The celebrations began on Thursday, March 13t,h when our first guests started to arrive. On Friday, a few of us went to check out the Central Library in the iconic building on the Neude, Utrecht, where our main event was taking place.
And so on March 15th we met in the ‘Collegezaal’. Jana & Wolf led the Opening Ceremony, followed by Jana’s presentation “Wiccan Rede – from Paper to Digital”** It was delightful to see the development of Wiccan Rede since 1980. It brought back many memories!
After Jana’s presentation, there followed a number of reflections from various people who have links with the Silver Circle family.
From the Netherlands to Russia, from Spain to England, the outreach has created an amazing journey. Gwiddon talked us through his encounters, covering Russia to Spain.
He reminded me of my first visit to Moscow in 2009 when few people knew about Gardnerian Wicca. It was quite different when I made a return visit in 2015. Thanks to Gwiddon and a couple of other people, there was a thriving pagan community. It was also during that visit that we presented the Russian translation of my book ‘Beyond the Broomstick’. That was quite a milestone since there were few books about Wicca in Russian.
Today, there is still a Moscow Moot, and we have a thriving community in Barcelona where Gwiddon was instrumental in setting up another moot.
In the Netherlands, the influence of ‘Silver Circle’ has not only been felt with our own Covens, but also with people who have branched off to form their own distinct groups. Peter & Alex gave a wonderful presentation of ‘the Coven in Amsterdam’ as it was affectionately known in the past.
One of the key trademarks of Covens and Initiates descending from Eleanor Bone is the high degree of autonomy. There is no one central authority nor one decisive ‘Book of Shadows’. This has allowed flexibility and room to develop, evolve and grow organically. The influence of ‘Wicca’ as a Spiritual Path and philosophy has had an enormous impact over the last 50 years. In 1980, when Merlin & I launched ‘Silver Circle’ as a network and ‘Wiccan Rede’ as our magazine, I don’t think even we could imagine how influential it would be. There are few (neo) Pagan, Heathen streams which have not been influenced by ‘Wiccanesque’ rituals. The main elements are working in a Sacred Circle, delineating the four quarters either by wind directions or elemental kingdoms, acknowledging the Spirits of the Land – a local God, Goddess or Nature Spirit – and more often than not, celebrating the seasonal cycle.
For many years, we thought that our line of Gardnerian Wicca had faded away in the UK, but little did I know that I was meeting and working with people connected to the ‘Coven in Brighton’ via the Pagan Federation, but had never realised it. The PF itself was founded and greatly influenced by Gardnerians, including Doreen Valiente, who gave a speech at the inaugural meeting. She didn’t call herself a Gardnerian nor a witch at the time, the late 1960s, early 1970s – not many of us did..
One of the people I met via PF was Dave Bracey – he was a DM/ District Manager for the Norfolk area. I met him during the PF Council Meetings – the first one in 1998, when I represented PFI. However, it wasn’t until 2019 when I found out that he was initiated by the Maiden of the Coven I was initiated into in 1979!
Rhys & Martika, who greeted me some years back as Family, recalled how this link with Dave was what led them to me. So, the line descending from Eleanor Bone via Len & Anna hadn’t dried up in England after all. We have since found out that there were a couple of other people who had links to ‘Brighton’. In their presentation about the situation in England, Rhys & Martika announced that Dave had recently passed away. ***
They recalled how Dave (and his late wife Trish) had inspired them and helped them to create their own coven and way of working.
After a short break, Maya Fridman recalls her connection to Silver Circle and how Wicca has influenced and inspired her work as a musician. How fitting that her new album is called ‘Ordo Ritualis’. She played a short piece to the thrill of the audience.
Then followed the launch of the English translation of ‘Horens van de Maan/ Horns of the Moon’. This is now available as an e-book. This is the first time that Merlin’s book is available in English. It was first published, in Dutch, as a booklet in 1989. It was later published by Kok, Kampen, in 1999 as ‘Moderne Hekserij – Wicca, portret van een natuurreligie’. In 2020, it was published by ‘Silver Circle Publishing’ as part of the SC 40th anniversary. And now, as part of the 45th anniversary, we have the English version!
To conclude our afternoon, we had a vibrant discussion about ‘the Future of Wicca’. The main conclusion was that despite all the online presence and the availability of technology such as AI, the strength of Wicca lies in the personal face-to-face contact. That may take more effort, but I can attest that this is the most effective and long-lasting way of sharing the essence of Wicca.
Having said that, we did have an online meeting to celebrate the 45th Anniversary – on March 23rd 2025.
It was also the Spring Equinox. I opened the meeting with a moment of reflection:
O radiance of day
To thou who art a bright luminary before us:
To thou who art a brilliant Emerald above us:
To thou who lights the path beneath us. **
Green waters of Life, vitalise our souls
Electric blue breath invigorate our lungs
Fresh golden energy of Spring,
Fill our hearts with Love
Red serpent coiled
Unfold the mystery – the seed of new life!
I gave a shortened version of Jana’s presentation, ‘Wiccan Rede – from paper to digital’.
Several people offered their tributes, including Selena Fox. She even showed the copies of Wiccan Rede, which they still have from the days we exchanged magazines with Circle Sanctuary/Circle Network News! She noted that we were one of the few who worked multilingually. Coincidentally, in 1980, they started the PSG/ Pagan Spirit Gathering, so they will be celebrating their 45th Anniversary this year too, at the Summer Solstice. Congratulations Selena!
Next online was Peter Mark Adams, one of our esteemed guest writers. His books contain deep research of the cults of Greece and Asia Minor. One of my favourite books is ‘Mystai’, which I reviewed at Imbolc 2020.
Thorn Nightwind from Pennsylvania sent a recording. He has contributed a number of articles to ‘WRonline’. We met on various occasions, including ‘PantheaCon’ in California, where I also met many other people, including Selena & Seamus. Thorn also shared much about the history of Sybil Leek in America. This has been fascinating.
Gwiddon presented his journey from Russia – Spain. It was lovely to see some of the ‘Russian’ friends online too. Catherine offered her tribute and reminded us of the online meeting we had in 2021 during COVID. This was an online version of the Living Tarot, which was amazing. See references for the recording. For Silver Circle 2025, she also gave a reading.. she drew.. ‘The Fool’.. see the video clip for the full reading.
Other guests included Rhys & Martika, who recalled the visits we have had and shared some of the work & activities we have participated in as SC-Family.
We ended with a discussion on the same topic as we had in Utrecht, namely ‘the Future of Wicca’… and where do we go from here?
Indeed… what does the future hold for us … as a Tradition, as an ‘Online Magazine’?
In any event, I would like to thank everyone for the kind words of gratitude and participation in the celebrations, both in Utrecht and online! I highly appreciate it and look forward to the next 5 years.
Morgana
For a full viewing, see the recording:
Celebrating Silver Circle 45th Anniversary – Spring Equinox 2025
References
** “Wiccan Rede – from Paper to Digital”
*** See ‘Obituary Dr Dave Bracey’ and ‘My memories of Dave Bracey’
Review Mystai:
Ordo Ritualis: https://trptk.com/product-category/cds-sacds/
SC gathering and ’the Living Tarot’ Catherine Starr: (2021)
