ZS: What do you think of the huge success of books like Harry Potter and the Da Vinci Code, both which feature themes common to Wicca?

RB: They demonstrate this present-day acceptance of the Old Religion. When you get popular books (for all ages), along with movies and television programs, all centered around making mention of Witchcraft and Paganism in a positive sense, then it can only be good. The fact that there is still a lot of nonsense presented is to be expected, unfortunately, but the point is that the subject is included in popular, widely distributed, material. It’s the “toe in the door” that can be so important.


ZS: Do you see a difference between 'magick' and 'creating your reality'? If so what?

RB: I do strongly believe that we create our own reality and to some – especially those who don’t really understand the concept – this can look like what they might term “magic.” Magic is making something happen that you want to happen, and that’s exactly what it means to create your own reality. I think one of the best definitions of magic was that given by Aleister Crowley, who said that it is “the art or science of causing change to occur in conformity with will” . . . making something happen that you want to happen.


(The following questions are from a talented medium named Sherry Fletcher from Eureka, California)

How would you suggest a person deal with magick that manifests in a teenager and help them channel any gifts that present themselves. For instance... A young man, 13, finds that he cannot go into hospitals because he feels the pain and becomes frightened by it. What type of magickal amulet or sympathetic magic might one use to help ward him until he can learn to protect himself?

RB: This is actually a manifestation of his psychic abilities. I wouldn’t label this “magic.” Magic is something that is brought about by the practitioner; whereas here it’s something that is happening to the young man without him seeking it. He is obviously a strong sensitive (rather than a strong magician). In Spiritualism this would be termed clairsentience. He’s not alone in it; many good sensitives do have this happen. He must learn to ground such energy so that it doesn’t disturb him but until such time as he can do that then a clear quartz crystal is a good amulet for him to carry. This will absorb and protect. But he should start a good regimen of daily meditation (I’d suggest 15-20 minutes first thing every morning) at which he can build around himself a shell or “egg” of white light protection. I detail how to do this in several of my books and there are other authors who also write about it. It’s a common and very effective protective practice. But carrying the crystal will work while he learns to build this and it has the added benefit of being a physical object that he can touch, feel, hold, and feel working.

Do you feel that "Gate Keepers" for the Veil (Underworld) should allow themselves to stay open around Samhain? Why do necromancers get a bad rap and how can I learn more about being one without dealing with the Occult?

RB: “Occult” means “hidden, or secret, from the uninitiated”, so necromancy is a part of the occult. If you want to deal with necromancy then you will be into “the occult.” But since occult is such a general, descriptive word, this is not necessarily negative so don’t be afraid of “dealing with the occult.” However, necromancy itself, by definition, is dealing with the dead but through the means of interacting with a corpse. So yes, that does have negative connotations and since there are other more positive ways of working with the dead (through Spiritualism, for example) then I would never, personally, recommend taking that path. For someone who does want to do so, however, then the older grimoires have clues to such work (there doesn’t seem to be much in the way of detailed instruction). As to Gatekeepers, not only is there no reason why they should not stay open at Samhain, I would say that this is the time when they really come into their own.


(These questions come from Faith Freewoman, a practicing Wiccan and psychic from Arcata, California)

What responsibility do Wiccans, and Pagans in general, have toward the wild places and wild creatures still left in this world? And what are the most powerful and meaningful ways we can use to wisely exercise that responsibility?

RB: The responsibility is to protect and preserve the wild places and wild creatures. We are all one; we are all interconnected. By protecting and preserving the “wild ones” we are helping protect and preserve ourselves. All have a place in the grand scheme of things. We are all a part of Nature; not apart from it. The most powerful and meaningful way is to promote it; to educate others in the need to reach out to all creatures. One of the most successful promoters and educators on this subject was not a Wiccan or Pagan – it was the late Steve Irwin, who did such an incredibly wonderful job of showing people not only how necessary and desirable the wild places and creatures are but also how beautiful they are, in their own right. We should all try to emulate him. But I would take it a step farther. As Wiccans and Pagans we know that “life” extends beyond the animal kingdom; it also includes the vegetable and the mineral kingdoms. We are truly all one. We, as Wiccans and Pagans, should be so much more aware on this subject than are others.

ZS: Ray, you've said there's a lot of things on the internet about Wicca that just aren't true. Would you care to clear up any of those misconceptions here?

RB: Unfortunately there is a lot of misinformation on the Internet, especially concerning the early development of Wicca in the U.S. I am addressing this in detail in my autobiography. There’s not room to cover it all here but a couple of examples might be in order. To quote from my autobiography:

In recent years a saw a potted history of American Wicca on the Internet which said:
At this point (c. 1975), needing a High Priestess to form a new coven, Ray raised Deirdre to Third Degree himself, as had in fact been allowed under the procedural rules in effect at that time. However, one of the new “guidelines” Theos had learned from Rowen stated that valid initiations could be carried out only by a Third-Degree High Priestess; so Theos and Phoenix for some years refused to recognize Deidre’s elevation as being valid, and this created the “Kentucky” line when Deidre moved to Louisville. However, Theos later persuaded Deidre to accept a “re-initiation” by the procedures of the New York coven, thus healing the schism.
What utter nonsense! I don’t know where all of this came from (though I can surmise). To start with, I did not “need a High Priestess to form a new coven.” I had no interest in forming a new coven. I attended Theos’s Circles and various Pagan groups. Who this Deidre was I don’t know, and I certainly wouldn’t have initiated her by myself if I had needed a new High Priestess. As to these “procedural rules in effect at that time,” I am again at a loss! It had always been that there had to be a High Priestess present for an initiation. (The one single exception had been when I originally brought-in and raised Rowen so that we could start the American line of Wica, back in 1964. But that had been done under the express “orders,” one might say, of Gerald Gardner himself after conferring with Olwen and others, and it was seen as the only possible way of getting things started in the United States.) As to a “Kentucky line;” there already was one. The very first coven to branch off from ours was in 1965 – nearly ten years earlier – with Fran and Gerry Fisher (Theo and Thain) from Kentucky. In fact, on December 16, 1973, the Fishers made an announcement (in the first edition of Earth Religion News): “In accordance with the laws of the land, Gardnerian Wicca has been incorporated as a legal, non-profit religious corporation, and now has the same status as any legal religion in the United States and will enjoy legal protection under the law.” So, with Gardnerian Wicca Inc. already in Louisville, how could it be said that the “Kentucky line” originated with a disputed Deidre in 1974?

