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The Spiritualist Church
On a March night in 1848 in Hydesville, New York {approx 15 miles from Rochester, New York}, two young girls, Maggie and Kate Fox heard {along with their parents} "raps, booms, and crackings" - so loud that the noises seemed to shake the house. This kept them up and afraid for a number of nights before all of the Foxes devised a way to "talk" to whatever was making these horrendously loud noises. It turned out that the source was a peddler who had been killed by a previous tenant of the Fox farmhouse.
The Fox situation could easily have become a 9-day wonder but a much older sister, who was married and lived in neighbouring Rochester, Leah Fox Fish, took her sisters in hand and "marketed" them as mediums - able to communicate with the dead - and the religion of Spiritualism was born.
Though the early years of Spiritualism were pervaded by a seeming cheap hucksterism, by the end of the 1850s, Spiritualism had gained millions of adherents worldwide {particularly in the US and in Europe}. Spiritualism had also matured enough by this time to become the respected religion that it is today. {And, in my opinion, the best-trained and some of the most ethical mediums of today are those who have been trained and/or are adherents of the Spiritualist Church.}
The Theosophical Society
Theosophy means divine wisdom or knowledge of God. The Theosophical Society was founded by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky and Colonel Henry Steel Olcott in 1875 in New York City, USA. Though not the only society of its time, the Theosophists led the way to both a rediscovery and revival in mysticism and occult - mainly Oriental, Eastern, and Kabbalistic. By the time Blavatsky died in 1891, the Theosophical Society's membership was worldwide - particularly in New York, in London, England and with the Raj British in India.
The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn
Close on its heels - in smaller size but greater influence, and particularly, in its attraction to and membership of leading and famous people - was the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn {founded 1888 by William Wynn Westcott of London, England}. Whereas the Theosophists were concerned with the theory of magic, the paranormal, and the occult, the Golden Dawn was dedicated to the practical application of magic. No less controversial than the Theosophical Society, the Golden Dawn ran itself with much secrecy {one of its attractions} and concentrated on Celtic, Druidic, Egyptian, alchemical, and Kabbalistic occult practices. {In other words, Western magic vs Eastern/Oriental magic.}
Margaret A Murray, et al
Margaret A Murray, a British anthropologist, published a book The Witch Cult in Western Europe in 1921. Though roundly attacked by a number of prehistory scholars, Murray propounded that witches were not a bunch of "old women suffering from illusions about the Devil". Her research was amongst both the Catholic and Protestant Churches' Inquisitions' paper trail of witch trials. She unmasked the Devil as an ancient male fertility God who was horned. And she discovered an ancient, divine huntress and fertility Goddess called Artemis by the Greeks and Diana by the Romans {to name just two}.
Twenty-two years previous {1899}, Charles Leland {American} had published a book Aradia - about the Italian Strega - the witch cult of Italy. Italian witches, at the very least, track their beginnings to Diana, the Queen of Witches {and a Roman hunting Goddess}. Sadly, Leland's work is now considered an outright fraud. Nevertheless, his phrase "la Vecchia Religione" - the Old Religion - is still used today in Wicca and witchcraft circles as well as a number of Strega rituals that he describes in his book.
Another author, Robert Graves, published The White Goddess in 1948. Even though {as previously said}, today, his work is considered a fiction by many - he, too, was roundly attacked by prehistory scholars. Graves argued eloquently about a prehistoric lunar Goddess religion.
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