Gardner, Doreen Valiente, and other early Gardnerians, bringing the contents of the BoS up to 669 pages, all of it annotated to yet more Books of Shadows from around the United States and the rest of the world, and throughout the history of the Gardnerian Tradition.

Since January 2008, we have been holding monthly Book of Shadows discussion groups to go over this material – new and old. Again, these meetings are open to all Gardnerians willing to “play nicely with others”. Individuals from 15 covens regularly participate.

Who knows what the next 25 years will bring?