While accusations of widespread Witchcraft flourished in medieval Europe and colonial America, the furor began to subside by the early 1700s. It was not until the mid-20th Century that Witches again resurfaced in American life. But the type of Witchcraft that emerged had little resemblance to the dark, Satanic practices of actual or alleged Witches of earlier history. Indeed, There is almost no real historical connection between 16th and 17th Century Witches and the new religions associated with Witchcraft today." (Russell interview, March 17, 1989.)

Several new traditions of Witchcraft have arisen over the past decades, all of which have different roots as journalist and Neo-Pagan practitioner Margot Adler so aptly explains:

"Different Wiccan traditions (or sects) have a different story to tell. Many will mention the work of Margaret Murray, whose Witch-Cult in Western Europe (1921) popularized the idea that Witchcraft is the surviving pre-Christian religion of Europe. Many will mention Charles G. Leland, whose books, written at the turn of the century, described a surviving Pagan religion in Italy, including a Witch cult that worshipped Diana, and a host of ancient Etruscan survivals. Others will mention Gerald B. Gardner, a retired British civil servant who was supposed to have been initiated into one of the surviving ancient English covens in 1939. Convinced that the Witch cult was dying from lack of knowledge about it, Gardner published some of what he had learned in a novel, High Magic's Aid, and after the repeal of the Witchcraft Acts in 1951, published Witchcraft Today and The Meaning of Witchcraft." (Adler, 1986:46.)

It was Gardnerian Wicca that first came to the United States, brought by Americans Raymond and Rosemary Buckland who traveled to England to be initiated by Gardner. To Gardner, "Witchcraft was a peaceful, happy, nature religion.

Witches met in covens, led by a priestess. They worshipped two principal deities, the god of forests and what lies beyond, and the great Triple Goddess of Fertility and rebirth. They met in the nude in a nine-foot circle and raised power from their bodies through dancing and chanting and meditative techniques. They focused primarily on the Goddess; they celebrated the eight ancient Pagan festivals of Europe and sought to attune themselves to Nature." (As described by Adler, 1988:62.)

The Gardnerian tradition spawned many other variations so that today, literally thousands of small, autonomous units or covens exist across the nation. In fact, according to Dr. J.

Gordon Melton of the Institute for the Study of American Religion, somewhere between 30,000 and 100,000 people are active, self-identified members of the American Wiccan and/or Neo-Pagan communities. (Melton interview, March 30,1989.) Margot Adler learned more about the contemporary Witch practitioner through a survey distributed to 450 people attending three different Neo-Pagan festivals during the summer of 1985. Of the 195 respondents, half identified themselves as "basically white-collar, middle-class professionals": computer programmers, students, secretaries, counselors, teachers/professors, writers, housewives or typesetter/printers. (Adler, 1986:446.)

As Neo-Pagan writer Isaac Bonewits describes, at least four groups of people identity themselves as contemporary practitioners: classical Witches, gothic or neo-gothic Witches, feminist Witches and Pagan Witches.

Classical Witches , whose ancestors were village herbalists and healers believed to have psychic or magical powers, pass their skills down through the generations in the form of oral tradition. To most classical Witches, religion is irrelevant to the practice of their skills.

Gothic or Neo-Gothic Witches , more accurately called Satanists, represent a very small number of Witches who use the identification to oppose Christianity by performing the rituals alleged during the European Witchcraft trials.

Feminist Witches , members of radical feminist groups who call themselves Witches because they believe the Inquisition was primarily anti-female in nature, sometimes practice magic and often identify with the Pagan Witches.

Pagan Witches or Wiccans celebrate a particular type of Pagan religion known as Wicca or Witchcraft - the Craft of the Wise. Such Witches are also Pagans, but not all Pagans are Witches; the terms are not interchangeable. (Bonewits, 1979.)

Today's Witches or Wiccans practice a polytheistic religion known as Witchcraft, Wicca or the Craft which involves worshiping nature deities and encouraging the practice of magic primarily for psychological and environmental purposes. Wiccan beliefs, broadly outlined in 1974 by the now defunct Council of American Witches in the Principles of Belief (see accompanying box) are supplemented by the Wiccan Creed, "An Ye Harm None, Do As Ye Will" or "Do nothing that will harm another."

Much contemporary debate about Wiccan activity centers around their use of magic. The vast majority of American Witches claim that if they employ any magic at all, it is white magic which seeks changes in the mundane world primarily through healing or personal improvement, or seeks to symbolically transform the individual in some manner. As such, white magic excludes evil spells. Indeed, because Wiccans believe the effects of magic will be returned threefold upon the person working it, most Witches claim pronouncing evil spells would be contradictory to their belief system. Wiccans believe very few of their members practice black magic; those few practitioners of the black arts, generally referred to as Satanists, are denied religious or social contact with other members of the Craft.

The Wiccan faith is divided into numerous denominations known as Traditions", most of which are quite small in number. Covens, the organizational structure for group