There has been a lot of absolute nonsense promulgated on the Internet. Here’s another example:

When Theos and Phoenix realized that Rowen would no longer be available to answer questions, they picked her brain about everything and anything she could remember about oral traditions and about how the coven actually operated, thus creating the longest single document in the current Gardnerian Book of Shadows, the ‘Notes and Guidelines’ which was at first intended to be mere guidelines, but over the years has solidified into rigid rules and regulations. Most of the controversies in the American Gardnerian movement for the last 30 years have resulted from text in this document, which never existed in England. Exactly why Theos and Pheonix decided that Rowen would no longer be available to answer questions, I’m not sure. And certainly I was still there, at that time, and was perhaps better versed in the laws and oral traditions than was Rowen. But Theos and Phoenix certainly did produce the longest single document in the current Gardnerian Book of Shadows; and in all those which now date from their one. In effect, these two very-new leaders of the New York coven decided to rewrite the Gardnerian Book of Shadows!

In 1973, Lady Rowen, Ray Buckland, Lady Theos, Phoenix, Ed Fitch, and one other person, as the actual Elders of the Gardnerian movement in America, signed the materials they were adding to the first-degree Book of Shadows, thus certifying it as authentic and authoritative. The rules and procedures thus created, observed faithfully by American Gardnerians, are the ones that the English Gardnerians have never heard of, and to which their response is usually more or less on the order of, “What? Surely you jest!”

“Surely you jest!” indeed! Incidentally, in one report I see that the “other person” who supposedly signed this fictitious document is named as Puck. Puck, of course, was my young son. At the time of Rowen’s retirement he was about fourteen years old – hardly old enough to sign a document of this supposed importance! But was there such a document? Not to my memory; and I think I would have remembered signing such a momentous certificate. And there was no such thing as the “Elders of the Gardnerian movement in America.” Every coven in existence had its elders. Covens were autonomous. No one spoke for the whole Gardnerian movement, in America or anywhere else. No wonder the English Gardnerians laughed at the idea. I’m with them!


ZS: You're considered the “Father of American Wicca” while Gerald Gardner is often called the "Grandfather of Wicca" for being the first person in any country to write about it. You had the chance to meet Gardner before he passed on. Can you describe your relationship with him?

RB: It was a long-distance one, carried on by correspondence (and a couple of phone calls), though I did finally get to meet him just before he embarked on his last trip to Lebanon. From his home on the Isle of Man, Gardner would forward to me any letters he received from the U.S. regarding Wicca, so that I could follow-up on them. It was from these that I found the people who became members of the very first American coven. I found Gerald to be a warm, friendly man with a wicked sense of humor! He was soft-spoken but in ritual had a way of projecting his voice so that he came across as a very powerful figure. I felt a close bond with him and like to think that he felt the same about me.


ZS: You've got a new product coming out, published by Doorway Publications & Gifts, and it's a Spirit Talking Board (otherwise known as a Ouija™ board). What prompted you to make a new talking board?

RB: This is a product I’m excited about. For many years I’ve felt that the popular Ouija™ board had a number of drawbacks to its design. I had come up with my own design back in the 1970s, when I had my museum in New York. I hand-produced a few of these boards for friends and the design got to be well used and well tested. It worked well and I thought that one day I’d like to get it out to a wider audience. The Ouija™ board has had a lot of “bad press” simply because of how it has been used – mainly be teenagers. First off, it’s sold in Toys-R-Us and other toy stores, yet such a board is very definitely not a toy. It’s a serious tool for spirit communication. I am very active in Spiritualism these days and I decided to write a book on the board, telling how it could/should be used and also delineating the drawbacks of the Ouija. Since the board has been used, very successfully, by many generations of Spiritualists, I called my version the Buckland Spirit Board©. I was delighted to find a good publisher in Doorway, who was willing to publish the book and also produce the board. I’m hopeful that this may be the start of a new respect for what is an excellent tool.


ZS: Ray, you've had a very accomplished life, and influenced so many people in a deeply spiritual way. We're so proud you'll be joining us here at Doorway to share your light and wisdom with us. Of all the things you've done, what would you most like to be remembered for?

RB: That’s difficult! I think I would like to be remembered as a teacher; teaching through my writing. I’ve been blessed in that I had wonderful parents who encouraged me in a diverse number of subjects. I’ve always loved to write – more than anything else, I suppose – and have been lucky enough to be able to follow that vocation. One journalist recently referred to me as a “Renaissance Man” because of the many and varied interests I have had. That feels good! But I primarily write, lecture, and lead groups so I guess “teacher” fits best.

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