What this means is that Wiccans revere nature, believe in both God and Goddess, Wiccans acknowledge and work with a power that has not yet been pinned down by science - although cutting edge physicists are getting excitingly close - and celebrate the cycles of the moon, the equinoxes, and the solstices, as well as other harvest and fertility festivals.

Although the beliefs themselves are quite ancient, how they have been interpreted and adapted to the modern world is due to the work of Gerald B. Gardner (1884-1964). A British civil servant, Gardner spent many years studying native peoples in the course of his travels. He was particularly fascinated by their magical practices, and wrote extensively about them. His magical studies included the